Not Good Enough for Export?

Lutheran Leader Condemns Prosperity Gospel

By - Assiciated Press
Friday, March 30, 2007

(UBA2, the Ugly Born-Again American, finds it impossible to believe that Christians from other countries are turned off by the apostasy of the Health and Wealth Gospel, so-called...The US corner on the truth being beyond reproach, we can only assume that those in other cultures are somehow unenlightened...Of course, the possibility that they may, instead, be committed Christians instead of committed consumers of the God-thing, is beyond consideration...What is McChurch without foreign franchise rights?

Stan Moody, author of "Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship" and "McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry.")

March 30, 2007

LUND, Sweden (AP) - The president of the Lutheran World Federation urged members to resist U.S. evangelists who preach that following Christianity can bring wealth and success.

The Rev. Mark Hanson, who is also presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said Lutherans must challenge what he called a heresy being spread in their countries.

"We are now exporting not only products," Hanson said about the United States, "we are exporting prosperity-gospel preaching evangelists to your countries who are beckoning Lutherans away from their Lutheran churches."

He said the federation must teach true Christianity "rather than some other distortion of the Gospel that we so now export and is pure heresy."

Hanson spoke at a federation assembly, which ended Tuesday. It marked the 60th anniversary of the Lutheran group, which has 140 member churches in 78 countries, representing more than 66 million Christians.

Hanson noted it was difficult to remain in fellowship considering the diversity of viewpoints and beliefs of member churches, but called their global connection a "sheer gift."

At an opening news conference, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, the federation's general secretary, asked member churches to be respectful when they discuss the Bible and sexuality, along with marriage, family and polygamy, so conflicting views don't divide Lutherans.

Differences over Scripture and homosexuality are creating rifts within many Protestant groups.

Soldiers of the Cross

By Tom Shales - Washington Post Staff Writer - Thursday, January 25, 2007

"Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi," a new HBO documentary about America's army of impassioned evangelicals, doesn't address the question "Why are we in Iraq?" -- but the film's parade of believers has a fervent certainty that echoes President Bush's unwavering belief in the war.

The ranks of the Bush administration include more born-again Christians "than any other administration" in American history, one of the evangelical leaders says, and Bush is heard enthusiastically addressing an antiabortion rally via telephone hookup. Bush has used evangelicals as a power base, and is not one to shy away from a quest. Meantime, the Christians we see in this film are unyielding in the rightness of their ideas (i.e., evolution and abortion are wrong, "Jesus is the only way" and America is a Christian nation), and if someone challenges them, they simply say God has told them the truth.

Certitude is the common bond.

Pelosi, an intuitive and accomplished filmmaker, calls her documentaries "road trips" because she drives around listening to people espousing beliefs, and the Christians eagerly oblige everywhere she goes.

Pelosi was out to define the movement through the words of the faithful -- words spoken from pulpits and blaring from billboards. But her film turned into another story more or less on its own. One of the many evangelicals Pelosi interviewed was the Rev. Ted Haggard, whose National Association of Evangelicals claims, or claimed, 30 million members. Haggard rails against gay marriage and, late in the hour, says that "if a pastor falls into corruption . . . it's heartbreaking."

One year later, Pelosi reminds us in a printed postscript, Haggard was charged with engaging a male prostitute for sex. He resigned his office with the National Association in November and was also dismissed by his church for "sexually immoral conduct." During one segment of the film, he boasts that Christians have "the best sex lives" of anybody and questions a few male believers about the frequency with which they have intercourse and their wives have orgasms.

Pelosi, daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the new speaker of the House, races from state to state, and much of what the evangelicals say has to do with loving thy neighbor and finding "eternal life." But there is also an unmistakable combative tone that grows more aggressive as Pelosi's travels continue.

By their own deeds shall ye know them. And by their words, of course.

Joel Osteen, a pastor seen weekly on national TV, says Christians must "fight the good fight." Teenage Christian zealots attend a "training camp" for "young warriors." A man identified as a Christian comic shouts from the stage, "We want our country back, and we'll fight for it" and a solicitation letter from Jerry Falwell is headlined in large italic type, "Will you join me in a declaration of war?"

They call it a culture war, Christians vs. "the secular progressive movement" (a phrase favored by Bill O'Reilly, Fox's nut-in-residence), Christians vs. abortion rights advocates, and Christians vs. science. Ken Ham and Buddy Davis indoctrinate children in the precepts of Creationism, which claims, among other things, that Job (as in the Book of) lived among dinosaurs and that those dinosaurs roamed the earth mere thousands of years ago -- not millions.

In addition to the Christian comic, there's Christian rock, Christian wrestling (the president of the federation wrestles under the name "Jesus Freak"), a hot-rod group called Cruisers for Christ and even a pro-Christian miniature golf course, replete with a replica of the tomb in which Jesus was buried.

"We skateboard for Jesus Christ," says a smiling adolescent near the end of the hour. Evangelicals also have their own Disneyland, The Holy Land Experience in Orlando, where a mock-Jesus walks around in sandals with a wireless microphone pinned to his robe.

At one point, a Christian rocker says that death is not to be feared, because "we've settled the issue of eternal life." But everywhere, beneath the widely smiling faces and facade of love in this film, there's a lurking hyper-nationalism that tries to link evangelicals with the U.S. flag and the Founding Fathers, and a seemingly paranoid hostility that maintains Christians are the most persecuted group in America.

"If you don't believe in Jesus, you're a big-time loser," says an old man who drives around in a red truck decorated with Christian bumper stickers. Meanwhile, Falwell urges his congregation to vote their "Christian convictions." And while he says he won't endorse any candidates, it just so happens, Falwell says, that three Republicans running in his state embrace those very convictions.

Pelosi plays fair most of the time, although she captured a shot of Falwell, used more than once, in which he looks like a parody of a mean, blubbery Southern politico. The documentary moves at the speed of light, not so much roaming the territory as plunging through it."Friends of God" is powerful filmmaking in a uniquely understated way, a tour through another America that is sometimes funny, sometimes touching, and sometimes scary as hell.

Rise of the Proletariat

by Dr. Stan Moody

The specter of nearly-octogenarians James Baker and Lee Hamilton releasing the findings of the Iraq Study Commission raises stark contrast between the ruling class in America and a rising cacophony of a proletariat finding its voice through the Internet. Blogs and chat rooms have become the screen through which ideas, both good and bad, are sifted. Both the brilliance and the idiocy of participants is riveting.

The model to which Congress, the White House and the two major political parties cling rests on two inviolable principles – that nation states alone hold the power to broker peace or war and that the world can be divided into groups of good and evil.

The lesson of 9/11, however, is that the ill-conceived “War on Terrorism” is not merely a war against nation states and their despotic leaders but a war for the hearts and minds of the dispossessed, not only in America but now worldwide. Lies, obfuscation and spin, so effective in the past, are unasked nearly as fast as they are created in the back rooms of power and in the caves of Pakistan.

Even the much-debated Patriot Act fails to silence the hum of ideas, good and bad, bubbling from laptops in remote corners of the earth.

The change is evident not only in the seats of political power but in other entrenched institutions as well. Examples:

The education establishment lumbers on in the face of declining enrollment. Meanwhile, distance learning fights for credibility in a world that accredits on the grounds of teacher/student ratios, test scores, dorm rooms and libraries.

The Christian Right, arguably the most self-conscious wing of the Christian church, continues to export its dogma through an aging leadership in desperate search of the next pop-Christian wave. Meanwhile, as evangelical gays and lesbians come out of the closet, Christianity as an ethic rather than the life raft it was intended to be seeks its redemption through nationalism and theocracy. God, apparently, needs a lobbyist in order to be heard.

Big business, coasting on inertia, lobbies heavily against startups and upstarts, while its manufacturing plants thrive, not in America, but in the third world. Meanwhile, economic development gurus spend billions attempting to attract businesses that could operate successfully out of a phone booth, while entrepreneurs make millions in their basements.

The passenger airline industry wings its way to obsolescence in a world where teleconferencing and video cams already are “the next best thing to being there.”

Journalism, the once-honored tradition of the collective wisdom of editorial boards deciding what to feed a hungry public and when, finds itself swamped by that same public with no patience for order and control of information.

While the traditional publishing industry monitors temperature and humidity of warehouses full of the obsolete books of a select group of authors, Print-on-Demand gives voice to kitchen-table writers to whom ideas are more important than the sale of books.

I welcome the encroaching change, though I admit that I have no idea where it will lead in the chaos that is bound to ensue.

What I see ahead is the end of the eternal power shift from one nation state to another and the ultimate streamlining of government and its offspring.

I see a class of previously-unheralded geniuses creating jobs and building virtual empires from their laptops.

I see education moving from a collection of degrees to a healthy balance between information and experience.

I see writers and journalists rising from nowhere and everywhere, testing their ideas in a cruel and skeptical marketplace of thought.

I see the Christian Church rejecting its gurus and renewing faith in its truth in the face of competing ideologies and practices.

