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| photo by Daimon Eklund / flickr |
For quite a while now I have been worried about our country. The mean-spiritedness of the current administration reflects some of shabbiest of our values--if we call them values. The President sets the pace for the rest of the country. Cruelty, selfishness--bullying have no place in this society. Countries who have looked to us for years as the the shining city on the hill feel like the lights have been turned out. To privatize everything institution simply will throw more and more money into the hands of the already well-heeled.
It was horrifying to hear right-wing pundits say terrible things about the millions of kids that marched for life just days ago. They have been made fun of, debased, called ugly names--and even accused many of them of being paid actors. Those who crawled under desks to save their own lives--while watching their classmates gunned down have a right to speak. The current climate which begins at the top trickles down and people feel license to smear and hate anybody that disagrees with them. This is not the American way.
The article I hope you'll read is published in Sojourners Magazine by its Editor Jim Wallis. Jim Wallis has been on the front line of peace and justice issues for many years. Once in Birmingham I heard him speak. He held up a copy of the Bible. It had holes all in it. He said this is the American Bible. He had taken a razor blade and taken out every passage that dealt with the poor and needy. Many of those holes have never been filled. Today we might snip out the Ten Commandments and all those passages dealing with peace and justice issues as well.
Bill Coffin once said, "Where there's doubt, there's more considered faith. Likewise, when citizens doubt, patriotism becomes more informed. For Christians to render everything to Caesar--their minds, their consciences--is to become evangelical nationalists. This is not as distortion of the gospel; that's desertion...It's wonderful to love one's country, but faith is for God. National unity too is wonderful--but not in cruelty and folly."
A group of leaders of almost every mainline denomination met on Ash Wednesday to ponder the state of the nation and the church. They call their document: "A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis."
If you read their words you will find they are concerned Christians--as we all ought to be. This document gives me great hope.
https://sojo.net/articles/reclaiming-jesus-trump-evangelicals
--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com
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