Coincidentally, the lead article on Iran va Jahan today http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=05&d=12&a=5 concluded: "There's a useful lesson here for George Bush's America as well as for the ayatollahs' Iran: when a religion is imposed on people, when a government tries too ostentatiously to put itself "under God," the effect is often not to prop up religious faith but to undermine it. Nothing is more lethal to religious faith than having self-righteous, intolerant politicians ... drag God into politics. "
That said, I believe it is way too simplistic to accuse all Christian politicians of theocratic aspirations. I suspect the majority of those in Australia would follow Jesus' teaching: He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Luke 20: 25 Sue On Thu, 13 May 2004 09:47:05 +1000, Allan wrote: >If we think that it is only in America that this right wing Christian movement is >seeking power, we better think again. > >I was in conversation with the president of the local Liberal Party (who also happens >to be part of our local Rural Australians for Refugees group and is highly critical >of the Howard governments actions both in regards to refugees and Iraq) and he was >sharing how the Young Liberal movement had become extremely conservative right wing. >I didn't think much more about it until last night when I was listening to the >Religion report on ABC radio and they were talking about how the fundamentalist >Catholic group Opus de (I hope I spelt that right) have actually managed to stack >some of the NSW groups and are getting there own members preselected for various >seats. > >I also hear that the liberal candidate for the Hills district is being sponsored by >Hillsong. I don't know any more about this as it was just mentioned by someone at a >meeting I was at. > >Scary stuff. >Allan > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Tom Stuart > To: 'insights' > Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2004 9:19 AM > Subject: Interesting article in Sojourners > > > This article came in an email so, sorry, I couldn't just give a URL. Tom > > > > Are liberal Christians phony? > > by David Batstone > > advertisement > > > The query came into my in-box this week, with the obvious inference that SojoMail > is both liberal and phony. The accuser identified himself by name, adding that he > had his Ph.D. and hailed from the state of Texas. > > Without getting caught up in political labels - my self-proclaimed "liberal" > friends stumble over some of my faith-informed views - I found his theology > intriguing. Without a doubt, he clearly drew borders that zoned Christians into > different political territories. > > He opened his note as follows: > > Liberal Christians have no understanding of the God-given role of Government. > Liberal Christians are Peter-Pan Christians who demand that Governments, before the > return of Jesus, foolhardily beat their God-given swords into plowshares and live > according to the Sermon on the Mount. Liberal Christians do NOT realize that the > plow-share things happens during the 2nd Coming of Jesus, when Jesus takes back the > swords from Human Governments as He establishes God's Kingdom on Earth. This is why > our Hero taught us to pray: "Please hurry Thy Kingdom to come, so Thy will is done > on Earth as it is in Heaven." > > If you have never had exposure to a "dispensational" view of history, my accuser's > stream of thought may make no sense to you. I grew up in an evangelical Christian > church that espoused a dispensational theology, so let me explain. God, it is > assumed, has divided up history into different eras, or dispensations, and each will > run its course. In our present era, the forces of good (God's chosen) battle against > the forces of evil (under Satan's spell). God looks to government to practice order > and suppress evil with the sword. This current dispensation will end with the second > coming of Jesus, who will establish God's kingdom on earth. > > I often hear non-Christians ask: How can a person who identifies with Jesus Christ > espouse actions that run so counter to peace and justice? This theological device > enables many Christians to discount the teachings of Jesus as a guide for living > their lives. Forgive your enemies? Feed the hungry? Clothe the naked and care for > the prisoner? Not a chance; you'd be foolish to adopt these practices in the > dispensation in which we live. Governments must take whatever measures are necessary > to defeat evil, and we are commanded to be its loyal subjects. > > I guess that's what makes me a fool. I take my faith journey as a challenge to > embody the teachings of Jesus in an era that cheapens the dignity of life. > > In his condemnation of SojoMail, my accuser indicates yet another key theological > marker that is worth sharing: > > Liberal Christians live in a world of make-believe because they focus almost > exclusively on the New Testament, to the exclusion of the Old Testament. > Unfortunately for them, the Bible describes the role of Government in detail in the > Old Testament, NOT in the New Testament! It is the Mosaic Law & the Mosaic > Government that is ordered by God to put to death any person who commits a heinous > crime, and goes on to list about 30 crimes as heinous crimes. In the New Testament > Jesus is just a private citizen, NOT a member of Government (Moses, Joshua, David, > Solomon, etc., were Government Officials). Moreover, Jesus directed His Sermon on > the Mount exclusively to private citizens like Himself, and NOT to the Roman > Government or the Sanhedrin. Note that Jesus did NOT criticize the Roman Government > for not having any Social Welfare Programs. This is because the Romans were doing > what was called for in the Old Testament: the Roman Government was using the Sword > to maintain Law and Order! > > If this viewpoint merely represented a crackpot hiding out on a survivalist ranch > in rural Texas, I wouldn't bother to publish it. But it unfortunately has > significant credibility among a swath of American evangelicals. With my colleague, > Mark Wexler, I have just completed an investigative study of the Religious Right > (which will come out in the July edition of Sojourners magazine). It was jarring to > realize that many American Christians reject the notion of a separation of church > and state as a "humanistic secular plot" to obstruct God's proper ordering of U.S. > society. They want to see the establishment of a theocracy that puts into place many > of the Mosaic laws as established in the Old Testament. At the moment, they are > mobilizing a strong cadre of religious leaders and members of the U.S. Congress to > rewrite the legal system. > > How ironic that my erstwhile critic praises the Roman Empire for fulfilling the > divine mandate for right governance. I fear today that is exactly how the United > States is acting in the world - as an empire bent on the expansion of its own > interests. If my calling as a Christian is to deliver my full support to that > empire, than I indeed must confess that I am a phony. > > > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > www.milman.uniting.com.au > > Ph: 6862 5502 Mobile: 0427 625 502 > > 14 Bushman St > > Parkes NSW 2870 > > > > 'Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable'. > > I prefer to die living than to live dying! > > "War is a poor chisel with which to carve out the future." - Martin Luther King, Jr > Sue Bolton Sydney, Australia ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