The downside is admittedly frightening, calling for firewalls and safeguards against the kind of evil that lurks within every one of us. The nature of the emerging power structure from such a world can only be imagined. The threat of anarchy looms large. Despite the risks, change is clearly on the horizon, like it or not.

So we thank James Baker and Lee Hamilton for their dedication and contribution to what has in the past made America great. But, “you've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em.”

In due respect to Kenny Rogers and Johnny Cash, there may not be “time enough for countin when the dealin's done.

The Christian & Politics

Has the Contemporary Church Become Obsessed With Political Solutions?

Darryl Erkel, writing in 1997, asks the fundamental question, “Is there a place for the Christian in politics. He underscores the issue that is facing us today, as the Christian Right and foreign policy collide, the mission of the Christian on human rights issues becomes secondary to certain wedge issues, the just war concept is overlooked by the Christian Right, and the backlash of the Christian Right against the Republican Party begins to surface.

Recognizing that 9/11 had not yet occurred at this writing, Mr. Erkel demonstrates a prophetic grasp on what's wrong with the Christian Right. His answer to his own question is that political involvement is proper for the individual Christian but is not appropriate for the Church. The religious right, in his view, has fumbled the ball by merging with the Republican Party. This has placed them in the awkward position of failing the specific responsibility of the Christian on human rights issues.

Are Christianity and politics compatible? Can individual Christians ever involve themselves in the political arena for the betterment of society? Should the Church look to the power of politics to affect moral reform within America? Such questions are important for us to consider, particularly since evangelicals are growing more fond of political strategies to combat the rising tide of secular humanism. We believe that the following points may help to clarify the believer’s relationship to government and politics.

1. Christians may involve themselves in the political arena as individuals, but it is not the place of the Church (corporately speaking) to change political/governmental institutions. Our Lord has not given His Church a political agenda, but a spiritual mandate to proclaim the Gospel and disciple the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Such a mandate far transcends any political or cultural mission. Interestingly, the early church, living under a much more oppressive government than we in America, willingly submitted to Rome and never once attempted to form a political party or change Roman laws. They refused to allow any political crusade to take priority over the Gospel. They had a heavenly mission and eternal goals as opposed to temporal ones. They weren’t merely interested in making a better society; they wanted to completely transform it with the message of the Gospel. If the Gospel is truly "the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16), why would we preach anything else? Why are so many sincere, but misguided Christians today, down-playing the centrality of the Gospel for a message of moral reform through political action? Have not our priorities become rather mixed?

2. As ambassadors for Christ, we are not to disobey civil government (except, of course, when they compel us to disobey God’s Word – Acts 5:29), but subject ourselves to it (Romans 13:1-7; Titus 3:1-2; 1 Peter 2:13-17) and pray for such rulers and authorities so that we might live a tranquil life (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

3. We must understand that spiritual results can only be achieved through spiritual means. Genuine moral reform will never come by merely changing laws, but by changing the hearts and minds of people. This means that we must recover the art of persuasion (although, ultimately, it is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit to convince and convict humans – John 16:8). As evangelicals, out greatest power is not found in protest, but in Gospel proclamation – for, indeed, if the Gospel is truly "the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16), why would we ever turn to political rhetoric and ideology?

Strange as it may sound to some, the problems we face in America today are not primarily political or even moral, but theological and spiritual. It is because people are alienated from a holy God and possess no knowledge of Him and His ways, that we are experiencing massive hedonism within our land. The remedy, therefore, must be primarily theological and spiritual. This, no political or moral crusade can ever rectify. The great apostle to the Gentiles has said it well: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4; cf. Ephesians 6:10-18). As a political insider and former presidential aide to Richard Nixon, we would be wise to listen to the words of Charles W. Colson:

Today’s misspent enthusiasm for political solutions to the moral problems of our culture arises from a distorted view of both politics and Christianity – too low a view of the power of a sovereign God and too high a view of the ability of man. The idea that human systems, reformed by Christian influence, pave the road to the Kingdom – or at least, to revival – has the same utopian ring that one finds in Marxist literature. It also ignores the consistent lesson of history that shows that laws are most often reformed as a result of powerful spiritual movements (not vice versa). I know of no case where a spiritual movement was achieved by passing laws ("The Power Illusion." Power Religion, ed. Michael S. Horton [Chicago: Moody Press, 1992] p.32).

4. In voicing our opinions and beliefs to those in government, we must never adopt an "in your face" attitude. Arrogance and shouting down one’s political opponent may be the way of the world, but it is not the way of Christ. We are, instead, to reply with "discretion and discernment" as did Daniel to Arioch (Daniel 2:14). We are to manifest the kind of respectful demeanor which Paul displayed before Festus and King Agrippa (Acts 26; cf. Titus 3:1-2; Colossians 4:5-6; 1 Peter 3:15). Regardless of our personal feelings towards our political leaders, we are commanded to "honor the King" (1 Peter 2:17).

5. We must not view any country or human government as our ultimate home – "for our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20). For the time being, we are "strangers and exiles on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13; cf. 1 Peter 2:11). We are looking forward to a "heavenly country" (v.16) and God Himself has promised to prepare a city for us (v.16). This being true, why would we so entangle ourselves in the affairs of this world that we forget our heavenly country and the Divine mandate which Christ has given to His Church?

6. We should not be ignorant of the major political and cultural controversies of our day. As evangelicals, we are called to use our minds for the glory of God and to test all issues, whether religious or political, by the standard of Scripture (Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1). At the same time, however, we must recognize that the Bible will not always be as clear or direct in addressing the issues we currently face. Thus, "we should have Christian approaches to politics, recognizing that there will be a variety of these, but we should not expect to produce ‘the Christian political program’" (Mark A. Noll, Nathan O. Hatch, George M. Marsden, The Search for Christian America [Colorado Springs, CO: Helmers & Howard, 1989] p.139).

7. Because of God’s common grace, Christians can work with unbelievers in attempting to promote justice and civic peace – and we can do so not only because it is good for believers and religious liberty, but because it is good for all people (Galatians 6:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:15). Writing on this very matter, the authors of The Search for Christian America have stated:

Some Christians speak as though there is an absolute antithesis between Christian and non-Christian thought, neglecting the degree to which Christians themselves are hampered by sin and error, and the degree to which God’s common grace allows substantial room for communication and cooperation among all people in practical everyday life . . . Because we all live in God’s world, we have, in God’s common grace, some basis for discussing and shaping public policy without explicit appeal to the Bible. In fact, people from all nations of the world have been able to agree on many principles of justice and human interest, as for instance, in agencies and statements of the United Nations. That they violently disagree on other points or on the application of their common principles should not obscure this degree of commonality. So Christians and non-Christians may be able to agree on the value of charity toward the poor and the starving, on the undesirability of genocide, that literacy should be encouraged, on the virtue of loyalty to friends and parents, and on many other things (pp.135-136).

8. Since the arrival of Christ, we must not look upon any nation as God’s chosen nation or even upon America as a "Christian nation." "The New Testament teaches unmistakably that Christ set aside national and ethnic barriers and that He has chosen to fulfill His central purposes in history through the Church, which transcends all such boundaries . . . The Lord of history has not aligned His purposes with the particular values of any given country or civilization" (The Search for Christian America, p.24).

9. The evangelical church of the 50s and 60s rightly criticized the liberal churches for abandoning its responsibility to proclaim the Gospel and, turning instead, to the "social gospel." Ironically, evangelicals today are doing the very same thing which they condemned liberal churches for doing by seeking to better society, not through Gospel proclamation and intelligent discussion of biblical truth, but through political power strategies, legislation, and efforts to move the unbelieving majority to live like Christians.

It seems that our primary concern is not with accurately preaching a God-centered Gospel and its implications for both pagans and believers, but with abortion, traditional values, and a romanticized view of America as a "Christian nation." While these might be important issues, it is not the Gospel nor is it a message that mankind most needs to hear. How said it is that some Christians are more versed in conservative politics than in the writings of both the Old and New Testament’s. Evangelicals need not repent of their involvement in politics per se, but only of their obsession with it. As Charles W. Colson has said:

That’s one of the weaknesses of the evangelical movement today – that it is so obsessed with politics. It believes that there’s got to be a political solution to everything . . . You don’t change a culture by passing laws. You change a culture by changing people’s habits. That’s why the Gospel is so central to the possibilities of cultural reformation in American life (Interview, "Running the Race," Rutherford [Journal], August 1996, p.15).

10. We must remember that political solutions are not ultimate, but temporal. We cannot afford to look to human government (even the best ones) for providing the final answers to the moral problems that we face. For that, we must look to Scripture and the God who is portrayed within its pages. "Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation" (Psalm 146:3); "Thus says the Lord, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength’" (Jeremiah 17:5).

What Some Christian Leaders Are Saying About Bringing America Back to God (with my response):

1. Robert Dugan, Director of the National Association of Evangelicals’ Office of Public Affairs, believes that he can offer a strategy for "those who want to reshape society through the political process" (Winning the New Civil War, p.88).

