tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23369757.post6864688438926622685..comments2012-06-02T16:32:02.395-05:00Comments on Musings of a Single Dad: God. Life. Progressive Culture.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17624241223433079781noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23369757.post-65385287441435936632008-10-11T09:58:00.000-05:002008-10-11T09:58:00.000-05:00Good post Tim - what the duty of a Christian may o...Good post Tim - what the duty of a Christian may or may not be when it comes to politics and culture in general is always a tense balancing act when honestly considered.<BR/><BR/>When it's not honestly considered as a conscious act of worship, as all life should be worship (God how I constantly fail at that) it ends up being exactly what Cameron Strang - and you see as the greater failing of the "political" system.<BR/><BR/>I guess I'd add two comments here on that. First of all "progressive culture" is a VERY loaded political phrase, one that shuts down dialog, not opens it up. Liberals (having realized that "liberal" is political naughty word) began to refer to their policies and preferences as progressive - so when one reads that in the title of the magazine you can reasonably conclude that they are FOR things that are politically liberal (lets say universal health care, punishing wall street fat cats, no more war and the normalization of gay marriage) and therefore have adopted a liberally biased view of Christianity. <BR/><BR/>As opposed to Orthodoxy.<BR/><BR/>Secondly - and I am not, in a blog post response, able to develop these thoughts as I would like, they are more caracatures of what I'd like to say - Strang is absolutely right that there is not enough effort on the part of Christians to advance the kingdom of God here on Earth through culture. There aren't enough adoption options, we don't counter the morally bankrupt MTV culture, we don't feed the hungry, house the homeless or act as neighbors nearly as often as we should... And to the extent he points that out, he is to be commended.<BR/><BR/>Lastly, when the two observations are combined - liberal politics and a frustration with (ineffective) social action in Jesus's name, then I think you run the extreme danger of wanting the state to step into that void, and we, as a nation become responsible for feeding, clothing, etc.... and it is not longer I who am my brother's keeper, the one who is called to love my neighbor as myself, but the state is my brother's keeper (though government programs I pay taxes toward) and I don't have to love my neighbor, the government takes care of him...<BR/><BR/>I was going to add my thoughts on abortion as THE political consideration for Christian involvement in politics, but I think Anonymous has some pretty good thoughts there. I will add that I think, that we are called to create, as Christians, a culture of life first, and everything else flows from that... After all, if we believe that we are endowed by our Creator with rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, then you gotta believe that liberty and pursuing happiness are pretty damn difficult if you're not alive. We're also biblically instructed to "choose life, that you might live..." and I think it's pretty evident that promoting a culture of life is preeminently important. <BR/><BR/>To the extent that only one political party actually does that, I think it becomes the default party of sincere Christians. There's legitimate frustration with that lack of choice, and a desire to be more politically sophisticated than "one issue voters," objection to feeling that you are being co-opted, and used and fear that you might be marginalized by that party - which is the whole point of the post in the first place.<BR/><BR/>I think this reflects a frustration felt by many Christians who DO consider themselves as more than just pro life party hacks... I'll bet that Strang would agree to that, I know I do, as do many of my friends.<BR/><BR/>Ok, I think that's long enough...Jeremy Schupbachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034759786839379983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23369757.post-10181801884404969112008-10-03T19:35:00.000-05:002008-10-03T19:35:00.000-05:00Hey Mr or Ms Anonymous--I completely agree with yo...Hey Mr or Ms Anonymous--I completely agree with you on the issue of abortion. I am against it. In my opinion life begins at conception and abortion is killing an innocent life. What I was trying to say in my blog is that I am not happy with the current two political party system. I feel stuck in the middle. But yes I do tend to vote right. Abortion is a big reason for that. But their are so many other issues that surround abortion that need to be addressed. Tony Campolo stated that "70% of the abortions in this country are presently driven by economic forces." Meaning what can we do as believers in Christ so solve this issue? We need to face it at its roots. How can we help someone who is making minimum wage w/o healthcare decide to keep their unborn baby?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17624241223433079781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23369757.post-26892558940777242052008-10-03T17:09:00.000-05:002008-10-03T17:09:00.000-05:00Tim, I have thought about these issues a lot. Ofte...Tim, I have thought about these issues a lot. Often Christians get criticized for being one-issue voters, mainly abortion. This is looked at as too simplistic and unintelligent and naive. It's considered dumb there are many issues that are important, not just one. Also, the progress on over Roe-v-Wade is not encouraging. I understand this line of reasoning. It is very logical. I agree Christians don't have to line up with Republican ideas and that those two groups have become too closely identified. The Democrats may have the more Christian stance on some things, and a lot of issues are morally gray. My problem is this. I think we need to remember what abortion is, calling a spade a spade if you will. Abortion is about pro-choice, it's about killing an innocent life. It's about messing with God's knitting in the mother's womb (Psalm). It's absolutely evil. Saying otherwise is not speaking the truth. God is the creator of life and abortion is taking life away from a living person. My point is this: I understand disagreeing with the Republican on many issues and refusing to vote that way, but voting for somebody that thinks it is O.K. to take the life of an innocent baby is not something I can do. It's not that there's only one issue. It's not that I expect a ton of progress on overturning Roe-v-Wade. It's that I problem with the character and moral judgement of someone who thinks this evil act is acceptable. Our culture and more and more our Christian culture has come to trivialize this as just a political issue and just one of many equal issues at that. I say that's a bunch of bull. If there was a candidate who thought it was acceptable for a man to beat his wife and children, no one would vote for him. I think it's the same thing with killing a baby. It's morally wrong. <BR/><BR/>For those who intend to respond to this post, please don't miss the point and start ripping into Republican on other issues. I am saying vote Republican or endorsing them. I saying killing babies is evil and I'm not going to vote for someone who think it's O.K..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com