13 July 2010 Come Mr. Taliban tally me cabanas

13 July 2010 Come Mr. Taliban tally me cabanas




http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/12/my-take-christian-politicians-should-start-acting-christian/?hpt=Mid

My Take: Christian politicians should start acting Christian

Editor's Note: Richard T. Hughes is Distinguished Professor of Religion at Messiah College and author of Christian America and the Kingdom of God.

“By Richard T. Hughes, Special to CNN

“Let me be frank from the outset: A great cultural divide is ripping the heart from this nation and Christians are partly responsible.

I say that because 83% of the American people claim to be Christians. If those Christians lived as they are taught to live by the teacher they claim to follow, the American public square would be a very different kind of place.”

---Excised, a list of today’s political demagogues and leaders who claim to be Christian but fail to demonstrate such beliefs---

“America’s churches and their pastors therefore have a grave responsibility: to urge their members to serve the public square as peacemakers, as truth-tellers, as people devoted to justice, and as men and women who are actually willing to practice what Jesus taught. If America’s churches refuse to take up this task—which, after all, is a task that is central to the Christian calling—the consequences for our country could be dire, indeed.”

While this column is of interest and is, in my opinion, accurate, the reader responses attacking the author are vicious in their language and intent, telling in their lack of intellectual awareness of how closely these respondents mirror the Taliban.

Reader commentary lines up quickly for or against the premise of the article with those opposing demonstrating rather fervently how little actual understanding of what Christ supposedly taught as compared to what Christian ministers attributing to him.

The abortion argument loads into the conflict quite early with some claiming that all other tenets and teachings can be ignored while still “being Christian” if one opposes abortion. I guess this justifies clinic bombings and the assassination of physicians and other health care providers who perform legal medical procedures at the request of patients. Somehow all the reiterations of how to behave that comprise the “sermon on the mount” have become lost in today’s fanatical Christianity.

The fanatical commenters seem to overlook centuries of Christian –sponsored torture, murders, kidnappings, extortion, and general failure on the part of Christian leaders to observe and follow the restrictions and demands they laid upon the poor and upon the non-Christians. This demonstrates, rather perfectly the behavior that right wing commentators and columnists demonize over and over in writing about Islamic fundamentalism. Christian fundamentalists and fanatics are given a pass by less fanatical Christians in their public life, in their choice to ignore the “peaceful” manner of Christianity, in their tacit approval and complicit participation in the use of deadly force against non-Christians.

While I recognize all too well the difficulty involved in use of military force against enemies of our nation, I do not view it as justified by Christianity. In fact, I am deeply concerned about the infiltration of Christianity into the military structures. I don’t view the current conflict with Afghanistan as war of Christianity against Islam. I view it as a continuation of the conflict between eastern and western civilizations that led to the defeat of the Persian Empire by Greece.

Too many of my self-proclaimed Christian correspondents view the current conflict as a new crusade – or an extension of the medieval crusades, pitting Christianity against Islam. They fail to see how their extremist positions are nearly entirely identical to those of many of the more extreme Moslems. My acquaintances rail and scream at the failure of “moderate” Moslems to publically denounce suicide bombings, attacks upon civilian targets, and other aspects of the current war between cultures. But, as in today’s article, if a Christian attacks the extremist positions of other Christians, they are ready to pillory him.

They are persistent in their belief that the founders intended for this to become a nation with an official Christian religion. No amount of discussion will convince them that the separation of church and state at every level is essential for this to remain the nation it was intended to become. Again, as with Islamic fundamentalists, they ignore or choose not to hold the actions of their co-religionists up to public scrutiny and condemnation.

Take away the cover on the sacred book and it is difficult to tell which group of extremists is at fault for the latest round of contemptible incidents. The Christian cult in the U.S. is as unwilling to compromise with non-Christians as is Islam in Saudi Arabia.

Read the article, then the comments. There will not be a civil resolution.

Also read today, the Al Quaida prisoners at Guantanamo may soon be allowed to contact family in Saudi Arabia on a Skype connection established and maintained by Red Crescent. For those captured in Afghanistan, a never-ending tropical island vacation.


Happy Birthday, Hannah Elspeth!