The above statement is theologically naïve – for when has any society been reshaped for spiritual and moral good through the "political process"? Genuine moral reform will simply never come through the "political process", but only through lives transformed by the sovereign hand of God working through the greatest message in human history: The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. Randall Terry has said, "If righteousness is going to prevail; if paganism is going to be turned back, then we must move to restore this nation to being a Christian Nation. Otherwise, we will lose the war for America’s soul, and the United States as we know it will perish. And if we are going to reform and rebuild our country, we’re going to have to deliberately infiltrate the power bases of America. We’ll deliberately have to raise up men like John Adams and Teddy Roosevelt to be morally correct, not politically correct statesmen" (Why Does A Nice Guy Like Me Keep Getting Thrown in Jail? pp.80-81).

Terry naively assumes that righteousness will prevail only when America is restored to being a "Christian Nation." But, again, like so many Christians involved in the contemporary "culture war," he has failed to learn the lesson of history which teaches that political power and legislation can never truly reform the human heart. Terry also wrongly assumes that America was a "Christian Nation." While America has, indeed, been influenced by Christian values, it has never truly been a "Christian Nation," unless, of course, we wish to water-down the theological meaning of the term "Christian" and reduce it to one which merely denotes common morality and virtue. The only "Christian Nation" that the New Testament speaks of are those who have been spiritually regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 21:43; 1 Peter 2:9) and who reside – not simply in the United States – but in every country and region of the world (Revelation 5:9; 7:9).

One further point. Contrary to what Terry and others may believe, God has not called us to convert whole nations – nor is our "success" dependent upon doing so. We are, indeed, called to faithfully and accurately proclaim the Gospel to those who are unregenerate, but we are not expected to convert them – only God can do that (John 1:12-13; Acts 16:14; Romans 9:15-18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; James 1:18). Thus, we are called to be faithful to the message of the Gospel, not necessarily numerically successful in "results" (as commonly defined) – for it is God alone who adds to His Church (Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:47; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7; Colossians 2:19).

Evidence that the Early Church Did Not Have A Political Agenda:
1. We need to remember that the first-century period had many of the same problems that we have today (abortion, crime, drunkenness, immorality, poverty, corrupt and evil rulers, etc.), yet they never pursued any form of moral reform through political action, nor did they align with the numerous political/social zealots existing at that time who wanted to either reform or overthrow Rome. They had, undoubtedly, every reason to do so, but never did.

2. Because the early church recognized that man’s greatest problem was sin and, thus, the remedy was spiritual in nature, they did not preoccupy themselves with making a society, that was under God’s judgment, outwardly virtuous – but, instead, concentrated their efforts on faithfully articulating the Gospel and living lives which demonstrated the reality of their claims (1 Peter 2:11-17).

3. Because Jesus Himself taught that "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36); because the early Christians recognized that "the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh," but spiritual in nature (2 Corinthians 10:3-4); because they recognized that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood," but against demonic forces (Ephesians 6:12); because they recognized that their true citizenship was in heaven (Philippians 3:20); because they viewed themselves as "strangers and aliens" within this world (1 Peter 2:11); and because they desired a "heavenly country" (Hebrews 11:16), they did not concentrate their efforts to pursue political action or even social reform (although the early church did seek to provide for the poor). They had set their minds upon heavenly realities and eternal goals, rather than seeking to apply temporary bandages upon a society that was destined to eternal judgment.

Contrary to what some critics might assume, this was not a case of being "so heavenly-minded that they were no earthly good." It was, instead, a clear indication that their priorities were in order. It must be kept in mind that the early Christians still sought to minister to the physical needs of people (Mt. 26:8-9; Acts 6:1; Galatians 2:10; 1 Timothy 6:18; Titus 3:14). Thus, they were not guilty of neglecting the physical and necessary aspects of man under the guise of a false piety. Even still, this was a far cry from any form of political action and even further from the modern day "social gospel" which seeks to place any political or social cause under the banner of the Gospel.

4. The early Christians of the first century lived under a much more oppressive government than we in America, and yet they willingly submitted to Rome and never once attempted to form a political party or even change Roman laws that they deemed immoral. They had much more justification for doing so than we in America, but never did.

5. When both Paul and Peter dealt with the issue of slavery in their respective epistles (Philemon and 1 Peter 2:18-20), they did not, in any way, encourage Christians to revolt against the evils of slavery, but to remain obedient to their masters – even cruel ones! But we must ask, if the early church possessed such political and social zealotry, why didn’t they begin a labor party to protect the rights of slaves? Why didn’t they gather all of the runaway slaves and form a protest march all the way to Rome? Even if one argues that this would not have been feasible under the tyrannical government of Rome, couldn’t they have done something more than to simply encourage slaves to remain obedient to their masters and endure their abuse? To those who possess the mindset that all, or at least most, of our problems can be solved through the political process, this does not make much sense. But to those who possess the mind of Christ and who recognize the inherent limitations of political/social action, it is Divine wisdom.

6. When Christians were being slandered and persecuted by their pagan neighbors, Peter didn’t suggest that the Christians start a "Christian Anti-Defamation League," but instead, encouraged them to "patiently endure it" and to not retaliate (1 Peter 2:12-21; 3:13-17; 4:3-4, 12-19). Does this sound like the kind of advice that would come from one who was politically oriented? Would the current leaders of the "Religious Right" encourage their followers to do the same?

7. It’s interesting to note that when Paul stood before the governing authorities on several occasions, he never once engaged such rulers in political or social discourse. No doubt, these instances were grand opportunities for him to complain about such social evils as slavery and excessive taxes, yet he apparently never did. Why would Paul, if he was indeed so politically minded, allow such golden opportunities to pass by? Instead, as in the case of Felix recorded in Acts 24:24-25, we find him speaking to this ruler about faith in Christ, righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come! Was Paul, in this instance, guilty of being so heavenly-minded that he was no earthly good? Shouldn’t he have argued vigorously for human rights and social reform (issues which would have affected a broader range of people), than simply limit his discussion to soteriological matters? Once again, where the political zealot sees a missed opportunity, the discerning believer sees fidelity to the Gospel and priorities that are in order.
Evidence that America is Not, Nor Was Founded, As A "Christian Nation":

1. The founding of our country was a mixed bag of both Christian and Enlightenment influences. To say that it was solely Christian ideas and influences which shaped the founding of the United States, is to be naïve of American history.

2. While some of our founding fathers were Christians, many of them were not. For instance, John Adams opposed the doctrine of the Trinity and spoke of the deity of Christ as "this awful blasphemy" which it was necessary to get rid of. Thomas Jefferson, likewise, was anti-supernaturalistic, eventually producing his own version of the Bible which jettisoned all of the recorded miracles – including the resurrection! James Madison believed that the government should in no way sanction national days of prayer. The truth is, while all of the founding fathers believed in a Divine Creator, they did not necessarily adhere to distinctly Christians ideas about Him – nor did they all believe that salvation was found solely in the person of Jesus Christ. Many of them were Deists rather than Christians. Thus, when we find statements from them which speak of "God" or a "Creator," we must immediately ask, "What God do they have in mind?" "Which Creator are they referring to – the impersonal god of Deistic belief or the holy and personal God revealed in Scripture?

Some well-meaning believers have tried to argue that all, or at least the vast majority, of the founding fathers were Christian because they were enrolled as members of Christian churches. But while it is true that many of them were registered members of Protestant church bodies, this does not at all mean that they were spiritually regenerate (which is the only kind of Christian that the New Testament speaks of) any more than the people today, who regularly attend Christian churches, are truly converted. It must be remembered that church attendance during this period was common and it was quite fashionable and proper to consider oneself "Christian." Moreover, this does not mean that the majority of the founding fathers viewed life from a distinctly Christian worldview nor possessed a mature biblical-theological foundation in Christian doctrine. And even if, for the sake of argument, they were all genuine Christians, this is far from proving that they were seeking to establish a "Christian Nation."

3. There is no mention whatsoever of Jesus Christ in America’s founding documents (Declaration of Independence and The Constitution). In fact, the Constitution doesn’t even make a single reference to God! Isn’t this rather odd for a nation that’s supposedly a "Christian Nation"? Why would supposedly Christian men leave out the founder of their religion in such important documents that will serve as the basis of their "Christian Nation"?

4. The United States was the first Western nation to omit explicitly Christian symbolism (such as the cross) from its flag and other national symbols. Why would the founding fathers neglect to employ such Christian symbolism on the national flag if, indeed, it is true that they were seeking to establish a "Christian Nation"?

5. In 1797, the United States made a treaty with the Islamic nation of Tripoli. This particular treaty was negotiated under George Washington, ratified by the Senate, and signed by President John Adams. But notice what is said in the actual document: "As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion, as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims, . . . it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries" (Hunter Miller, Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States [Government Printing Office, 1930], Vol.II, p.365).

Written by Darryl M. Erkel (1997)

Recommended Reading:

Mark A. Noll, Nathan O. Hatch, George M. Marsden, The Search for Christian America (Colorado Springs, CO: Helmers & Howard, 1989).

Michael S. Horton, Beyond Culture Wars (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994).

Eds. Os Guinness & John Seel, No God But God (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992).

