…to not notice that you’re on the cover of your church’s magazine along with Louis Farrakhan? I can understand not reading every page of every issue, but if they put you on the cover I think you’re obliged to at least know about what’s inside.
Of course, I’m an old fashioned type who thinks that you should probably share the beliefs of the church you join, so perhaps I’m not seeing this through the correct lens.
Apollo posted this at 10:14 PM EDT on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 as Faith, Audacity of Hype
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Quote of the day:
Your plate is fuller than a Melmac platter at a Methodist Potluck.
Hubbard posted this at 2:42 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 as Ourselves, Faith, Amer-I-Can!
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Reading through the transcript of Jeremiah Wright’s speech today, I kept thinking back to Obama, in his 21st Century Gettysburg Address, calling Wright a “Biblical scholar.”
The exchange that really gets me comes when someone asks him about the “America’s chickens have come home to roost” routine.
WRIGHT: Have you heard the whole sermon? Have you heard the whole sermon?
MODERATOR: I heard most of it.
WRIGHT: No, no, the whole sermon, yes or no? No, you haven’t heard the whole sermon? That nullifies that question.
Well, let me try to respond in a non-bombastic way. If you heard the whole sermon, first of all, you heard that I was quoting the ambassador from Iraq. That’s number one.
But, number two, to quote the Bible, “Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever you sow, that you also shall reap.” Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you. Those are biblical principles, not Jeremiah Wright bombastic, divisive principles.
It’s hard to think of a more cut and dry perversion of the Golden Rule than this. To take Christ’s command and twist it into a justification for a terrorist attack (or any attack) shows so little understanding of Christian principles, and so little respect for the meaning of words, that I can’t think of an appropriate way to describe it. These aren’t the words of a scholar, they’re the words of a sycophant willing to twist the words of Christ to his own purpose. This is “gays caused 9/11″ stuff.
And his excerpt from Galatians (”Be not decieved…” Gal 6:7) is nothing more than a thoughtless twisting of Biblical words to suit his own needs. For a man who goes ape poo if people only listen to “snippets” of his sermons rather than the whole thing, it’s notable that he just cuts and pastes small Biblical sayings, completely out of context, to support his point.
Look, I can do it too, from the very same chapter no less: Galatians 6:15-16- “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.”
See, America and Europe follow that rule while the Muslims don’t, thus we’re entitled to peace and mercy and they’re entitled to the root end of a mushroom cloud. Mohammed’s circumcised chickenssssss ………. have come home to roost! Maybe now our secular messiah will call me a Biblical scholar too.
Jeremiah Wright is disgusting not simply because he’s a racist and hates America, but because he is a perverter of Christianity. I’m reminded here of nothing so much as mid-19th century southerners using scripture to say that there’s a divine imperative to enslave blacks. The Bible is a dangerous weapon; a heart bereft of love and charity can do terrible things with its words.
Apollo posted this at 8:01 PM EDT on Monday, April 28th, 2008 as Faith, Audacity of Hype
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George Washinton, that is.
Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience – almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good (cf. Spe Salvi, 24). Few have understood this as clearly as the late Pope John Paul II. In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows, time and again, that “in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation”, and a democracy without values can lose its very soul (cf. Centesimus Annus, 46). Those prophetic words in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent “indispensable supports” of political prosperity.
It’s a good speech (H/T). And here’s the relevant section of Washington’s Farewell Address:
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
I think Benedict not only managed to slip in an oblique critique of patriotism (which one might expect from a German Pope) but also furthered the theme of his papacy: demonstrating that faith and reason are complements. I concur with the Anchoress:
John Paul made you feel; Benedict makes you think. If you’re looking for catharsis and “feelings” you wont’ get them. Just the truth delivered at 160 wpm.
Hubbard posted this at 3:46 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 as Faith, The Past Is Never Dead--It Isn't Even Past
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Today is 04/07/08. When Dorothy asked me what the date was and I told her, it reminded me of a Bible verse song I learned as a kid. One of the delights of having grown up in the church I grew up in is that I have dozens of Bible verses unconsciously memorized and I can only recall them if I sing them to a tune.
Anyhow, 1 John 4:7-8, two of the sensitive fellow’s best:
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
A nice things about John is he’s the easiest apostle to pick out in Catholic iconography because he never has a beard. Even with Peter you’ve got to check the hands for keys or a sword. But John’s always obvious at first glance, as easy to spot as Christ himself.
Apollo posted this at 7:31 PM EDT on Monday, April 7th, 2008 as Ourselves, Faith
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Some Jews seem upset that the answer is yes. Hatred knows no harsher form than praying for the salvation of others.
Apollo posted this at 1:18 AM EDT on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 as Faith
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