An Opinion Line comment Tuesday said that “Jesus Christ was the ultimate liberal.” Maybe not after the Conservative Bible Project is finished. In what sounds like a parody but isn’t, the son of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly is leading an effort to cleanse “liberal bias” from modern translations of the Bible and create “a fully conservative Bible,” the Washington Post reported. “Liberal bias has become the single biggest distortion in modern Bible translations,” the group’s Web site contends. One of the guidelines of the project is to explain “the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning.”
A rector of a local Episcopal Church blessed dogs as part of the Kansas Humane Society’s Woofstock event Saturday. Many churches throughout the country also blessed pets Sunday as part of St. Francis’ feast day. Rick Hamlin, executive editor at Guideposts magazine, noted on a Washington Post discussion blog that prayers for pets are consistently among the top 10 prayer requests at OurPrayer.org.
What do you think? Are such blessings and prayers natural and appropriate, given God’s concern for His creation?
If President Obama is an ungodly socialist, as some people think, what is Pope Benedict? The pope this week decried the “scandal of glaring inequalities” in the world economy and supported the redistribution of wealth. He also argued that “lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers, or abandoning mechanisms of wealth redistribution in order to increase the country’s international competitiveness, hinder the achievement of lasting development.” The pope disagreed with those who believe that the economy should be free of government regulation, and he supported “a political, juridical and economic order” that can help “manage the global economy.”
It’s terrible enough that priests and nuns terrorized and abused thousands of boys and girls in Ireland, according to a commission report released Wednesday. But — as was the case with some of the sex-abuse scandals in the United States — the Catholic Church covered it up and, as a result, helped perpetuate it. The report concluded that church officials shielded their orders’ pedophiles from arrest to protect their own reputations, the Washington Post reported.
The more religious Americans are, the more likely they are to justify torture, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. Huh? Of those surveyed who attend religious services at least weekly, 54 percent said that torture can often or sometimes be justified, compared with 42 percent of those who rarely or never attend religious services. White evangelical Protestants led the way, with 62 percent saying that torture can be justified.
It can be difficult sometimes to get 100 people to help with a service project. So it was especially impressive that about 3,000 citizens volunteered Saturday to clean up parks, paint homes for the needy and give back to this community in other ways. The Love Wichita event was organized by 27 churches and spearheaded by Eastminster Presbyterian Church, which began the annual event last year. Hats off to everyone who participated, and here’s hoping for an even larger turnout next year.
“America has always been, and remains, a deeply religious nation. At our best, we live up to our national ideals of defending the equality and dignity of each and every human life. Public policy decisions are all about deciding what type of nation we shall be. And the sacredness of the human person is a principle that tends to get lost in that decision-making process as societies become more secular.” — Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., in a CNSNews.com commentary about polls showing a decline in religious observance
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne noted how wannabe peacemaker President Obama aggravated the culture war in tapping Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be his secretary of Health and Human Services, because she’s a Catholic who has vetoed anti-abortion legislation and otherwise upset social conservatives. But Dionne observed that liberal Catholic groups have pushed back in Sebelius’ defense, in part because abortion has declined in Kansas 10 percent since she took office. He wrote: “The rapid mobilization behind Sebelius marked the emergence of an organized movement of religious progressives as a forceful counterweight to religious conservatives, and it brought home the centrality of abortion reduction to the overall argument.”
Pope Benedict (in photo) made a mistake of biblical proportions by deciding to readmit Bishop Richard Williamson, a Holocaust denier, into the Roman Catholic fold, wrote columnist Mary Sanchez. “Healing a schism is one thing, but readmitting right-wing nuts like Williamson is of dubious value to the church,” Sanchez said. Sanchez is concerned that “progress is not a given in society, especially where faith communities are concerned. What we learned in middle school about the Holocaust can be unlearned.” She hopes the pope “will at least use his newfound authority over the traditionalist community to crack down on its lunatics.”
UPDATE: The Vatican demanded today that Williamson recant his anti-Holocaust positions before being fully admitted into the Roman Catholic Church, Associated Press reported. The Vatican also said in a statement that Pope Benedict didn’t know about Williamson’s views when he agreed to lift his excommunication.