Ed. Michael S. Horton, Power Religion (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992).

Thomas W. Frazier, Jr., "The Church: Living in the Present World Under the Cross of Christ," ed. John Armstrong, Reformation & Revival [Journal] (Winter – 1996, Vol.5/No.1), pp.65-80.

No Longer A Christian

by Karen Horst Cobb

I was told in Sunday school the word "Christian" means to be Christ-like, but the message I hear daily on the airwaves from the “christian ” media are words of war, violence, and aggression. Throughout this article I will spell Christian with a small c rather than a capital, since the term (as I usually hear it thrown about) does not refer to the teachings of the one I know as the Christ. I hear church goers call in to radio programs and explain that it was a mistake not to kill every living thing in Fallujah. They quote chapter and verse from the old testament about smiting the enemies of Israel. The fear of fighting the terrorists on our soil rather than across the globe causes the voices to be raised as they justify the latest prison scandal or other accounts of the horrors of war . The words they speak are words of destruction, aggression, dominance, revenge, fear and arrogance. The host and the callers echo the belief in the righteousness of our nation's killing. There are reminders to pray for our “Christian” president who is doing the work of the Lord: Right to Life, Second Amendment, sanctity of marriage, welfare reform, war, kill, evil liberals. . . so much to fight, so much to destroy.

Let me tell you about the Christ I know. He was conceived by an unmarried woman. He was not born into a family of privilege. He was a radical. He said, “It was said an eye for and eye and a tooth of a tooth, but now I say love your enemies and bless those who curse you.” He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5: 3-9) He said, “All those who are called by my name will enter the kingdom of heaven." He said, "People will know true believers if they have the fruit of the spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self control.“

He knew he would be led like a sheep to the slaughter. He responded with “Father forgive them.“ He explained that in Christ there is neither Jew nor gentile, slave or free male nor female. He explained that even to be angry is akin to murder. He said the temple of God is not a building, but is in the hearts of those are called by his name. He was called "the Prince of Peace." His final days were spent in prayer, so that he could endure what was set before him, not on how he could overpower the evil government of that day. When they came for him he was led away and didn’t resist his death sentence.

This is a stark contrast to the call of the religious Christian right, who vote for war and weapons, and suggest towns and villages be leveled to bring freedom and peace to the people. They proudly boast this country’s superiority, suggesting God has blessed our nation. Today, as I listened to a popular Christian news network, I was reminded that in the last days, even God’s elect will be deceived, (II Timothy 3:13). When the religious media moguls preaching prosperity spout their rhetoric, I am reminded of the difficulty Jesus described of a rich man’s ability to enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19: 24) (http://www.4religious-right.info/rr_economics.htm) Some who believe they are fighting evil will cry to the Lord, and he will say “I never knew you.“ (Matthew 22). They will have a form or godliness but will deny the power (II Timothy 3:5) to move mountains through prayer. (Matthew 17:20). Jesus explained that he has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:17) I wonder if the innocent moms and dads, brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles, and grandmas and grandpas who were the victims of US military weapons (the never reported collateral damages we are protected from in the “liberal” nightly news) felt the love of Jesus with the shock and awe. I wonder if the surviving family members now understand His radical love and that they no longer have any need for weapons or defense.

The solutions to the social issues used to manipulate good, decent people have no resemblance to how Jesus responded to the social concerns of his time. He never once mentioned the “right to life” the year he was born King Herod ordered the execution of all babies. (Matthew 2:16). He knew that passing laws does not change the heart. As a follower of his teaching I believe in the right to life, including the children in Iraq who stumble onto land mines, cross the street at the wrong time, or who are snugly tucked within the warm bellies of their wounded or grieving mothers as US fighter jets fly overhead. These are living, breathing children. The killing of these little ones are never even reported, and our tax dollars pay for these bombs. I believe in the right to life for those in the United States who are unwanted and impoverished. I believe in the right to life of the naive kid who was promised by the recruiter they could choose a desk job and still get their education paid or could see the world or could accelerate their life or could play a very realistic video game from a cockpit.

I've worked at a shelter, and I know first hand the reality of unwanted children. I know the reality of this right wing rhetoric when week after week I begged and pleaded with people to give up only one night every three months to sit with these unwanted living children for a few hours while the overworked house parents had a night off. Of the few I found, many changed their minds when they discovered that they would need to wear rubber gloves to change the babies diapers. These “believers” stand on the street corners holding right to life signs and then vote against medical assistance for the mothers and their unwanted children creating an impossible existence for them. The few of these abortion activists who might adopt some of these unwanted children generally want the white and the healthy. The ones with hydrocephalous, tracheotomies, emotional/ mental problems and communicable diseases along with their life long medical expenses can be someone else’s problems.

I cringe as many christians vote for policies that deny help to the poor in our own county, who vote to support the war and military strength, assuring the latest weapons are developed and that the heavens will be dominated by the military of the United States. We develop electromagnetic weapons to shatter skulls , split the earth and silently destroy a body as a thief in the night. Studies are even now searching for the frequencies to override the freewill. These unbelievable technologies are a reality and DNA specific weapons can or soon will target a specific nationality. I weep as the waters Jesus walked on become contaminated with uranium. (http://www.greendove.net/resources3.htm) I grieve as the missiles fly through the atmosphere on the continent where Jesus rose into the sky, defying death and the grave and where the Holy Sprit first descended. I cry out at the horrors of war and the indignity of the prisons so close to where He took captivity captive. So I am no longer a Christian if Christianity has become what is presented to us by our Christian president and Christian media. I cannot support the right of the United States and Israel to develop and use the most heinous weapons ever imagined. I want no part of a temple built on the blood of the innocent. The sheep have been lead astray by the teachings of prosperity and misinterpretation of the final battle between good and evil. Many no longer can recognize the voice of the good Shepherd.

Some “good Christians” even work at weapons facilities. It is not a stretch to say that a woman who tightens a last rivet on a shiny new missile just off the assembly line might be the same woman who licks the gold star on the attendance chart in morning Sunday school. The missile could be launched by the kid in the youth group who reads the invocation and it will find it’s destiny at a “target of interest” which might or might not have been a result of good intelligence. The collection plate circulates children are taught to love their enemies and bless those who curse them.

The statements and lifestyle of Jesus are difficult for me to understand. What would he say to evil dictators? This God would not justify 15,000 or more deaths. Even the wrathful jealous God of the old testament spared whole cities for a few righteous souls. For Christians, to support mass killings as a way to prevent future deaths is not at all like Christ. He would not say,"When I am talking about war I am really talking about peace," like the self professed Christian President proudly states. Who but God has the right to determine what price a people should pay for their freedom? The religious leaders on the airwaves today respond to the voices of the few brave peacemakers who dare to speak out. They say that pacifism is insane, and that it doesn’t make sense, but what is forgotten is that logic and faith are separate entities. I believe in the example of Jesus and his admonition to love your enemies and bless those who curse you . Do I understand how this works on the global scale? Do I know what Jesus would say to all the world’s leaders? No, nor do I totally understand how the example of Christ’s life and his message of love works in the world today. That’s why I need faith. Am I always correct in my assessments and actions? No, that’s why I need grace. Am I brave and unafraid? No, that’s why I need the perfect love that casts out fear. Some put trust in Chariots and some in horses but I will remember the name of the lord our God--the Prince of Peace. Perhaps politics has no place for imitators of Christ.

Who will show the face of Christ to the world? Who will speak His radical message? I hear from these so called imitators of Christ that the pacifists are a collection of kids, hippies, socialists and communists who haven’t got a clue. Some of us, however, have come to our beliefs as a result of careful and prayerful study of the scriptures and admonishment from our elders. Many are Mennonite, Amish, Quaker and other Anabaptists, whose ancestors did not resist their torturers and were drowned, burnt at the stake and flogged for their pacifist stand. They truly followed the example of Christ, and their resistance against the catastrophic effects of the merging of church and state cost them a great price. Churches today have signed onto the government plan and have agreed to look the other way in exchange for tax free privileges. The true message of Christ still exists to some degree in the quiet of the land to peacemakers, but sadly these good people have been deceived by the angry words from a righteous sounding religious media majority broadcasting in cars and trucks and tractors all over our land ironically preaching the “good news of war for peace“ and convincing 24-7 “liberal“ bashing. I suspect there are many who share my sorrow at the loss of what it means to be Christ-like, but our voice is seldom heard. The blaring rhetoric drowns out the still small voice of the mighty God. Peace used be the opposite of war, Conservative used to mean the tendency to conserve resources. Liberal used to mean kind and generous, and Christian used to mean like Christ.

So I am no longer a Christian but just a person who continues trying to follow the example of Christ. I’ll let him call me what he wants when I see him face to face. Until then, I will pray that someday people like me will be able to reclaim the meaning of Christ’s identity, and the world will see the effects of the radical message of Christ‘s love--the perfect love that casts out fear.

Karen Cobb is a freelance writer and artist in Santa Fe, NM and can be contacted at: cairnhcobb@msn.com.

