Stephen Prothero published a thoughtful blog on our culture's "disposable Jesus."
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/11/my-take-poll-on-bin-ladens-death-reveals-a-disposable-jesus/?hpt=C2
One of his examples is the "Golden Rule:" most Americans say they believe we should treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves (though that's not just a Christian teaching). Even when specifically applied, a small majority agreed that we should not do anything to enemies that we would not want done to American soldiers.
But less than half of white evangelicals agreed to that belief. "In other words," observes Prothero, for a majority of white evangelicals, "when Jesus said, 'So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets' (Matthew 7:12), He didn’t really mean 'everything.' He thought there should be an exception in the case of waterboarding your enemies."
This is what Prothero calls our "disposable Jesus:" the operative attitude that Jesus is not so much the sovereign Head of the Church as a useful pawn for OUR opinions...and can be ignored when He contradicts them. I'd add that this attitude also manifests itself in the treatment of truth (who Jesus said He IS), particularly among followers of the politicized Church.
I have limited interest in heresy-hunting, and the conspiracy-mindedness that goes with it. Heresies and conspiracies are both "out there." But time spent searching them out seems to me a complete waste, and conspiracy-mindedness is forbidden to us (Isaiah 8). I doubt heresies and conspiracies, even those which are real (most aren't), mislead and destroy anywhere near as many Christians as does "disposable Jesus" thinking.
It's again a question of thinking in Kingdom terms. In the Kingdom, the King's word is law.
Amen !!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Wisdom, well-stated
"All Things Considered" today read a letter from a listener who enjoyed a recent news-story.
The writer said he was a gun-owning Libertarian, but praised N.P.R. for its thorough and intelligent coverage of news. He admitted he often disagreed with what he called N.P.R.'s "editorial policies:" but, he ended, "nobody learns anything in an echo-chamber."
The writer said he was a gun-owning Libertarian, but praised N.P.R. for its thorough and intelligent coverage of news. He admitted he often disagreed with what he called N.P.R.'s "editorial policies:" but, he ended, "nobody learns anything in an echo-chamber."
Ayn Rand again
I've talked before about the demonic "philosophy" of Ayn Rand, and her pervasive influence on the "conservative" movement.
It seems a movie of one of her books was released...during Holy Week !!...and someone sent me a review. The reviewer considers the movie pretty awful. He attributes that to the fact that it (like the book it's based on) is little more than a screed for Rand's "philosophy:" which makes it fair game for his comments.
Keep in mind, these are excerpts from a secular movie-review, in what some like to call "the liberal media." Kudos to Michael Gerson, of the Washington Post.
"None of the characters expresses a hint of sympathetic human emotion -- which is precisely the point. Rand's novels are vehicles for a system of thought known as Objectivism. Rand developed this philosophy at the length of Tolstoy, with the intellectual pretensions of Hegel, but it can be summarized on a napkin.
Reason is everything. Religion is a fraud. Selfishness is a virtue. Altruism is a crime against human excellence. Self-sacrifice is weakness. Weakness is contemptible.
'The Objectivist ethics, in essence,' said Rand, 'hold that man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself.'...
Rand cherished a particular disdain for Christianity. The cross, she said, is 'the symbol of the sacrifice of the ideal to the nonideal. ... It is in the name of that symbol that men are asked to sacrifice themselves for their inferiors. That is precisely how the symbolism is used. That is torture.'...
Reaction to Rand draws a line in political theory. Some believe with Rand that all government is coercion and theft — the tearing down of the strong for the benefit of the undeserving. Others believe that government has a limited but noble role in helping the most vulnerable in society — not motivated by egalitarianism, which is destructive, but by compassion, which is human. And some root this duty in God’s particular concern for the vulnerable and undeserving, which eventually includes us all. This is the message of Easter, and it is inconsistent with the gospel of Rand."
