Are There Differences Between the Parties

To a FB friend, who wonders about the parties, and their respective claims to truth and godliness. 

There are always multiple sides to every social/political/religious question, which is why there is no end to books, opinions, talking heads, and Ph.D. students! 

It's our task to weigh it all, and it's not easy. 

The greatest danger occurs when people in authority not only claim to have the truth, but demand subservience of their followers, the end of all questions, and such. Good teachers, and politicians, too, inspire thought and investigation; power-hungry leaders quash it all.

In reality, of the two political parties, in the last century, from FDR on, the Republicans have clearly aligned themselves with big business, meritocracy, militarism, and a reduction in the social safety net, and have joined their message with zealous evangelicals to reject gender equality, condemn homosexuality, and harbor white nationalism tendencies.

The Democrats, on the other hand, have tended to favor a strong pro-active government, in the style of FDR, for all the people - from roads to schools, from gender equality to marriage equality, from business regulation to banking rules and fair wages, to insure a safe and equitable life for Americans. 

The Dems are far from perfect. As individuals, of course, "all are sinners." But as politicians, and religious leaders, there are differences, profound, marked, obvious, and vital. 

Of a Martin Luther King, Jr. or a Jerry Falwell, who would you choose to be your pastor? 

Of a Nancy Pelosi or a Lauren Boebert, who would you choose to be your representative? 

Of Barack Obama or Trump, who would you want for president? 

Republicans make different choices than Dems, for lots of different reasons - it's those reasons that need to be examined, and brought to light, so that we can think clearly and make good decisions. And to that end, we have substantial resources: good historians, theologians, psychologists, and pundits, to help us do just that. 

And frankly Tim, when a man or a woman stands to defend gender and marriage equality, and a strong social safety net, I believe, with all my heart, this is closer, far closer, to what God desires for God's world.

I may be wrong, but I suspect, you'd prefer to live in the world I envision rather than in one envisioned by Governor Abbott or Ron DeSantis.

Please excuse the length of this reply, but your question is a serious one, deserving as much analysis as I can muster. God's Peace to you and yours.

Obama's Faith

That which clearly reveals the strength and reality of Obama's faith is its ambiguity ... the very thing hated by evangelicals, for whom ambiguity is a lack of faith, and for the evangelical, there is nothing more frightening than the possibility of an "uncertain" faith. 

Yet, uncertainty is the essence of our existence, and is the only way of opening doors and keeping them open. 

As for his faith being Christian, there is no doubt about that, whatsoever. His childhood and his adulthood have been shaped by the Christian tradition, it's symbols, it's understanding of history and justice and peace, with the Christ at the center, his cradle and his cross. 

This isn't about dogma, but vision and hope. Sadly, evangelicals are drowning in dogma - and it's sapping their life, creating huge amounts of anger, frustration and judgment of others. 

And, unfortunately, the evangelical definition of faith and Christianity has prevailed in the media and popular, only because the media and America itself has thoroughly dumbed themselves down since the days of Niebuhr and Tillich and Barth and the energies of the Civil Rights Movement with a leader like Martin Luther King, Jr.. This is the rich and deep Christian tradition that shapes Obama, and whatever the outcome may be in the popular imagination, he has done us a great service by disconnecting the Presidency from the deadening and dysfunctional dogma of evangelicalism.


After posting this, I added the following in reply to another comment:

Too many sermons on "true" vs. "pretend" christian have characterized evangelical christianity. And, of course, the great boogeyman of evangelicalism: secularists trying to "work" themselves to heaven ... this kind of "theology" has caused tremendous harm to the American Spirit and is a poor reflection of the Christian Faith, it's Scriptures and the manifold variations on its many themes over the centuries. 

Evangelicalism is a drop in the bucket, and not a very clean drop at that. It's the whole ocean that counts, and finally, everyone of us is in that ocean, an ocean of great love. None are lost; all are found ... and for all of us, it's never easy, and no one can claim a morally or spiritually superior understanding of God or life or faith. 

President Obama is one of a handful of Presidents who truly has a grasp of the Christian Faith in its largest dimensions. And that kind of faith scares the daylights out of evangelicals who have long traded in tiny ideas and restrictive dogma, believing themselves to be "true" christians and the rest of us only "pretend" christians. 

At the Foot of the Bridge

At the foot of the bridge ...

Been thinking a lot about "Selma" ... after seeing it last night ... and LBJ's remark that the lowest white man in the world is told by the powerful that their whiteness is still better than being black ... and for many a white person in the South, being white was all they had. Poor as dirt, without a voice, but still better than those "colored people."

I think now of the struggle for marriage equality, another civil right ... and those who stand at the foot of the bridge today and say, "You will not enter here."

I don't know how it all works, but for many a "christian," having something or someone beneath them, a sinner damned to hell, or whatever it or who it may be, is sometimes the only  "real" thing they have. Their faith is convoluted and frightening, shouted at them every Sunday, and they know it, but as long as there are "gays and lesbians" who are "terrible in the sight of the LORD," these poor folks at least have their pride and the pleasure of opposing marriage equality and defending the ways of the LORD.

Very sad ... the folks who stood at the foot of the bridge against Martin Luther King, Jr. still stand at the foot of the bridge ... wherever that bridge may be found, and it's found all around the world, in all kinds of places.

People are always marching across it to enlarge the world of hope ... and for reasons unfathomable, there are always folks who stand at the foot of the bridge, with hatred in their eyes, billy clubs and pipes in their hands ... dangerous as hell, and ready to kill.

They are afraid of a phantom, lies told to them by the powerful.

So very sad ... to be so afraid ... at the foot of the bridge.