McChurch Abandoning GOP in Droves

Calling the Congressman Foley incident the “tipping point,” Maine State Representative Stan Moody (D-Manchester) feels encouraged by the fallout... In 2003, Moody left the Republican Party halfway through his first term...

A Gallop poll released today indicated that white, frequent churchgoers intending to vote for Democratic candidates have moved from a disadvantage to Democrats of 23% in June through September, 2006, to dead even in October...

Indicating that Republicans have lost their advantage with Evangelicals, the analysis suggests that allegations of cover-up on the part of Republican leadership in the Foley incident has created the movement...

Moody, whose recently published book, McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry (Just Write Books, Topsham, ME), takes American Evangelicals to the woodshed, formed the Christian Policy Institute in 2005 as a voice for disenfranchised believers. He calls those believers members of the “Church in Exile.”

“It has been a long time coming, but cheap, drive-through grace is reaping its rewards,” states Moody. “American Evangelicals now find themselves with a shallow theology and a political platform that is collapsing.” Moody, an evangelical Baptist minister with a PhD in Theology, sees this development as an opportunity for the church to get back to its core doctrines and away from the kind of wedge issues that divide rather than unite believers.

McChurch is a McWord and a derogatory term used for a megachurch based on the perception that such churches are more concerned with entertainment than religion.

Citing David Kuo's book that will be released on Monday, October 16 (Moody's 67th birthday, by coincidence), Moody says that the revelations of hypocrisy and corruption within the Administration's Faith-Based and Community Initiatives program will be both “...embarrassing and humbling to those Evangelicals who have bought into the Republican Party as the moral hope for America.”

Kuo, former deputy director for the program, tells in Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction, that Evangelical leaders were courted by the White House and referred to in private by Karl Rove and others in such terms as “nuts,” “out-of-control” and “just plain goofy.”

“On that score,” Moody says, “Karl Rove is absolutely correct. It is time to retire those old evangelical retreads who appeal to the self-righteous and replace them with thinking Christians who can get beyond political party affiliation as a litmus test of faith,” he says...

“The church,” states Moody, “has to get back to the Way of the Cross, a way of self-denial, humility, repentance and changed lives. It has to lead by example.”

As for the Democratic Party that will undoubtedly reap the benefits of this revolution, Moody sounds a warning that disaster awaits if they resume their previous policies of running rampant over the religious convictions of an American public, 90% of whom believe in God.

“The politics of Choice have been forged in the libertine philosophy of no accountability to religion or religious culture. No decision is made in a vacuum. We live in community with others, and every choice we make as individuals has a positive or negative impact on that community.

“Democrats have to move from Choice to Informed Choice; from Rights to Privilege. Failure to do that will result in short-lived gains for the Democratic Party.

“Stomping on religious values or assuming that those values represent only a small segment of a person's life is a fatal mistake and will leave both major parties bereft of support from an electorate whose beliefs, or lack thereof, define who they are and how they vote.”

Rep. Stan Moody (D-Manchester), retiring after two terms in the Maine House of Representatives, is the author of several provocative books. His latest, McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry, is published by Just-Write-Books, a collaborative publisher of Maine authors in Topsham, ME. Moody pastors the North Manchester Meeting House Church in Manchester and is founder of the Christian Policy Institute, “A Voice for Thoughtful Believers,” www.christianpolicyinstitute.org.

For The Bible Told Them So

Documentary shows how the Bible's verses have been used to justify discrimination - and how modern conservatives use the Good Book to lambaste gays.

By Jessica Ravitz - The Salt Lake Tribune

"Last week I bought a gun. Yesterday I wrote the note. But last night I happened to turn on your show and just knowing that someday I might be able to go back into my church, I threw the gun in the river. My mom never has to know." -- A boy in Iowa

The e-mail was only four sentences long, but it shaped Daniel Karslake's future.

Karslake, 41, was a young television producer in 1998 when he received the above note from a boy in Iowa. His segment on a lesbian theologian had just aired on the PBS program "In the Life." This boy's short message, one that still brings Karslake to tears, was the first of hundreds he would receive from gays and lesbians across the country - from people who felt rejected by their church families. The aspiring filmmaker had found his mission.

"This e-mail fueled everything I've done since," he said this week.

Opening Sunday night at the Sundance Film Festival is Karslake's "For the Bible Tells Me So," a documentary in the independent film competition. The production, which took more than three years to complete, was funded in large part by Orem-resident Bruce Bastian, co-creator of the word-processing software that became WordPerfect. The film shows how the Bible's verses have been used to justify, over centuries, various forms of discrimination, and how today religious conservatives use the Good Book to back anti-gay rhetoric.

For gay and lesbian people who grew up steeped in Scripture and tied to church communities, this rhetoric - something referred to in the film as "a modern invention" - has been especially painful. Not just for them, but for their families.

By focusing on the journeys of five Christian families, each with a member who came out as gay or lesbian, Karslake paints a personal picture.

Viewers meet Mary Lou Wallner, who blames herself, and the teachings that shaped who she was, for the suicide of her daughter. They gain an insider's perspective on the coming-out process for Chrissy Gephardt, daughter of former Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) and his wife, Jane. They also get to know Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay Episcopal Church bishop, his parents and his ex-wife.

The path for Tonia Poteat's family wasn't easy to navigate, but by agreeing to be interviewed for this documentary, Poteat, 37, said lines of communication were opened.

"I was shocked that they agreed pretty easily to do it," Poteat, of Atlanta, said of her parents, who live in North Carolina. "I actually think it's a coming-out process for them also. . . . It's been a journey for me to recognize this is a struggle for them."

Randi Reitan, also featured in the film and reached in her Minneapolis-area home, thought back to when her son, Jake, came out. The family was then living in Mankato, Minn., a place she described as "a very closeted town," and she and her husband, Phil, "knew nothing about homosexuality."

The Reitans never stopped loving their son, but the strict Lutherans first sought counsel and understanding from a pastor who told them, "Don't worry, Jake can change," she remembered, her voice cracking. "I get emotional just speaking about it."

Now the Reitans count themselves among activists, finding their voice and passion in an organization called Soulforce.

The Rev. Mel White, a former ghostwriter for evangelicals such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Jim Bakker, is behind Soulforce. The organization combats "the misuse of religion to sanction the condemnation and rejection of any of God's children" through "relentless nonviolent resistance," the group's Web site explains.

White, 66, is one of many religious leaders and scholars, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who appear in Karslake's film. Contacted in Lynchburg, Va., where he moved so he could regularly attend and silently protest in Falwell's church, White said for 30 years he battled his homosexuality with therapies including electric shock. Only after he slit his wrists did he part ways with his wife and face up to who he was.

"I realized my orientation, too, was a gift from God," he said.

He also realized preachers such as Falwell and Robertson were doling out messages that were "the ultimate source of disinformation," he said. "Fundamentalism is based on fear and politics of blame. . . . They were so smart at knowing what would create the kind of fear that would lead to donations."

Peppered throughout "For the Bible Tells Me So" are snippets, including a cartoon, outlining statistics and research findings. Mixed in is the annual revenue of Bible-thumping moneymakers. James Dobson, of Focus on the Family, brings in $138 million a year, the film reports. Robertson: $459 million.

The problem, too, the film points out, is the masses blindly accept biblical interpretations offered by these popular personalities rather than read and study for themselves. As a result, historical context is ignored, as are broader and supplementary materials, said the Rev. Laurence Keene, a soon-to-retire sociology professor at Pepperdine University.

"I have a soft spot in my heart for literalists because I used to be one," he said in the film. "There's nothing wrong with a fifth-grade understanding of God [or the Bible], as long as you're in the fifth grade."

Take, for instance, the word "abomination," which is used over and over by fundamentalists to describe what the Bible says about same-sex relations. Keene reiterated in a phone call this week that the word "abomination" refers to actions that were deemed "ritually impure." Other abominations include eating pork or shrimp, wearing linen and wool at the same time, and commingling crops.

Abominations, Keene explained, are not "intrinsically evil or immoral"; they are the actions that were considered "unclean" or "un-Jewish" at the time when the Hebrew people were trying to build a nation and procreation - requiring sex between a man and a woman - was paramount.

Rather than shy away from talk about religion, Keene said it's time people other than conservatives "stood up" to "give the public another look at how the Bible can be understood."
And it's this longing to spark conversation, this longing to reach gay youth like the boy who wrote him years ago, that motivates Karslake. "I'm hoping fair-minded people of all kinds see the film, and it makes them think," he said. "These kids just want a glimmer of hope." --- *

JESSICA RAVITZ can be reached at jravitz@sltrib.com or 801-257-8776. Send comments to the religion editor at religioneditor@sltrib.com.

For the Bible also tells them . . .

* And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, . . . the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death (Leviticus 20:10).

* For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death (Leviticus 20:9).

* Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people (Leviticus 11:26-27).

* Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you (Leviticus 11:12).

Conflict of Conscience

Why I left the Republican Party

I recently wrote a book on the Christian Right in American politics. It's title is McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry. This book is not about helping a Christian find the right church, nor is it about how to talk to the religious right. Instead, it is about how and why the Christian Right has hijacked the Republican Party to serve its own narrow ends.

