I didn't want to start a new thread...but I liked this and wanted to post it somewhere. It's written to Christians, particularly, it seems...but I hope that it's encouraging and refreshing for others to read it at as well. http://www.chron.com/channel/housto...1012Post:dd95a2d8-091e-4a48-af3d-a32f549a083e Should Christians be fans of Coulter, Rush and the like? Posted by Freegrace at 4/5/2009 8:40 PM CDT At a College of Biblical Studies event, I heard Os Guinness, author of The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It, challenge a room of Christians to not buy hook, line and sinker into all of the claims of the religious right and become independent thinkers again. He challenged the audience to once again to not tie ourselves too closely to one party but assess each candidate individually. He argued that Christians often do more damage to the cause of Christ for joining ourselves to causes that are not His in order to advance some of our preferences. Personally I think there is much to commend about his perspective. The world of politics is a world of compromise but a relationship with Christ is not. Personally, I grow concerned about the frenzied fear I see among too many Christians in the wake of the Obama administration. I have received far too many emails accusing him of being the antichrist or worried about how he will wreck our country. Don’t get me wrong, I have often stated that I am concerned about his views of abortion as well as some of the tendencies I see for the government to spend far more money than we have at our disposal. The Bible has quite a bit to say about debt and I worry that our nation is headed down the wrong path. Keep in mind, in fairness to President Obama, our previous Republican President George Bush inherited a surplus of over $200 million and left office with a deficit of $4 trillion. I do not want to get into a blame game here. I simply want to point out, as Christians, we should be concerned about personal and national debt. But that is not my bigger concern. My bigger concern is the tendency of some Christians to devote most of their free time, not in the Bible, but listening to conservative talk radio or watching it on TV. Far too many Christians think Rush is right and Jesus is Lord. Some act as though people like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter have the words of eternal life when they do not. Some people quote them more than the Bible. Frankly, I wonder how a person like Rush who has so much pride and anger (not to mention drug issues and multiple divorces) can be a spokesman that so many Christians listen to. Now let me be clear, a person can still be a good person and have had past divorces and issues with drugs. However, one would think that such experiences would result in humility instead of pride. Furthermore, should Christians be so quick to support a person who has unbiblical views of the environment and even made fun of Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson's disease. His antics do not seem to reflect the Christian values of Ephesians 5:3-4, “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” The same can be said of Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity. Their words are laced with bitterness and malice (cf. Ephesians 4:31) rather than loving, kind, tender hearted words (Ephesians 4:32). Rather than building people up with edifying speech and treating people who disagree in a loving way, they bombard them with caustic statements and prideful remarks. Is this representative of Christ? Somehow I doubt it. Don't get me wrong. I understand many conservative Christian's concerns about the tendency towards liberalness in American media. I understand the value of hearing the news from a conservative perspective. But do we have to listen to it to such an extent that we only leave more frustrated and hopeless than before we sat down to watch it? I'm not sure that is what God would want for us. Christians will not gain much respect in the world if we continue to act more like conservative talk show hosts and less like Christ. We should not blindly follow one party as though it has all the answers. When people are being tortured as enemy combatants or when money is being spent in areas that it shouldn’t be we should be the first to express concerns, whether we voted for the person or not. We should primarily be spokesmen for Christ and not a particular party. We shouldn't base our assessment of another person's Christian maturity on how or whom they voted for. In this time of uncertainty, we must cling to the hope that our Sovereign Lord is still on throne and He alone can influence the hearts of those in authority (Proverbs 21:1). President Obama would not be in his position were it not for the sovereign hand of God (Romans 13:1) so it is our duty to pray for Him. Rather than wishing for his failure as Rush Limbaugh has stated he does, we should pray for God to change those views of President Obama that are not consistent with His Holy Word and to help empower him to unite our country in these difficult times. These same prayers should have been made for our last President as well. Rather than being fearful, we should live in the hope of God’s eternal kingdom in which righteousness rules. We should realize that this earth is not our home and we have something greater to look forward to. We should be a constant witness of Christ in everything we do. I want to learn to be a better and more loving Christian so I can represent Christ better in this world. How about you?
I know Christians who don't believe dating is a legitimate God-like practice and actually still pair up young people based on who they feel God has ordained them to be with. My best friend growing up is in a sect like this now. He liked a girl, but was not allowed to ever be alone with her or anything. He had to tell her father of his intentions to be married to her... and 1 year later he told him he had permission to MARRY her. Now, they have a great relationship and everything and I really do think they make a great couple... but man it is so strange to me the way some people are still doing things.
Good article Max, the religious right's Obama is Satan campaign was very hilarious and extremely sad at the same time. OBAMA BIDEN! OMG!!!!!!!! REPLACE THE B WITH S (BS), ADD IN an NLA AND ITS OSAMA BIN LADEN!!!!!!!!!! Fear is what cripples humanity. The idiocy people believe (on both ends of the fence) just because it comes from a talking head with an agenda never ceases to amaze me. Rational Thought is key man, why would you trust the media to feed your mind. Your mind is way too precious to let some fear-mongering whino inject loads of rubbish into it.
I know the church, and in some ways they are modern, in other ways they are horse-and-cart. The people seem happy and normal, but there are weird things that happen. People are under pretty strict "authority" from the elders and sometimes have to "ask permission" before they undertake certain activities. Its weird stuff, I could never be in a Church that interfered with my intimate and personal life in that regard.
Are they "picking-and-choosing" things just to their own advantage? Give some examples. I'd like to hear.
I really have no idea, but I'd wager there are some ulterior motives involved. The dating thing is just bizarre, I know most churches are absolutely old-fashioned when it comes to sex and dating... but these people take it to the extreme. Dating is strictly prohibited, but after you're married you can have all the wild and kinky sex you want.
