Tuesday, October 26, 2004

use your grey matter...

Always weary of stepping into the political relm, I couldn't resist this post. I have friends who are both Republican and Democrat (and various other viable yet undervalued choices). Most of the people I associate with are wise enough to consider their candidates carefully, based on their personal values and the candidate's stand on issues. However, there are many many people in our country who insist on voting for a candidate because they see him as the "Christian" choice ~ their judgement on who to vote for is spoon fed to them and they partake willingly, without hesitation. I've met these people, I know some of these people, I've received emails from some of these people. I WANT THESE PEOPLE TO OPEN THEIR EARS AND USE THEIR GOD GIVEN BRAINS. I am not attempting to tell anyone through this post who to vote for (since I am not a fan of either major candidate) ~ what I do want to convey is that we need to be using sound judgement rather than an assumption that one candidate is the Christian choice.
All of that is simply an introduction to the following. This morning, while getting ready for work, I was listening to Good Morning America when Charles Gibson was interviewing the President & First Lady. I heard some things I agreed with and some things that made me shake my head ~ but what made me stop in my tracks was the following question and answer (I couldn't find a transcript online, so this is to the best of my recollection). "Do you believe that Christians, Non-Christians and Muslims all go to Heaven?" asked Charles Gibson. To which President Bush responded, "Yes, but I believe that they have different ways of getting there." Excuse me? Did I just hear that? So there's really no point in being a Christian b/c everyone is going to Heaven anyway? And there must not be a Hell, seeing as everyone is going to Heaven. The Christian candidate? I'm not judging the man's relationship with Christ, but this is an issue of fundamental doctrinal beliefs. The same churches that rail against this type of theology from their pulpits are convincing their worshippers that this is the only Candidate that the Church can endorse. Wake up and use your minds to make your choice ~ God gave them to you for a reason.

5 comments:

Kimberly said...

... and the Oscar goes to Rachel for her genuine and moving performance as presidential candidate John Kerry ~ critics agree, she was able to capture the unique essence of this complex character.

I think I would be weeping over my choices of candidates, if I didn't agree with your friend that this political crap is so trivial in the grand scheme of God's picture (why did we have to choose Kings over wise judges, anyway?! bring back Deborah!!!). So, do you think I can write in RDA for Prez?

Rob said...

Rachel D. Alford for President!!!! Hip hip hooray!! Hip hip hooray!!!

You've got my vote, girl!

methy413 said...

Preach it Senior...

Angelika said...

Friends, I am so happy I do not have to vote! :-)

Anonymous said...

Hip hop hooray...ho...hey...ho! RDA for the USA!

It's interesting that Charlie chose to separate non-Christians and Muslims...what's the deal with that?

I believe that the candidates that come up for election every four years--the ones that spend 4 billion dollars to say what we want to hear--they are a true reflection of American society at large. What that means for us, as the church, is that we 've got some serious work to do in influencing the heart of society. From the inside out was how Christianity became a major ethical and social force in Roman society (before Constantine). Dare we dream for the same impact?

Ramón