Few people in American society can question that the Republican Party is the party of choice for many, if not most Evangelical Christians.

For many Evangelicals, affiliating with the Republican Party amounts to a declaration of faith. They believe the Republican Party to be the protector and defender of a moral and ethical code that mirrors those found in the Bible. And they stand on the dangerous ground of raising the party platform to near biblical proportion when it embraces a select social agenda while ignoring other, more basic graces.

As a nation, we can tweak our politics from left to right and back with minimal damage, but when the religious beliefs of the Christian Right and foreign policy became indistinguishable, much more was at stake.

As a Baptist pastor of an interdenominational church in Manchester and a Christian theologian, I consider myself to be an Evangelical Christian. I no longer am a Republican.

There are reasons for that.

The Scriptures offer a couple of interesting thoughts on politics and faith. The first is in the 22nd chapter of Matthew, where church leaders question Jesus. “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” He answers by asking them for a coin. “Whose portrait is on this?” he asks. “Caesar’s,” they answer. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s,” is his response.

The message is clear.

Those who call themselves “Christian” carry dual citizenship in a similar way that American citizens consider themselves to be citizens of the world but primarily Americans. Our national citizenship requires that we pay taxes to the government for services rendered. Our heavenly citizenship requires that we pay homage to God.

Politics is about influencing and deciding how tax moneys are to be spent. Citizens can and should lobby politicians concerning their spending decisions, and the lobbying should be ethical, moral and legal.

But Christians have another citizenship – citizenship in the kingdom of God. The coin of that realm is nothing less than obedience and commitment.

A second lesson on Christian faith comes at the trial of Jesus.

Pontius Pilate does not understand why religious people tend to crucify someone of their own religion.

“It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” he asks.

“My kingdom is not of this world,” he told Pilate. “If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Even though he is a Jew, Jesus is regarded as a criminal for refusing to allow Judaism to define who he is.

Today, practicing Evangelical Christians risk permitting the Republican Party to define who they are in hopes that they, in turn, can define the Republican Party.

It never works that way. In the end, Caesar demands it all.

My failure to tow the party line on matters of conscience such as “Just War” in the Middle East brought condemnation from many Republicans. That was to be expected, as I was departing from the Party Line.

But when that condemnation came from people professing to be Christians, I knew that it was time for me to leave. One could no longer merely be in the Republican Party without being of the Republican Party. The religious right, as defined within the context of the Republican Party, required that an alternative version of American history be devised to support its theology. This is known as historical revisionism.

In becoming synonymous with Republican politics, Evangelical Christians reject the allegiance to the kingdom of God and cross into Caesar’s world, where people are judged, not by their commitment to truth, but by their allegiance to the king.

We all must live in Caesar’s world.

Conscience and faith require that we be free to remain detached from Caesar’s demands for unconditional loyalty.

The religious establishment of Jesus’ day crossed into Caesar’s world and ultimately used the government they hated to silence him.

In Cold Dead Hands

Modern theologians often refer to the divide between the Church and American life as a “culture divide.” What they mean by that is that the Church calls believers to values diametrically opposed to those of the acquisitive American Dream – sacrifice, service and allegiance to God.

That has all been turned upside down by the recent merger of the Republican Party with the religious right wing of the Christian Church.

After six years of total domination by the GOP of Congress and the Presidency, it is clear that its ideology is dysfunctional. The complex problems facing our nation are well beyond easy sound bites and facile solutions.

Tax cuts have failed to usher in the anticipated economic expansion. Health care, the biggest elephant in the living room, is spiraling out of control. The Prescription Drug program is suffering from over-complication and arbitrary deadlines. The War on Terrorism has left the American public more anxious than ever. And the GOP leadership’s answer to the burgeoning energy crisis is to send each household one-hundred dollars.

Borrowing the famous quotation of Marie Antoinette, “Let them eat cake!”

A clash of cultures is imminent. But the impending war will not be for the hearts and minds of Americans. It will be for the soul of the Republican Party and the faith of Evangelicals. An implosion of monumental proportions is on the horizon.

The Republican Party cannot survive without the Evangelical Right. And the Evangelical Right, having tired of waiting for God, cannot remain a force outside the sanctity of repentant prayer. They are pulling each other down a quarter inch at a time.

The anticipated implosion has been set in motion by a mutual confusion over which god to worship – the American Dream or Jehovah. The wisdom of the American doctrine of separation of Church and State is soon to be made apparent.

Here in Maine, the acquisition of the Church by the GOP has prompted a dangerous attack on civility. The debate around two contentious bills is instructive.

LD 1717: “Jessica’s Law”

Something called The Lamoine Informer might have captured best the hysteria that accompanied the introduction of Jessica’s Law, a bill that would have imposed a mandatory twenty-five year sentence on those convicted for the first time of gross sexual assault on a child less than twelve years of age.

AN OPEN INVITATION TO CHILD MOLESTERS!

Ms. Pat Blanchette, the Co-Chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee and a Democrat, extended an invitation to all sexual child molesters and murderers to come to Maine … She asked her Democratic colleague, Glenn Cummings, House Democratic Leader, to "Table" (a Parliamentary Procedure) the mandatory sentencing bill. She is thereby preventing it from being voted on by our Representatives. Ms. Blanchette claims that Jessica's Law is being "pushed" by the media. Ms. Blanchette, in my opinion, is guilty of aiding and abetting those who rape and murder children. Sure, the media is pushing for the 25 year mandatory sentencing of child-molesting murderers. Why? Because Parents and the law enforcement agencies are outraged by Judges who continually allow perverts to commit atrocities again and again.

Mothers and Fathers, if your child is sexually assaulted, murdered, or both, remember that Blanchette and Cummings made it impossible for the Legislature to vote for Jessica's Law and mandatory sentencing. Ask any Law Enforcement Officer; they risk their lives daily to apprehend criminals only to have others put them right back on the street to do it again. Ask them if they support mandatory sentencing.

The message is abundantly clear and has been echoed by the GOP faithful. The Democratic Party favors sex offenders, while the media, mothers and fathers, law enforcement and Republicans are clamoring for tougher sentencing.

This was political posturing of the most degenerate form – further abuse of victims and their families in the lust for political advantage.

Upon removal of the bill from the table, the debate centered on the children who, ironically, would be subjected to further abuse were they required to testify in a trial where the burden of proof favors innocence.

A member of the Christian Right, running for my now open House seat, suggested to me that, while cross-examination of victims is certainly brutal, these children already have been subjected to brutality. In other words, one more brutality would inflict little additional emotional damage.

Every newspaper in the State came out against any form of Jessica’s Law. Law enforcement and child advocacy groups were unanimous in insisting that Jessica’s Law was a usurpation of the discretion of prosecutors, would reduce the number of indictments and would leave more sexual predators untreated and unidentified.

Facing a twenty-five year mandatory sentence for first offences, it was stated, would guarantee that every defendant would elect to go to trial, thereby discouraging victims from coming forward.

The compromise was a mandatory twenty-year sentence with mitigation downward at the discretion of the court. Furthermore, conviction will be accompanied by a mandatory lifetime parole.

LD 1938: Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence
While Jessica’s Law enjoyed a high profile in the media, LD 1938 flew so beneath the radar that its fate was a greater tragedy. A perfectly acceptable bill was scuttled by the NRA, whose supporters saw the opportunity to make a needless statement concerning respect by law enforcement for guns confiscated under Protection from Abuse Orders.

The current gun registration law prohibits a person under a Protection from Abuse Order from purchasing a firearm from a licensed gun dealer. LD 1938 would require that a dealer notify the authorities if there were an attempt by a person under a PAO to purchase a gun. In turn, authorities must notify the PAO filer of the attempt to purchase.

The NRA, through the House minority whip, Rep. Joshua Tardy of Newport, submitted an amendment that would require law enforcement to guarantee the condition of confiscated firearms in the event the PAO was lifted. That amendment was later moderated by Rep. Janet Mills of Farmington to one of requiring the Criminal Justice Academy to train in the proper storing and safeguarding of confiscated firearms.

The bill died between the two legislative bodies for failure to agree on the amendment. Its future remains in doubt at this writing.

Where do we go from here?
It is very true that times and great wealth have worked against the influence of faith on public policy. Secular humanism is effective so long as we have the resources to carry out the mandates. That was yesterday, however.

The balance needs to be restored so that public leaders become comfortable with once again invoking their faith. Thinking back, there were a number of prominent Democrats who included God in their hopes and dreams for America. Among those were Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Presidents Kennedy and Carter.

There was comfort in knowing that our leaders were not flying by the seat of their pants but considered matters in light of their responsibility to the Divine.

There was comfort in knowing that the prayers of the faithful stood behind our leaders. Now that the most self-conscious wing of the faithful has officially merged with the Republican Party, we are left with the sense that we are alone – back to flying by the seat of our pants.

The Democratic Party, while continuing to respect all religious beliefs, can step into the void left by the departing faithful and welcome back those who have left because of conflict of conscience.

