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July 31, 2006
Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock
I think he rattled me more than he did his flock! An evangelical speaking real Christian values to the same issues that I've been ranting about for the last couple of years is pretty dramatic stuff from my point of view. I've been pretty hard on Evangelicals over the years for exactly these reasons that he is talking about and he says they should not be involving themselves in politics and specifically the Republican party the way they are.
Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called "The Cross and the Sword" in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a "Christian nation" and stop glorifying American military campaigns.
Jesus and the bible are utterly clear on the kind of results you get when you work the way that the Neo-Christians have been doing, "Live by the sword, die by the sword." There is no vagary and interruption that can be applied, it's not a Christian way to do things. There are no short cuts, there is no Christian kingdom that can be built by men, it's just not the nature of the things. But evil clouds the hearts of men, so his message has resulted in him losing 20% of his congregation because he refused to support the radical hate ideology of the Republican party because it wasn't Christian. Taking a stand on principals and faith will always cost you something. I'm glad to see that his church has bounced back and that his sermon series became a book.
I'm still stunned by the New York Times article and I'm going to have to process everything this book and this kind of revelation means for America. One man a trend does not make, but maybe, just maybe, decent people that still remain under the thumb of the Neo-Christian fanatics that run the Republican party can realize that what they feel is true and they can stand up against evil with us and hopefully allow America to be saved from that evil. It's one of the most hopeful things I've read in a long while.
If your interested, pick up Mr. Boyd's book "The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church".
[via 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera]
Read more over at New York Times.
Posted by Jamison at July 31, 2006 11:57 AM
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