I’ll look it up when I get back to my house tonight

Nate

I agree with you that real action will come when people demand something more than propaganda, though I’d qualify that to say “more action” instead of “real action.” This all changes in a frustratingly slow incremental way usually (this is how I’ve become relatively politically enlightened from my former brainwashed, closeminded state), but it IS change.

You’re right, though, we find crutches to lean on (some of them very rhetorically powerful by themselves, like abortion or anti-homosexuality, etc), together with shallow, lazy thinking and naive acceptance of political perspectives pushed by the Dobsons and Robertsons of the world, and call that political engagement. At times I have these epiphanies while listening to this stuff and think, “Is this what the institution of Christianity has come to? We’re in bad, bad shape.”

I’m trying to be honest and generous in general in all arenas of my life, which is why I need guys like you in my life to keep me honest. But people’s perspectives need to be skewered for the lazy, horsecrap things they are sometimes too. I’m learning to pick my spots there too.

I will try to stop my sarcasm. For some reason it only comes out on your site.

While I am with you that this nonsense needs to stop, the only real action will come when people start demanding something more than propaganda. Christians (but not all, I will try not to work in absolutes) in this country use propaganda to justify anything they want to believe. And with the world still adjusting to the technology and the amount of crap that exists on the internet and the ability to write anything one wants without repercussions, this will not stop.

Thanks for being a pastor who is willing to set the record straight without an interest in the outcome.

I don’t blame you for not reading it all. In case you missed it, though, this is what I think is the most important part:

“Regarding this email, first off, if we deeply value the Scriptures, we should be a bit put off right at the beginning by someone claiming that we are “at war with the Muslim Nation.” Biblically speaking, the people of God are at war against the powers of evil and chaos in this world, and those very powers exist just as much within us as in some people or place across the globe. I won’t eagerly jump to the defense of the Muslim religion because I think there is much that is twisted and wrong in it, but I DO realize Muslims are human beings made in the image of God who are important enough for Christians to give our lives for. Remember, “God so loved the WORLD” in John 3:16, not “God so loved EVERYONE LIKE ME.” So no, “we” (Christians who care about Scripture and how it forms our lives) are NOT at war with the Muslim Nation.”

What God is looking for among those who claim to be his followers, I think, is persons who will defuse interreligious tensions rather than feed them. And I would guess most Christians in America have little to no knowledge what mainstream Islam stands for over against the extremists like bin Laden, and the same probably applies to the average Muslim.

So something needs to change. I hope we will be a part of a more honest, more respectful, more loving dialogue and relationship with Muslims, even as they seek to pass laws outlawing Christian practices in Pakistan and elsewhere.

In order to be the light of the world, we must shine out distinctly from all other people groups. To be a disciple of Jesus requires this.

And thanks for pointing out that the real savior isn’t any politician or political party.

-Alan