April 22, 2009

Not a Christian Nation

What is a Judeo-Christian principle? What distinguishes it from Hindu or Muslim principles? Couldn't we identify some Muslo-Christian principles? Just a reminder, the greatest persecution of the early church came from the temple linked to Ceasar.
Pastor Jeff

From the blog article A Christian Mistake by Jim Wallis of Sojourners

"Those faith-inspired movements are disciplined by democracy, meaning they don’t expect to win just because they are “Christian.” They have to win the debates about what is best for the common good by convincing their fellow citizens...And that is best done by shaping the values narrative, as opposed to converting everyone to their particular brand of religion. Rather, they are always looking for allies around their moral causes, including people of other faiths or of no religion. The story of Christianity in America in the coming decades will be defined by a multicultural shift as well as a generational one. “New” evangelicals and Catholics, along with black, Hispanic, and Asian churches will now shape the agenda. But also included are the millions of Americans who say they are “spiritual but not religious,” finding homes in non-traditional churches, mega-churches that teach that true religion is found in care for “the least of these.” Making a real impact on the values and directions that a democracy will choose is, perhaps, a more exciting kind of influence than relying on the illusory and often disappointing hopes of cultural and political dominance."

And the rest of the article was crap!  I'm now accepting the idea that there is a great falling away from the faith, has been falling away since the '60s, but even more so now with so many in leadership positions who don't even acknowledge the exceptionalism and reliability of the Bible.  Or if they do, they seem to have an incomplete understanding that it makes me wonder where they got their Bible training.