I'm convinced again that reality (in a sense, God's Maker's-mark on creation) doesn't conform to our prejudices. A secular movie-review, in the so-called "liberal media," propounds the gospel. And Christians continue to ally themselves with those who follow "doctrines of demons."
Jesus warned us to "...be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." (Matthew 10:16) Maybe He was hinting that reality seldom operates in accordance with our caricature worldviews.
It seems a movie of one of her books was released...during Holy Week !!...and someone sent me a review. The reviewer considers the movie pretty awful. He attributes that to the fact that it (like the book it's based on) is little more than a screed for Rand's "philosophy:" which makes it fair game for his comments.
Keep in mind, these are excerpts from a secular movie-review, in what some like to call "the liberal media." Kudos to Michael Gerson, of the Washington Post.
"None of the characters expresses a hint of sympathetic human emotion -- which is precisely the point. Rand's novels are vehicles for a system of thought known as Objectivism. Rand developed this philosophy at the length of Tolstoy, with the intellectual pretensions of Hegel, but it can be summarized on a napkin.
Reason is everything. Religion is a fraud. Selfishness is a virtue. Altruism is a crime against human excellence. Self-sacrifice is weakness. Weakness is contemptible.
'The Objectivist ethics, in essence,' said Rand, 'hold that man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself.'...
Rand cherished a particular disdain for Christianity. The cross, she said, is 'the symbol of the sacrifice of the ideal to the nonideal. ... It is in the name of that symbol that men are asked to sacrifice themselves for their inferiors. That is precisely how the symbolism is used. That is torture.'...
Reaction to Rand draws a line in political theory. Some believe with Rand that all government is coercion and theft — the tearing down of the strong for the benefit of the undeserving. Others believe that government has a limited but noble role in helping the most vulnerable in society — not motivated by egalitarianism, which is destructive, but by compassion, which is human. And some root this duty in God’s particular concern for the vulnerable and undeserving, which eventually includes us all. This is the message of Easter, and it is inconsistent with the gospel of Rand."
I'm convinced again that reality (in a sense, God's Maker's-mark on creation) doesn't conform to our prejudices. A secular movie-review, in the so-called "liberal media," propounds the gospel. And Christians continue to ally themselves with those who follow "doctrines of demons."
Jesus warned us to "...be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." (Matthew 10:16) Maybe He was hinting that reality seldom operates in accordance with our caricature worldviews.
Monday, May 02, 2011
Same Spirit
It was announced last night that Osama Bin Laden has been killed by American military forces.
The news this morning showed jubilant crowds in downtown Manhattan, outside the White House, and even in towns near me, cheering, chanting "U.S.A., U.S.A.," and singing the national anthem.
I remember the appalling scenes of Islamic crowds on 9/11 cheering and burning American flags at the news that thousands had been killed in the World Trade Center's destruction. But of course, we all know that satan's spirit of murder and revenge are operative in Islam.
So what do we say at our supposedly-"Christian" nation's celebrations today ? Jesus says our Father "is not willing that any...should perish." (Matthew 18:14) Are American celebrants at Ground Zero today manifesting God's Spirit; or are their hearts led by the same spirit as Moslem celebrants on 9/11 ?
May God forgive us !! May our country repent and follow God !!
The news this morning showed jubilant crowds in downtown Manhattan, outside the White House, and even in towns near me, cheering, chanting "U.S.A., U.S.A.," and singing the national anthem.
I remember the appalling scenes of Islamic crowds on 9/11 cheering and burning American flags at the news that thousands had been killed in the World Trade Center's destruction. But of course, we all know that satan's spirit of murder and revenge are operative in Islam.
So what do we say at our supposedly-"Christian" nation's celebrations today ? Jesus says our Father "is not willing that any...should perish." (Matthew 18:14) Are American celebrants at Ground Zero today manifesting God's Spirit; or are their hearts led by the same spirit as Moslem celebrants on 9/11 ?
May God forgive us !! May our country repent and follow God !!
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