Love this story from the Times: "The Rev. Gregory A. Boyd caused a stir among members of Woodland Hills Church outside St. Paul, Minn., when he urged an end to sexual moralizing and military glorification and said America should not be proclaimed a “Christian nation.”"
How wonderful.
Those of you who have read the Bible will recall the story of Jesus being tempted with lordship over all the world's kingdoms by Satan when he was fasting for forty days. Still, Jesus turned away from these and said that is kingdom would not be a part of this world; a lesson that Christanity has completely forgotten in its quest for power.
With that, I applaud the stance taken by people like Reverend Boyd; I don't have to agree with his views, but I can agree that we both have to co-exist in this country and that neither of us has the right to limit each other's freedoms.
Having been raised as a Jehovah's Witness, it was always impressed upon me that true believers in God focus on Him and His kingdom to right the human condition; to propagate a human and therefore error-bound system would simply be a waste of time. And since Jesus did say that his true disciples would have love for one another, it's arguable that the true faithful are those who aren't engaged in politics at all. Come to think of it, how can Christians today foment the love of Christ if they're too busy deepening the fissures caused by politics?
It's unfortunate that spirituality has been maligned in our country's culture war. That an intangible concept can be so misconstrued to dictate black and white policy is appalling and its a crime that seems to have no end. I'm glad many more people in the Christian community are taking a stand against this and while championing their faith are also championing the existence and liberty of others.
-A heads up on the Jehovah Witness-
ReplyDeleteThere is no Armageddon that will annihilate 6.5 billion people,and install Watchtower leaders as world rulers.
The core dogma of the Watchtower organization is that Jesus had his second coming 'invisibly' in the year 1914.Their entire doctrinal superstructure is built on this falsehood.
Jehovah's Witnesses door to door recruitment is by their own admission an ineffective tactic. They have lost membership in all countries with major Internet access because their false doctrines and harmful practices are exposed on the modern information superhighway.
There is good and valid reasons why there is such an outrage against the Watchtower for misleading millions of followers.Many have invested everything in the 'imminent' apocalyptic promises of the Jehovah's Witnesses and have died broken and beaten.
Every Jehovah's Witness member will grow old and die just like everyone else.
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Danny Haszard Bangor Maine 'expert witness on the Jehovah's Witness'
Danny, thanks for your comments. I can't speak for your experience with the JWs, but for me, it's definitely been a life saver. I actually look back fondly at the time I spent with the organization.
ReplyDeleteComing out was very hard, and losing that community was equally hard, but I've made peace with my notion of God and it doesn't inspire any hostility toward the JWs. Again, that's just me.
My point with this post was that, unlike most religions in the world, the JWs are so focused on their own understanding of their faith and God that they take no part in politics...one could say that's an admirable feat in today's world.