When Bad Religion And Bad Politics Meet...

The result is--please forgive the trite phrasing--God Awful!

At about 48 seconds into the video below, Franklin Graham says, "Look for the candidates that best support Biblical principles. That doesn't mean the candidates necessarily live Biblical principles . . ."

Seriously? I must be reading the wrong Bible. For your edification, enrichment, and enjoyment, James 2: 14-26

4 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without [a]your works, and I will show you my faith by [b]my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is [c]dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made [d]perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [e]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 

25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Quotation Of The Day: Belief, Faith, And Doubt Edition

From Matthew Sitman writing at Andrew Sullivan's blog:

But most of all, Misener’s essay points to the sad state of so much American religious life, especially the messages delivered by too many Christian churches. She makes clear that, at times, she still feels “a wave of something truly ineffable, a surreal flutter in my soul that the world was vast and overwhelming and rich and meaningful and also not really fucking meaningful at all.” That’s something most of us have felt, I’d guess, whether believer or not. It’s a pity that the brittle, ahistorical, and ultimately untenable evangelicalism she was peddled convinced her that those feelings are alien to Christianity, that faith demands the silencing of doubt and uncertainty. It’s a shame that too many Christian churches present the Bible in such a way that, when an earnest young person encounters the historical-critical approach to it, the result is shock and perplexity. It’s lamentable that more churches aren’t places where such difficulties can be worked through, where you feel welcome even if you are far from having what you believe figured out. Pope Francis has said that the Church should be a “hospital for sinners,” which is to say a refuge for all of us who struggle in all kinds of ways, profound doubt included. Misener’s story is testimony to how far Christians have to go to make the Pope’s words a reality.

The essay Sitman refers to is here. Rod Dreher gives his Orthodox take here.

Let's Stop Playing What's The Politician's Faith?

Via Madville, I see that Reverend Hickey unable to "detect" any "evidence" of President Obama's "Christian faith." I have no idea whether Reverend Hickey claims to possess the gift of discernment or how one discerns the sincerity of the faith of a politician one has never met.

I can remember more than a few good Christian folk who were upset that Jimmy Carter lusted in his heart and had an evening glass of scotch even though he taught Sunday school. Many of those same folks loved Ronald Reagan who rarely darkened a church door.

Bill Clinton broke both the adultery and false witness commandments. The second Bush took the nation to war under dubious pretenses. Obama is far from perfect, but I haven't seen any evidence of his committing similar, shall we agree to call them, errors.

I didn't vote for Obama in 2012; I haven't been satisfied with a President since Eisenhower, and I was three when he left office. I'm, therefore, not going to trust my personal memory on his second term.

From my displaced point of view, it seems that one's view of a public figure's faith is colored not by the public figure's faith and works but by beholder's political views.

When I was a young'un my mother used to read me the story of Samuel coming to Jesse to anoint one of Jesse's sons the new king of Israel. That son was the future King David who at the time was a runty, ruddy youth. The key verse of the story was I Samuel 16:7

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

I'm fairly certain that no human can can see another's heart. Perhaps, it would serve us all to refrain from commenting on the faith of public figures be they Presidents, U.S. Senators, or Popes. Those comments reveal more about the speaker than the public figure, and they rarely reflect well on the speaker.

Faith, Politics, Revolutionary Rhetoric: A Minor Musing

On Friday, Ed Kilgore made some important points the "right of revolution" and "taking a prophetic stance."

First, Kilgore correctly points out that revolutionary rhetoric should not considered normal political discourse: 

". . . what bugs me is that revolutionary sentiments that should be reserved for extraordinarily rare and dire situations are being made part of routine, day-to-day politics by large elements of the Right.

Second, taking up the role of prophet should also be done sparingly.

[I]n the Judeo-Christian tradition one who takes a prophetic stance believes the moral and spiritual conditions of a society have become so depraved that the faithful are obliged to step outside the normal bounds of civility and respect for authority and call down the righteous wrath of God. Taking a prophetic stance is by definition exceptional; occasionally essential, but always spiritually as well as politically dangerous. And that is why true prophets are so greatly honored, and false prophets are so feared and despised.

Kilgore concludes,

So yes, there is a moral “right to revolution” just as there is a moral obligation to take a “prophetic stance” on extremely rare occasions (particularly in a country like the United States, with its many avenues for free speech and activism). When either becomes just another lever of political or cultural conflict, it quite naturally elevates the stakes to the level of virtual warfare, dehumanizing the “enemy,” and debasing all discourse.

I grew up in a Protestant tradition that emphasized the 5 solas although I don't recall ever hearing that term from the pulpit. The congregation was composed of good country stock and would have been a bit suspicious of someone mentioning any Latin term. I suspect some of the deacons would have sternly cleared their throats and angrily raised their eyebrows if someone had indicated that proper Latin plural is "solae."

