Saturday, April 9, 2011

So according to some Christians, God caused the Japanese earthquake?

What's happened to American Christians?
I've about had it with all religion and politics. Where is there the love of Jesus in any of it?

I'm just back from swimming, but even after a bunch of laps I couldn't out swim the religious and political sludge of this present time...

Like the famous pastor in Minnesota who claims God caused the earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of Japanese...

Tell that to the missionaries we support in Japan through Mennonite Mission Network.

What ever happened to the kind of Christians in the U.S. like Youth for Christ (back when I attended, like one night in 1961)? I remember the wonder of the infinite love of God, the God of all compassion and holiness. I remember singing "Everybody Ought to Know Who Jesus Is."

And then there is the horror of abortion on demand, but I've already ranted about that...

And let's not forget all the Americans who are all upset about whether Obama was born in the United States!

Who gives a rip?

I didn't vote for Obama and do oppose most of his policies, but, give me a break. When over 4 million people have been murdered in the Congo, when many are suffering in Japan, when people are being jailed and murdered for their faith in various countries, when there are so many children still in poverty, when so many are lost to substance abuse...

what does it matter where someone was born?

Of course, it is a legal question,
But what if we, instead, all concentrated on loving others and giving the good news of God's love to everyone?

In the Light of God,

Daniel Wilcox

4 comments:

Jeremy Mott said...

Dear Daniel,
Here is someone who is in agreement
with you. In my day, 1950's or so,
not only Friends but members of most other denominations sang lustily about the love of God. Our favorite hymn was "All Things Bright and Beautiful." It is hard for me to
figure out what has happened to us,
the American people.
In the 1950's, many Americans,
both black and white, undertook a nonviolent assault on racial segregation. (Leading Friends, such as Bayard Rustin, were involved in this.) And we won!
Not entirely, but in the main.
Now it seems that the U.S.A.
is good for little but war. Our
nation is not Christian in reality,
no matter what label we apply.
to ourselves.
And I say this as someone who
voted for Obama (because the alternative was far worse, I thought), and am not opposed to abortion.
Jeremy Mott

Daniel Wilcox said...

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for stopping by and sharing a comment.

I didn't vote for McCain or Obama, not the latter because when I did research on Obama, I discovered he had said that he does believe in preemptive war in some cases.

However, I thought he, when elected, would do more to end the Iraq War. I don't see much difference in his war actions and those of Bush.

I'm opposed to abortion-on-demand because it is the killing of the most innocent, the unborn baby in the womb. Of all American actions, abortion is probably an example of the most selfish action.

I agree with professor Ron Sider of the Brethren in Chirst, that we need to rescue all--the baby in the womb, the child in poverty and abuse, those in danger from war, and the countless caught up in destructive life choices, even hope for the redemption of murderers, and so oppose capital punishment.

Jesus would do no less, but much more.

It seems like since the murder of Martin Luther King, the U.S. has been on a constant ethical descent in all aspects of our lives.

It is indeed time to speak truth to power.

Thanks,

In the Light

Daniel

Jeremy Mott said...

Hello Daniel, I think that your
judgement of Obama was clearly much better than mine. However, i never
thought of him as a pacifist, so am
not surprised that he has turned out to be such a warrior, much like Bush.
On abortion, I favor a non-legalist approach. I don't think that an embryo should be considered or thought of as a "baby."
After all, many abortions are quite
natural miscarriages. Once the
embryo has become a fetus, and can move, though, things begin to be
different. The nearer birth is,
the more important it is to preserve the life of the unborn.
And even this way of looking at
things probably should not be enforced by law.
Like Friends in general, I am
opposed to cap;ital punishment.
Isn't it good to know that in the
last few years, four states have
abolished capital punishment: New
York, New Jersey, New Mexico, and
only a few weeks ago, Illinois?
It would be comforting to think
that Quakers had much to do with
this, but I think the Roman Catholic Church was far more instrumental in accomplishing this.
Speak Truth to Power seems to
be an old Quaker phrase that
goes way back, before the famous
pamphlet. I recently saw it in the new anthology Black Fire, the
collection of writings by black
Friends and friends of Friends.
Blessings,
Jeremy Mott

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