Fear of religion has hurt Democrats. But fear of cold, hard secularism on the part of the people will hurt them more in coming years.

There may yet be a time again when “Nation under God” becomes a reality rather than a slogan.

For Family, Religion Shapes Politics

By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff March 29, 2005

This is a tragic account of the merger of the Confessing Church of Jesus Christ with Mammon – in this case the Republican Party...”Jesus is my Homeboy” says it all...Absent is any sense of the role of the Holy Spirit in salvation, the sovereignty of God in the affairs of mankind and the presence of the Kingdom of God...This family, typical members of McChurch, the drive-through, fast-food temple of the Christian Right, is earthbound while under the presumption of being Heaven-bound...They present themselves as the ideal family whom America ought to emulate in order to be right with God...This is one of the most self-righteous, uncharitable displays that I have seen in many a year - “It's my way or the highway, and I couldn't care less because I am soon out of here (even though I can't take my toys with me)...This is everything we thoughtful evangelicals have feared and worse...What happened to the “Word made flesh?” Just a Homeboy?

- Stan Moody, Christian Policy Institute, author of “McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry.” -

MASON, Ohio -- Michael and MarCee Wilkerson bow their heads and pray before every meal, even when they are surrounded by strangers at Skyline Chili. Their older daughter, Brittany, 13, listens to Christian-accented rap, hip-hop, and R&B. And Brooke, 9, is fond of wearing a T-shirt that proclaims, ''Jesus is my Homeboy."

A middle-class family in a Cincinnati suburb, the Wilkersons are evangelical Christians for whom a literal interpretation of the Bible is a blueprint for living. Religious beliefs also guide their politics in this staunchly Republican region, which helped President Bush carry Ohio and the national election.

To them, the president is ''a godly man" and Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts is not.

Such thinking is prompting many Democrats to rethink the party's message on religion and abortion, and how to reach out to voters for whom religion plays a critical, determining role. But in the Wilkersons' four-bedroom home, nestled between a creek and a cul-de-sac, a political conversion seems unlikely at best.

The Wilkersons oppose abortion and stem-cell research, consider homosexuality a sin, and regard same-sex marriage as the work of activist judges who cater to a dangerous fringe group. The future holds either heaven or hell, and the only way to paradise is to accept Jesus Christ. In their reading of Scripture, even a saintly non-Christian such as Gandhi has been doomed to eternal torment.

''This is the word of God," Michael Wilkerson says, brandishing the New International Version of the Bible. ''There's only one way, and it's through Jesus."

MarCee and Michael are committed to converting others by example, the approach preached at Hope Free Evangelical Church, where the stereotype of Bible-thumping fundamentalists has been rejected in favor of a gentler model that promotes the transforming power of a Christian life played out 24-seven.

The Wilkersons' religious beliefs allow little room for shortcuts or compromise, but they do not try to insulate their daughters completely from pop culture. Brittany watches MTV and has a poster of the pop star Usher on her door. Michael and MarCee say they trust her judgment. In the end, the parents say, their teachings on morality will guide her behavior.

In church attendance and politics, the Wilkersons have plenty of like-minded company. At Hope Church, an 1,800-member congregation puts it among the largest of 19 churches in Mason. And here, in one of the state's fastest-growing cities, ''pretty much everyone's a Republican," says City Manager Scot Lahrmer. ''This is the heartland, and it's a very conservative area."

Bush held his largest Ohio campaign rally in neighboring West Chester in October, attracting an estimated 55,000 people. The president's message of a morality guided government resonated with the affluent suburbanites here, who, like the Wilkersons, are apt to drive BMWs and Nissan Maximas. The president outpolled Kerry in Warren County, which includes Mason, 72 percent to 28 percent.

''Being conservative adds to the quality of life. It's viewed as being profamily and family friendly. This is a kid heaven," Lahrmer says of a city where the median household income is $81,000.

And heaven, in its glorious biblical sense, is very much on the minds of the Wilkersons.

'Let your life shine' In the Wilkersons' pantheon of priorities, it is ''family, church, and everything else after that," said Michael, 44.

During a five-day stretch at the beginning of this month, Michael and MarCee, 41, sang in the choir of Hope Church; Brittany attended Sunday services and a later breakout session for middle school students; and Brooke seemed as comfortable watching choir rehearsal as she is on the parallel bars in gymnastics practice.

Outside church, the family holds Bible readings several times a week. Michael makes the major decisions at home. In the family room, the Disney channel plays. On a table are books about Jesus. In the bathroom was a book, ''A Call for Freedom: Words of Inspiration from America's Presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush."

The bond between Michael and MarCee, who met at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, is palpably deep as they approach their 20th wedding anniversary in July. Even if they did have marital problems, divorce ''is not an option," says MarCee, who defends the Bible's instruction that wives submit to their husbands for direction and guidance.

Michael, who grew up in a strict evangelical home in Melbourne, Fla., is a senior sales representative for a wood-flooring distributor. MarCee teaches second grade in public school, a secular environment that she calls a ''mission field" where she can quietly advertise the virtues of a Christian life through example.

Like her husband, MarCee does not speak about her religious principles unless asked. As a result, in a public school system where evolution is taught, MarCee keeps many spiritual convictions to herself instead of initiating discussions with co-workers and pupils.

''We emphasize: Let your life shine rather than speaking with words," says Hope Church's senior pastor, Michael Moriarty, whose religious journey began in earnest after a near-fatal bar fight during college. ''If people want to know what makes us tick, it will come very naturally out of our life. We don't hit them over the head with a Bible."

For the Wilkersons, that life means shunning alcohol except once or twice a year, when Michael and MarCee allow themselves a glass of wine or a pina colada while on vacation. ''I've never had a beer in my life," says Michael, who played three sports in high school and is a fitness fanatic.

The Wilkersons do not smoke. They also do not frequent nightspots, although they will dance on rare occasions when they socialize with church friends. They donate 10 to 20 percent of their combined income of $120,000 to Hope Church.

A night out often means a stop at Skyline Chili, where they order Cincinnati's signature fast food two or three times a week as they hustle to and from soccer, gymnastics, or basketball practice. One recent evening, sitting in the no-smoking section, Michael thanks God for the food and asks for blessings on the other families in the restaurant.

After a soft ''Amen," Michael and MarCee quiz Brittany, a good student, about her seventh-grade day. One question, floated between sips of sweet tea with lemon, concerns Brittany's performance on a recent science test and how she handled a question on evolution.

On the test, Brittany says, she answered that the gradual evolution of human beings from other species is a possibility, although she and her family believe that the human race began with God's creation of Adam and Eve.

''I almost wanted to say it's not true," Brittany says of Darwin's theory, later at the house. ''That's so much crap. Who makes it up?"

''It's a myth," answers her father, who did not question or rebuke Brittany for using a vulgar word.

''I think He could do it in seven days," MarCee says of the Genesis timetable for creation.

Right choices The Wilkerson girls have been sent to public school, instead of one of two Christian schools nearby, because their parents want them exposed to the secular world, other religions, and other races. In this way, MarCee says, she and Michael can use real-life situations to teach their girls before they leave home for college. Despite that choice of public schooling, the Wilkersons do not want their girls to form serious relationships with non-Christian boys.

''If it were a Jewish boy or a Muslim boy . . .we'd just have to let them know we don't approve," MarCee says. Concerning interracial dating, MarCee pauses before saying, ''I want to be open to that. My point is: Is he a good kid, a good person, and respects her? But number one, does he have Christ as the head of his life. That's the most important in her life."

Brittany's musical taste tends to Christian flavors -- ''Christian rap, hip-hop, and rhythm and blues," she says. Although Brittany is allowed to attend middle-school dances, she has asked her parents not to chaperone her. So far, so good, though Michael says he will not hesitate to chaperone if he gets concerned about inappropriate music or socializing.

''I could if I want to, and I will if I have to," Michael says with a smile.

Her parents strictly monitor Brittany's dress, and tight or provocative clothing is not allowed. On one of Brittany's favorite T-shirts is a question on the front, in dark and garish colors: ''If you died today, where would you go?" On the back: ''Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. . . .It's the burning question."

''I like to see what people say when they read it," Brittany says.

The decor in Brittany's bedroom looks like any teenager's, particularly one as sports-minded as this teenager. Posters of Mia Hamm, the pioneering US women's soccer star, nearly paper one wall. Above her headboard is a picture of Ricky Williams, the former Miami Dolphins running back who struggled with drug use. High on her door is a photograph of Usher, a hip-hop singer whom Michael termed ''kind of OK, so we watch that."

Dominating the door, however, is a large campaign poster that boldly proclaims Brittany's support for ''Bush, Cheney '04."

Brittany's television tastes include ESPN, the all-sports station; the pop-music channel MTV, particularly its show ''Pimp My Ride"; and BET, a black entertainment option. Her father listens to the conversation with a reporter, unsure what exactly MTV is. In any event, Michael says, he trusts Brittany to make the right choices and does not routinely monitor her viewing. Nothing racy is allowed on the television, although MarCee professes a liking for the crime-show ''CSI."

