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Rethinking the Religious Right
‘Religious Right is losing steam’
(December) was helpful and thought provoking.
Evangelical Christianity has too long represented a
pharisaical religion of rules rather than a transforming relationship with
God.
People in our society are spiritually broken and
bleeding. Wagging fingers at them for their moral failings does nothing to
free them, or to connect them with our Saviour. People are looking for
hope, and a path to follow.
Regarding Jim Dobson's anti-Obama letter, which upset
some Christians. I share many of Jim Wallis’ sentiments, but in a
dialed down version.My regard for Dobson was diminished when he started
promoting Joel Rosenberg and his fictional books, believing they speak
prophetically about the future.
It seems to me some of Dobson's comments reflect the
fear that has been stoked up by these unbiblical dispensational
teachings.
I also appreciated the Preston Manning and Brian
Stiller quotes, declaring it a good thing that the ‘Religious
Right’ is beginning to disconnect itself from the Republican
party.
It makes no sense to me that the ‘right to bear
arms’ and lack of universal health care would be considered Christian
ideas.
They seem to stand in stark opposition to the words and
work of Jesus.
Cheryl Berto, Delta
I am not sure where Stiller and John Stackhouse get
their statistics from; but they are not the same figures polled here in the
U.S. after the election. Not as many evangelicals voted for Obama as they
suggested.
Manning is much more in tune with U.S. politics than
the other two writers.
In the U.S., abortion is still a huge deciding factor
for many Christians voting. Commentators should do all their homework
before making statements about elections in other countries. Unless you
live here, which I do, you really do not know what evangelicals here are
thinking and feeling.
J. Haupt, by email
I find it very hard to believe that the primary issues
Christians care about in elections are abortion and gay marriage. Why
should these two issues be the crux of the vote for us?
I first try to look at party platforms in terms of the
Sermon on the Mount. Does the foreign policy of the candidate's party
reflect Jesus' ideas of “love your enemy, do good to those who
persecute you, and give to anyone who asks of you?”
Most of the time, I find that the parties which
represent ‘Christian’ values tend to fall short in these areas.
Jason Stein, by email
God’s facts trump science theories
I read Alan Reynolds’ ‘The Bible is
God’s Word – told through human words’ (November) with
some puzzlement.
It seems modern-day science has him doubting his faith
in God and the accuracy of the Bible. As he writes:
“Anyone who has taken a high school science
course is aware that there seems to be a major conflict between the
creation story in the Bible and contemporary scientific theories
– evolutionary theories.”
The reason most science teaching in high school does
not square with the Bible is precisely because it’s based on
‘theory,’ and not scientific fact. Subjects such as biology,
chemistry and many others are taught from a completely anti-God point of
view.
However, that does not make the Bible
‘unscientific.’ It makes these scientists wrong.
Earl Banks, North Vancouver
Biblical Anglicans will win victory
I left the Anglican Church of Canada years ago because
my priest at the time denied my right to adhere to biblical teaching.
To the Anglican Church of North America, I say: Stay
the course.
You will have opposition; but you are seeking to uphold
the basics of biblical faith – and, as long as that is the aim,
we know who the victors are!
John Philp, by email
Continue article >>
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Go back to true biblical economics
The latest Parliament Hill fireworks have crystallized
the complete incongruence of thinking that pertains to religious
conservatives, when it comes to basic economics.
After many conversations with co-parishioners, I
conclude there is a profound, widely held disinterest in actually living by
the most celebrated economic examples of the Bible.
Consider the wisdom of Joseph, ruler of Egypt
– and his response to seven years of famine, preceded by seven
years of plenty.
In the happy years, he restrained consumption by
taxation, and ran surplus budgets of hoarded grain.
In the lean years, he spurred on consumption by running
budget deficits, unloading the grain. The economy was spared very high
peaks and very low valleys.
What the Liberals did under Paul Martin, and propose
today, is exactly this pattern.
The Conservatives, on the other hand, have done quite
the opposite. They encouraged consumption during peaks by cutting corporate
taxes, thus gutting the surplus.
Today, at the start of an ‘economic
famine,’ they propose to balance the budget while the world,
figuratively, starves for grain.
Yes, they persist with reduced corporate taxes. But
this is of little avail when there is not enough private demand (i.e.
consumption) – as people’s ability to spend diminishes with
every newly laid-off worker.
Considering the above, it is essential that religious
conservatives reevaluate the current economic policies of this government
as unbiblical – and consider the strong possibility that Joseph was
an economic liberal.
Alex Posoukh, Surrey
Climate change well documented
In response to ‘Global warming is a huge
hoax’ (Readers’ Forum, November), I disagree.
Writer Earl Banks mentions a “major” New
York conference in March, held by the right wing Heartland Institute.
At that event, experts – whose names and
credentials were not published – produced a ‘Manhattan
Declaration,’ which states a disbelief in global warming.
Organizations including the David Suzuki Foundation,
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Greenpeace, to
name a few, have amassed huge amounts of data indicating human activities
are having a negative influence on earth’s climate.
Suzuki has been studying global warming and
environmental stewardship over the last seven years, and has become such an
expert that the UN has given him awards.
The IPCC is a worldwide collaboration of hundreds of
scientists, whose reports are peer-reviewed four times before being
published.
Banks claims the global warming movement is an
anti-Christ religion.
The truth is that God instructed us to take care of the
earth and all its inhabitants, in Genesis 2:5.
We can either be good and faithful stewards of what God
has entrusted to us, or choose to destroy his gift – the choice is
ours.
Jason Ross, Abbotsford
Indie CD review was appreciated
What a wonderful review of my CD, The Year of the Lamb (‘Local
artists wish you Merry Christmas,’ December).
Thank you so much! I actually didn’t even think
about the fact that ‘Soon & Very Soon’ precedes ‘Away
in a Manger.’ LOL!
The song is actually out of the line up on iTunes,
though.
Merry Christmas, my friends.
Kwong, Vancouver
January 2009
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