Posted on 11/15/2004 12:33:11 PM PST by Mr. Silverback
As we sift through all the post-election commentary and finger-pointing, one thing emerges clearly: Religious beliefs are important to American voters—and, hence, to politicians.
Twenty-two percent said that “moral values” motivated their vote. I see a great national debate coming, as the politicians position themselves. We’ll be faced with questions like this: “Do you have to be pro-life and oppose gay ‘marriage’ to be Christian?” “How can you be a Christian without a plan to help the poor?”
During the campaign, for example, John Kerry argued from the book of James and said we ought to be doing more to help the poor and that his religious faith taught him to live that way. Well, I, of all people, surely applaud that. But, at the same time, that’s not a substitute for other issues like life. All values are not morally equivalent.
If you’re helping the poor, that’s wonderful, but if your concern for the poor isn’t grounded in the fact that the poor are created in the image of God and are every bit as precious as anybody else, then your concern for the poor is hollow. It’s a political thing; it’s like a preference. It won’t necessarily last.
There is a hierarchy of values, and respect for human life created in God’s image comes first. It’s the bedrock basis for all other convictions. Our pro-life, pro-family positions come from the created order. Of course, helping the poor is a biblical commandment, and we do it, but we do it because we believe in the created order and the imago Dei in every human. Why do we go into the prisons to take care of the most despised people in society? Why do we care about the AIDS victims in Africa or about religious persecution and human rights? It is because suffering humans are created in the image of God and have worth and dignity from conception to natural death.
It is inconceivable that somebody could say that he or she is a good Christian, but doesn’t believe that life is created in God’s image and is sacred and inviolate. To do so is to miss the whole point. We do good deeds because we are Christians, but our faith rests upon the truth—that God is, that He has created us in His image.
Watch out for the arguments that are coming. We are going to be cast as fundamentalist right-wing bigots who want to deny a woman control of her body and deny gays the right to marry. The “real” Christians, as the New York Times has already told us after the election, will be the ones taking care of the poor and helping pass big government programs while standing up for abortion and gay rights. Which Christians do you suppose the media will praise as the “real” Christians? Who will Hollywood say are the “real” Christians?
There is a debate already underway over the heart and soul of what it means to be a believer. In this campaign we even had some evangelical leaders saying that there are ten Christian issues, from life to the environment, suggesting that they are all equal. You and I need to be ready to answer that debate with more than words. The light we shine before the watching world must be thoroughly pro-human. That means, besides being pro-life and pro-family, we care for the poor, the orphan, the prisoner, and the hungry—not to please the New York Times, but to please our Father in heaven who made them in His image.
Mother pus bucket, COULD ALL THESE CHRISTIAN PUNDITS GET A FREAKIN' CLUE?
In 1994, we had a Congressional landslide and Conservatives stopped making the arguments that brought us victory. In '96 and '98, we got our clocks cleaned.
In 2004, it appears some of us have not only forgotten the lesson of '94, but we have convinced ourselves that we won on "moral values," because of a badly constructed exit poll. "Moral values" was the only generality on the poll (and a very broad category) so it beat tight specifics like "Iraq," "Terrorism," "Jobs," etc. If you group the specifics into broader categories, "Moral values" comes in dead last.
So, fortified by false data, we are probably going to go out and either fail to make the argument, or we will appeal to moral sensibilities when we actually won the election on warfighting and economics. Absolutely bloody marvelous.
That said, I agree we should prepare for an intensified moral values debate, but we should also repeat as many times as necessary that the President didn't win a mandate because he reads the Bible, he won a mandate because of the way he fought this war and the way he got government out of the way of a growing economy.
Rest assured the fake ones are in The Democratic Party.
Hillary! has already started her transformation into a "Christian" with a
speech at Tufts University last week.
Mother pus bucket? Maybe you need to up the dosage, my friend. Colson isn't a "pundit", he's a minister. His commentary isn't meant to win elections; he's trying to save souls. Your reliance on speculative polls to rationalize one, single reason for GW's reelection is no more valid than Colson's. If your objective is just to win elections, you will say or do anything in order to achieve that end. Didn't we just see a presidential candidate try that?
“Do you have to be pro-life and oppose gay ‘marriage’ to be Christian?”
Yes.
“How can you be a Christian without a plan to help the poor?”
'Feed a man fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.'
sister Chrisitan well the time has come...
The Bible says, "A man reaps what he sows." If thats not capitalism, I don't know what is.
A relevant article, and quite an eye-opener...
http://www.siegeofwesternciv.com/Europeletter.htm
Along the moral values line, IMO the nastiness with which the Dems attacked Bush probably turned people off as much as gay marriage. Had the hard leftists kept their mouths shut (i.e. didn't compare Bush with Hitler/Saddam/Satan/et al) and run a reasonably clean campaign, they might've won. I think common decency is a moral value that most people admire, and the leftist Dems showed none at all.
BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Ping!
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Motorin'....
ProLife Ping!
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But the Bible wasn't talking about 'capitalism' or even 'farming'.
It was a lesson in consequence.
It is much the same as 'do unto others what you would have them do unto you'
Colson has a prison ministry (Prison Fellowship) but is not a "minister" as in "pulpit minister." He is deeply intellectual and philosophical, and probably one of the greatest Christian apologists of our time. I respect anything he has to say.
Colson has a prison ministry (Prison Fellowship) but is not a "minister" as in "pulpit minister." He is deeply intellectual and philosophical, and probably one of the greatest Christian apologists of our time. I respect anything he has to say.
Mr. Coleson has a far greater clue than you'll ever have. Have you ever served on staff for a president? He has, so he has considerable credability as far as what the 'clue' is sir. He's been there.
Well, the answer is NOT to put a gun to the heads of the producing population, take their money, and give it to the poor.
..."and I will say to them, depart from me for I never knew thee"
Why don't you take five, and then try posting that again, and I'll respond.
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