She and Michael monitor Brittany's instant-messaging contacts on the computer they bought her for Christmas.

R-rated movies also are forbidden. Even when her friends try to persuade her to watch an R-rated movie without her parents' knowledge, Brittany says, she refuses.

''I never will watch them -- ever. I hate them," Brittany says. ''I feel kind of happy," she says. ''I feel I'm doing the right thing."

Strong convictions Doing the right thing is easy, Michael says, because he has lived the Christian life since his earliest days. His family attended church three times a week, and ''Lawrence Welk" was the TV favorite.

''Christianity is lived out every hour of every day. I have no hidden agenda," Michael says. Thumbing through a Bible, he adds, ''I don't know why people hate this story so much."

To him, the media and entertainment industry have for decades caricatured devout Christians as narrow-minded, judgmental bumpkins. In the Wilkersons' view, Hollywood is out of touch with the mainstream, instead of the reverse.

''Those people don't have a clue," Michael says, shaking his head in disgust.

Politics is not a consuming topic in this household, but the election did give Michael and MarCee a feel-good sense that their values are shared by an increasing number of people. ''I think Christians just sat back for years, thinking that you're not supposed to talk about politics and religion," MarCee says.

''There was a point where you thought, 'Why even vote?' " adds Michael, though the couple have never missed a presidential election. ''I just think our country was based on Christian values. There are moral absolutes, things it was based on, that I think should be here."

Those things include prayer in school, the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance, and a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. To the Wilkersons, Bush appears to take his religion seriously and apply its principles to his personal life. Kerry, they say, seemed to schedule his church attendance for political benefit.

''I just couldn't trust him," MarCee says.

On the subject of gays, the Wilkersons say they oppose discrimination, but their view of marriage is a divinely-sanctioned biblical one, limited to a man and a woman for the purpose of creating a family. Michael turns to St. Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, 6:9-11, which reads in part in the New International version: ''Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." He interprets the Scripture to mean gays cannot be admitted to heaven.

''I don't hate anyone who's a homosexual," Michael says. ''But do I hate what they do? Yes."

On abortion, the Wilkersons are adamant: ''A life is a life," MarCee says, and to her, life begins at conception. The only possible exception for abortion, MarCee says, is when the life of the mother is in jeopardy -- not for rape, and not for incest.

These convictions extend to embryonic stem-cell research, which both parents regard as the destruction of potential life. MarCee has multiple sclerosis that has numbed part of her left side and arm.

''To me," she says, ''I would much rather have multiple sclerosis than to take the life of a possible child to have a cure."

Like many evangelical congregations, Hope Church is nondenominational. Its members include former mainstream Protestants as well as one-time Catholics ''who now are Christians," Michael says. ''The Catholic religion? I'm not too sure that Jesus is a big, integral part of that."

The Sunday services at Hope are an energetic mix of music and teaching, in which ''contemporary" Christian songs in gospel and rhythm-and-blues styles are complemented by Moriarty's sermon. Two morning services are followed by sessions that focus on smaller groups such as high-school students, ''empty nesters," and single adults.

Michael and MarCee sing at both services, attend a prayer session for the choir, and then join church friends for lunch after socializing in the lobby. Embraces, handshakes, and warm conversations are everywhere. But what binds Hope's congregants together, according to the Wilkersons and the church pastors, is a belief in the divinity and saving grace of Jesus Christ.

''Basically, it comes down to there's only one God," Michael says. ''You have to come to that conclusion: There's one way to that God, and that's through Jesus."

Unfortunately, Wilkerson said sadly, the ''harsh reality" of the Bible precludes salvation for non-Christians.

When asked if that means Gandhi, a Hindu who reached across religious lines, was denied entry to heaven, Wilkerson dropped his head and nodded.

In the end, two cars, a pickup, a nice home, good jobs, and a comfortable life in the American heartland are all temporary amenities to the Wilkersons and the other churchgoers who fill Hope's sanctuary with song and prayer each Sunday. They have their eyes on the hereafter.

Until then, the Wilkersons say, their journey is one worth emulating.

''If you want the country to be better, you would want to take a model of a husband and wife and a family who wants to do the right thing," Michael says. ''You would think that would be the model the country would want to go after.

''If you want to call us do-gooders, so be it."

Religious Right and the Balance of Power

An inordinate fear of the influence of religion has restricted political thought and action to the temporal five senses. This has deeply affected our nation’s ability to solve systemic social and economic problems.

We lurch from crisis to crisis in a linear system of problem solving destined to eventually collapse under the weight of its own laws.

The Christian Church has historically offered a novel approach to problem solving. To be a Christian is to know by experience that outside the direct influence of the transcendent God, we are hopelessly mired in our addictive systems of continuing to do things the same way, expecting different results. The effective merger of the Republican Party and the Christian Right wing of the Christian Church is an admission by both of defeat in the culture wars – “If you can’t lick 'em, join 'em.”

Tired of waiting for God to respond to its selfish demands, the religious rights has jettisoned the transcendent for a system of laws to enforce those demands. Miserably failing in its mandate to bring fiscal and social sanity to government, the Republican Party has formed an uneasy alliance with a Christian voice no longer speaking for God.

The Underlying Theology: The foundational doctrine of the Christian life is the ability, through Christ, to live above the flesh, the normative human condition. The early church fathers and the Reformers did not understand flesh to be a conscious rebellion against the Rule of God but a human condition that approached life from a position of rights and power, or “What’s in it for me?” The ability to rise above the promotion of our own interests being impossible outside what is referred to as a “Higher Power,” what the Church has offered to culture down through the centuries is the hope of an alternative.

Jesus being the Christian standard and hope for living above the fray of human conflict, He came preaching that in weakness there is strength, and in suffering there is hope – two qualities forcefully rejected by both the Republican Party and the Christian Right. “Kill them before they kill us” applies equally to terrorists and liberals.

That is a form of Christian atheism – belief in “Jesus for me” but rejection of God for us. That is the language that has driven conscious Christians out of the Church and welcomes the NRA, the political right (regardless of beliefs), and the Apocalypse. A Christian Nation:The justification for this departure from the faith has been insistence upon returning to a nationalistic concept known as the “Christian Nation.” We need not debate that point. It is a non-starter. What ought to resonate with the professing Christian is that the ministries of Jesus and Paul were precisely contrary to the notion of a theocratic State.

The crucifixion of Jesus was prompted by His insistence that the Kingdom of God was transcendent over the nation of Israel. The beheading of St. Paul was prompted by his teaching of the transcendence of God over Caesar. The reality of both was grounded in the transcendent God.

Visions of Christian nations, Christian schools, Christian companies and Christian political parties are born of unreality and unbelief. The distinctive feature of the Christ-event is its departure from religious nationalism into what He defined as the Kingdom of God.

There, the believer is equipped to live above the fray of human self-service. There, each is freed to bring to others around the globe his or her piece of the Kingdom. There, the witness that God ultimately reigns goes forth through lives lived above the fray.

There, national boundaries are no more. Race is abolished. Gender lines are erased Wealth or lack thereof is incidental. All these differences merely serve to unite us in service to God and mankind. The Future:Not too far into the future, the Republican Party will have no choice but to jettison the Evangelical Christian Right. The two will be pulling each other down.The judgment that Evangelicals are seeking against their liberal neighbors and against terrorists will be turned against a Church that has forgotten its first love – Christ.

Meanwhile, the Christian apostasy of “might makes right” is encouraging thoughtful people to reflect on a better way.

Stan Moody holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Theology and is the author of several books, including Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship and McChurched: 300 Millions Served and Still Hungry. He is pastor of the North Manchester Meeting House Church in Manchester, ME and is an elected member of the Maine House of Representatives. He is founder and President of the Christian Policy Institute, a “Voice for Thoughtful Believers.” He may be reached at StanHunts@aol.com.

Back To Bible Bootcamp

by Alexander Zaitchik

The specter of nearly-octogenarians James Baker and Lee Hamilton releasing the findings of the Iraq Study Commission raises stark contrast between the ruling class in America and a rising cacophony of a proletariat finding its voice through the Internet. Blogs and chat rooms have become the screen through which ideas, both good and bad, are sifted. Both the brilliance and the idiocy of participants is riveting.

The model to which Congress, the White House and the two major political parties cling rests on two inviolable principles – that nation states alone hold the power to broker peace or war and that the world can be divided into groups of good and evil.

The lesson of 9/11, however, is that the ill-conceived “War on Terrorism” is not merely a war against nation states and their despotic leaders but a war for the hearts and minds of the dispossessed, not only in America but now worldwide. Lies, obfuscation and spin, so effective in the past, are unasked nearly as fast as they are created in the back rooms of power and in the caves of Pakistan.

Even the much-debated Patriot Act fails to silence the hum of ideas, good and bad, bubbling from laptops in remote corners of the earth.

The change is evident not only in the seats of political power but in other entrenched institutions as well.

Examples:
The education establishment lumbers on in the face of declining enrollment. Meanwhile, distance learning fights for credibility in a world that accredits on the grounds of teacher/student ratios, test scores, dorm rooms and libraries.