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Opinions/Editorials Title: God's plan for America A pastor at a church I occasionally attend preached an interesting series of sermons a while back, as is his wont. In the sermons, he taught that politics is not a central concern for either individual Christians or the church, that God is neither a Democrat nor a Republican and that George W. Bush is the Antichrist. (OK, I made that last one up. Everyone knows the Lizard Queen makes a much more likely candidate for the Antichrist. At least "W" doesn't eat puppies.) The pastor's sermons were more effective than the usual Sunday lectures in that they inspired a powerful response from the church membership. Unfortunately, that response was for 30 percent of the church members to leave the church.
Now, I have no problem with anyone leaving a church for any reason; it's one of the many ways to demonstrate how the freedom in Jesus Christ is greater than that of any worldly government. But I do find it peculiar that there are so many people who make national politics a central part, if not the central point, of their theology. And I'm saying this as a member of the Christian right by blood; when Ralph Reed was in town with the Christian Coalition, he stayed at my parent's house. While it's true that the vast majority of the Founding Fathers were Christians ?nearly half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were theologians ? it's also obvious they understood the difference between a nation of Christians and a Christian nation. It is without question that America was once a nation of Christians; it is rather less obvious that it is still one. Consider the state of the seven deadly sins in America: Lust: Pamela Anderson and the Pussycat Dolls are famous. Enough said. Gluttony: 64 percent of Americans are overweight. Avarice: The concept of bling-bling was not invented in France. Sloth: We pay farmers not to farm, we pay workers not to work. Wrath: 5.5 murders per 100,000 is better than in the past, but still a high rate by world standards. Envy: The basis for our progressive tax system and most advertising concepts. Pride: Ask anyone from Argentina to New Zealand about this. None of this should be taken as a criticism of the country. After all, America has rather more reason for harboring a sense of national pride than, say, Uzbekistan. But if we judge the nation by the Christian measure, its metaphorical fruits, one finds it very difficult to believe that the land of 40 million abortions and cradle-to-grave feminism is in the good graces of the life-affirming, children-loving God the Father. There is, I suspect, an unconscious stream of omniderigence underlying the concept of divine American exceptionalism. Either God has inordinately blessed America because of the unique qualities of her inhabitants or because He has a special plan for America. The problem with the first possibility should be obvious in light of the character and behavior of said inhabitants; the problem with the latter is that it requires believing that the Christian God is responsible for the death of millions of unborn children, the establishment of transnational globalism and Paris Hilton. If you believe that George W. Bush is the president because God wanted him to be, you must also accept that God also wanted Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Franklin Delano Roosevelt in office as well. Moreover, those who believe possessing supreme military power for the last 60 years proves divine favor would do well to remember that God's word expressly tells us about His plans for past superpowers when He sent the Assyrian and Babylonian empires against the kingdoms of Israel and Judea. And then recall the U.S. military is now occupying the land in which the crumbled remnants of those long-vanished empires can be found. Related special offer: "Christianity and the American Commonwealth"
Vox Day is a novelist and Christian libertarian. He is a member of the SFWA, Mensa and the Southern Baptist church, and has been down with Madden since 1992. Visit his Web log, Vox Popoli, for daily commentary and responses to reader email. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 55. "George W. Bush is the Antichrist." Tee hee hee...the HateBush crowd continues to make a spectacle of itself...MUD
#9. To: Mudboy Slim (#2) You cretin. No one said Bush is hte anti-christi.
#10. To: continental op (#9) "No one said Bush is the anti-christ." Duhh!! Read the first friggin' paragraph of the article, numbnutz...MUD
#11. To: Mudboy Slim (#10) that's obviously all you read, you cretin. Now read the rest of the article. Why don't you freepers learn to read the entire article before offering your asinine comments?
#13. To: continental op (#11) "Why don't you freepers learn to read the entire article before offering your asinine comments?" So I can offer more sage wisdom per hour...MUD
#21. To: Mudboy Slim (#13) so you laze on the job, you mean.
#24. To: continental op (#21) "...you laze on the job" Bein' yer own boss ROCKS...MUD
#33. To: Mudboy Slim (#24) Bein' yer own boss ROCKS. Now I know why the Mexicans are taking over. What life has taught me is, when you're running a construction job, always appear busy, even if you really aren't. Remember slim, somewhere out there is a Mexican architect with your name in it, who will work harder for half of the money you're getting.
#46. To: continental op (#33) Run people run, the messicans are taking over! A little paranoid are we? Yeah those smart hardworking messicans, theyve built an empire. While this is a topic about religion, heres a little something for you to chew on....... King James version, Mark12.verse31. THOU SHALL LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. Jesus says this is the second most important commandment. Since you brought up church and god. For the record I dont claim to be a christian like most of the complete phonys posting on this site.
#49. To: IronSage (#46) God created the nations. Because you don't want your nation to be overrun by foreigners doesn't mean you aren't loving your neighbor.
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6
And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8
So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. 10
These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
#50. To: A K A Stone (#49) God created the nations. Because you don't want your nation to be overrun by foreigners doesn't mean you aren't loving your neighbor. Mumbo...........Jumbo
Are you a christian?
#52. To: IronSage (#50) But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 18 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34
I confess him before men. I say he is the son of God and died for all of our sins. We can choose to accept him or reject him. I accept him. What about you?
#53. To: A K A Stone (#52) I confess him before men. I say he is the son of God and died for all of our sins. We can choose to accept him or reject him. I accept him. What about you? Saying you accept him and doing the opposite is reject.
#54. To: IronSage (#53) For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. 21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. 23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. 24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. 25
#55. To: A K A Stone (#54) For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. 21 Sounds spooky
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