What does God, via televangelist Pat Robertson, see for 2009? Socialism and hyperinflation, but also a second-quarter economic rebound. And “if I’m hearing Him right, gold will go to about $1,900 an ounce, and oil $300 a barrel,” Robertson said in his annual prophecies. Robertson also predicted that Islam will weaken and Russia will form a coalition to control Mideast oil supplies.
Those who would scoff at Robertson should note that he correctly predicted 2008 would bring $150-a-barrel oil, $1,000-an-ounce gold and a recession.
As for President Barack Obama: Because of the bad economy, “he’ll be able to get anything he wants,” Robertson said.
In the new documentary “Religulous,” comedian Bill Maher (in photo) takes stands against religion and against the very notion of faith (as the word is generally used these days) some of the time, and against the intermingling of religion and public policy all of the time. Maher is not alone: For many of us, it makes about as much sense to take the Bible (or any of the other religions’ texts) as absolute truth as it does to regard “The Lord of the Rings” (or “Gulliver’s Travels” or “Story of O”) as holy writ. The Bible’s exceptional status is more an accident of history than a proof of divine origin. And thinking God is actually speaking to you is, well, a little bonkers, whether you’re Moses or Joan of Arc or the guy on his knees praying, right down the street. – Andy Klein, www.lacitybeat.com
“Religulous” has the theological depth of a religion documentary by a seventh-grade church dropout, which is exactly what filmmaker Bill Maher is. He uses a more fundamentalist reading of Scripture than most fundamentalists do. The film is an alleged quest to find out if “religion is detrimental to the progress of humanity.” He concludes that it is, even though most of the believers he meets treat him with far more respect than he treats them. He makes no mention of any good ever done in the name of God, or of the millions killed by Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot in the name of atheism. There are intelligent arguments to be made against faith. This is not one of them. – Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Columnist Cal Thomas thinks that restrictions on political speech in churches likely is unconstitutional. But he thinks that the law has “done churches a favor, however inadvertent, by protecting most of them from the downside of electioneering.” Thomas wrote: “Whether or not the law is repealed, churches and ministers would do better to keep their attention focused on the things above, rather than the things below, because politics can be the ultimate temptation and pollute a far superior and life-changing message.”
Politically active pastors must keep up the pretense that they aren’t endorsing candidates or risk their churches’ tax-exempt status. But that was before Pulpit Freedom Sunday, which will find at least 33 pastors this weekend making their picks public and practically inviting the Internal Revenue Service to come after them. “What they’re doing is talking to their congregations about biblical issues related to candidates and elections, and they believe they have the constitutional right to do that,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the sponsoring Alliance Defense Fund.
Peter Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a former deputy assistant to President Bush, is puzzled and put off by the criticism of Barack Obama by Focus on the Family’s James Dobson (in photo). Most of the basis for the criticism was Obama’s address at a “Call to Renewal” conference two years ago. But Wehner described key points of the address as “respectful and authentic” and “reasonable,” and said that Dobson’s attacks fell “terribly short” of a fair and honest critique. “If Christian conservatives want to be taken seriously, they need to make serious arguments and speak with intellectual integrity,” Wehner wrote. “In this instance, Dobson didn’t. He has set back his cause and made some of us who are evangelicals and conservatives wince.”
Barack Obama continues to court evangelicals, telling an audience Tuesday that he would not only continue but also expand President Bush’s faith-based initiative, which seeks to enlist churches’ help in solving social problems.
“The challenges we face today, from putting people back to work to improving our schools, from saving our planet to combating HIV/AIDS to ending genocide, are simply too big for government to solve alone,” Obama said in his remarks. “We need all hands on deck.”
He faces one immediate obstacle: the perceived failure of Bush’s faith-based program. How will Obama make the idea work better?
And some Democrats on the left are sure to object to Obama’s support for allowing religious groups that receive federal funds to hire and fire based on applicants’ faith.
The Catholic Church can set whatever policies it wants for its members. So the Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., is free to ask Gov. Kathleen Sebelius not to take Communion because of her support for abortion rights. But the archbishop’s rebuke does raise some questions: What about other pro-choice politicians? What about all the other pro-choice parish members? Should Catholic lawmakers who support the death penalty also be ask to stop taking Communion? What’s the responsibility of politicians to their church and to their secular duty to represent all the people?
It was encouraging that Pope Benedict XVI, writing on the eve of his U.S. visit, said that he was “deeply ashamed” of the church’s clergy sexual abuse scandal, which since 2002 has revealed 5,000 victims and cost the church $2 billion. He vowed to “do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future.” The church, he said, is doing screening to ensure that pedophiles do not become priests.