The pastors of my youth frequently reminded us that we were imperfect human beings who saw "through a glass darkly." They ironically thundered the need to hear a "still small voice" and the need to be certain that one discerned that voice correctly. Occasionally, the pastors or the Sunday School teacher referenced another Christian denomination that engaged in a few too many rituals for their taste, put statues on the church walls, caused public school students eat fish sticks for school lunch every Friday, and had a leader who claimed to be infallible in matters of faith. That claim caused much consternation whenever it was mentioned. (I think most of the church leaders enjoyed fish sticks.)

Now, however, I hear and read many who must have sat in similar pews and heard similar sermons or Sunday School lessons assert a prophetic infallibility. According to these believers, true believers must see one political party as a threat to freedom at best and a collective that shields and enables the Anti-Christ at worst.

Kilgore rightly points out that the United States maintains many mundane avenues to influence those in power. There will be many elections between now and the need for revolution. Perhaps, the political prophets should drop the pretense of infallibility and  remember Isaiah 55..

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The Difference Between A Martyr And A Martyr Complex

Andrew Sullivan quotes a Marilynne Robinson essay to illustrate the heart of true martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The day after the failure of the attempt to assassinate Hitler, in which he and his brother and two of his brothers-in-law were deeply involved, Bonhoeffer wrote a letter to [Eberhard] Bethge about “the profound this-worldliness of Christianity.” He said, “By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life’s duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world — watching with Christ in Gethsemane. … How can success make us arrogant, or failure lead us astray when we share in God’s suffering through a life of this kind?” These would seem to be words of consolation, from himself as pastor to himself as prisoner. But they are also an argument from the authority of one narrative moment. The painful world must be embraced altogether, because Christ went to Gethsemane.

Via Steve Benen, one discovers that Family Research Council president Tony Perkins possesses both a weird paranoia and a frightening martyr complex. Talking about the Senate plan to institute background checks, Perkins states,

"I'm very concerned about this measure; I am concerned about where it may go once it gets to the Senate floor and what might happen in the House. This idea of background checks is very concerning given the fact that the United States military has been increasingly showing hostility toward evangelicals and Catholics as being somehow threats to national security and people that need to be watched.

"Well, what does that have to do with gun control? Well, what happens if all the sudden you are identified as an evangelical, bible-believing fundamentalist and the government decides you've got to be put on a watch list? Part of the provisions of this background check is kind of a system where if a caution comes up when they put your name in, you don't get a chance to buy a gun."

Bonhoeffer warned Christians about the dangers of cheap grace, a threat to an authentic faith that one must daily struggle to overcome. Perkins cheapens grace with cheap talk

Quotation Of The Day: The Free Market Is Not Really Free

From this quotation on this Tumblr:

The idea that if economic life is detached from all moral considerations and left to operate by its own laws all will be well is simply an abdication of human responsibility. It is the handing over of human life to the pagan goddess of fortune.
— Lesslie Newbigin, Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth p77

A Minor Musing: Sunday Morning Coming Down

I've always found the Kris Kristofferson lyrics to "Sunday Morning Coming Down" a poignant expression of pain.  The gravelly voices of either Kris Kristofferson or Johnny Cash lent authenticity to poignancy.

On a Sunday morning sidewalk,
I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cause there's something in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone.
And there's nothing short a' dying
That's half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleeping city sidewalk
And Sunday morning coming down.

In the park I saw a daddy
With a laughing little girl that he was swinging.
And I stopped beside a Sunday school
And listened to the songs they were singing.
Then I headed down the street,
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringing,
And it echoed through the canyon
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday.

This morning, this essay reminded me that faith needs to be presented authentically.  The author concludes,

Despite all the affected teenage rebellion, I continued to call myself a Christian into my early twenties. When I finally stopped, it wasn’t because being a believer made me uncool or outdated or freakish. It was because being a Christian no longer meant anything. It was a label to slap on my Facebook page, next to my music preferences. The gospel became just another product someone was trying to sell me, and a paltry one at that because the church isn’t Viacom: it doesn’t have a Department of Brand Strategy and Planning. Staying relevant in late consumer capitalism requires highly sophisticated resources and the willingness to tailor your values to whatever your audience wants. In trying to compete in this market, the church has forfeited the one advantage it had in the game to attract disillusioned youth: authenticity. When it comes to intransigent values, the profit-driven world has zilch to offer. If Christian leaders weren’t so ashamed of those unvarnished values, they might have something more attractive than anything on today’s bleak moral market. In the meantime, they’ve lost one more kid to the competition.

While I was reading the essay, I had the misfortune to hear the following on ESPN.

Hearing that "prayer," reminded me of this passage from Luke 18.

⁹And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
 ¹⁰Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
 ¹¹The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
 ¹²I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
 ¹³And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
 ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

I wish that the pastor would have remembered that many watching of television or sitting in the stands may be hunting for jobs or have friends or families hunting for jobs.  It might have been good to remind everyone that II Corinthians 12 says,

 ⁹And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

 ¹⁰Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

I think I'll be thankful that I can listen to Johnny and Kris.