A large part of the scandal, too, was that some church leaders tried to hide problem priests, moving them from parish to parish instead of removing them from positions of authority.
The pope’s statement is a welcome sign that the church understands the need to openly and directly address the problem.
Setting aside all the viral e-mails claiming that Barack Obama is a radical Muslim, some people do have questions about his Christian faith. For those interested, here is a Q&A he did with Christianity Today that discusses his faith, abortion, etc.
Illinois has become the most recent legal battleground on prayer in schools. In October, a state law went into effect mandating a moment of silence in school each day, causing one student to bring suit, saying she attended school to learn, not pray.
On the other hand, there can be even nonreligious benefits to a moment of silence, such as helping students refocus. “My one friend was really angry because he liked having that moment to think about his life. He’s going through a tough time. His parents are getting divorced. His brother’s not very nice to him,†said the student bringing suit. “It’s hard, because I understand he has rights. But so do I.â€
In light of the Senate inquiry into the lavish spending by some ministry leaders, including private jets and Rolls-Royces, it was good to read in last Saturday’s Eagle about two Christian leaders who are trying not to be greedy about their success. Best-selling author Joel Osteen hasn’t taken a salary from his 48,000-member Houston church for two years, has lived in the same house for 13 years and, until recently, drove a 9-year-old car he inherited from his father. Rick Warren (in photo), author of the “The Purpose-Driven Life,†has repaid all his salary from his California megachurch and pledged to give away 90 percent of his book royalties. Warren also accepts no speaking fees and doesn’t mince words about the ministries under investigation: “The opulent lifestyles of televangelists make me sick.â€
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
While many religious groups lead the charge in charity and social work, some ministry leaders are driving luxury cars to their obese facilities. The excessive spending has Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, asking: If Jesus rode a donkey, why do ministers need Rolls-Royces? Also, are these ministries misusing their tax-exempt status?
But Georgia Democratic state Rep. Randal Mangham argues that appearances matter. “It’s important for kids to see you don’t have to sell drugs to drive a nice car,†he told the Los Angeles Times.
Does he have a Bible verse to back that up?
Posted by Kristin Mehler
After Sept. 11, the CIA proposed an in-depth study of world religion. It was dismissed as “mere sociology.†Imagine the difference in the Iraqi conflict had guiding powers possessed a working understanding of the Sunnis’ and Shiites’ faith and interaction.
Religion is something we can no longer afford to be in denial about. Much of the world lives wrapped around religious convictions, which guide everything from society to foreign policy.
John Micklethwait of the Economist predicts that religion will be the defining aspect of the next century globally. Be it jihad or an entrenched caste system, religious conflict abounds around the world and controls the climate of globalization and international relationships.
Leading religious scholar Philip Jenkins projects that religion will be the “prime animating and destructive force in human affairs, guiding attitudes to political liberty and obligation, concepts of nationhood and, of course, conflicts and wars.â€
Posted by Kristin Mehler
America was not founded as a "Christian nation," despite what many conservative Christians claim today, wrote Jon Meacham, the editor of Newsweek, in a New York Times commentary.
"The founders were not anti-religion," he wrote. "Many of them were faithful in their personal lives, and in their public language they evoked God. They grounded the founding principle of the nation — that all men are created equal — in the divine. But they wanted faith to be one thread in the country’s tapestry, not the whole tapestry."
Meacham cited several early documents and actions by past presidents that supported religious liberty and rejected an exclusive Christian view. For example, the treaty of Tripoli of 1797, which the Senate unanimously approved, stated that "the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The new Pew survey of Muslim Americans finds that they are generally satisfied with their communities and more moderate in their beliefs than Muslims in Western Europe — both reasons why they have more successfully assimilated here.
But the survey also revealed that 47 percent of respondents identified themselves as Muslims first and Americans second, and only 40 percent believe that groups of Arabs carried out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Moreover, 15 percent of Muslim Americans under age 30 said they believe that suicide bombings often or sometimes can be justified in defense of Islam.
There’s no denying that those numbers are disturbing.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
“It’s fine to be a religion man,” a distant relative of two of the defendants in the alleged Fort Dix plot, told the New York Times. “But if you get too much to the religion, you get out of your mind and you do stupid things.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
