First, a quick history lesson. America was NOT founded on the principals of the bible. If you learned this, it is a lie that can easily be learned with very little time and research. The founding fathers of the United States were NOT christian. They were deists, but most rejected the bible, Jesus, and the church. Most of the Americans here in germany with me had learned that the founding fathers were christian and most of the laws we have are because of our christian foundation as a nation. I had never even heard this theory until last week and I was shocked that most people here believed this and that America has been a successful nation because of its christian foundations. However, the nations foundations were built on the ideologies of the time and most of those came from France and were in no way biblically based. And the USA has been largely successful by exploiting other people (native american indians, chinese, immigrants, slaves) which is really not a very christian thing to do. Go ahead and do your own research if you don't believe me. Please. Research your beliefs people! God gave us a brain for a reason.
I finally finished reading "Jesus for President" by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. I loved this book. The Introduction states that it is "a book to provoke the christian polital imagination." It's divided into four sections with the first section discussing the politics of the Hebrew people and how God set them apart from the world they lived. The next section talks about Jesus and how he came and set them even more apart from the worldly politics all humans were stuck living in. The third section talks about how the church went from being persecuted to persecuting others and the current politics of the United States. And the fourth section discusses some practical ways to work with politics as a christian.
This book has confirmed my pacifist stance. Violence begets violence. Jesus would not be proud of America going to war in Iraq. Jesus would not drive tanks into Baghdad. Jesus would not assasinate Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, or any Islamist extreme terrorist. Nor would he have done nothing. Jesus is love. Jesus loves his enemies and asks God to forgive them. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus says, "Love your enemies. Return good for evil." Jesus didn't fight against Rome or against his enemies. When he was being arrested, Jesus disarmed Peter and healed the soldier's ear. If ever there was a time for violence against authorities, it was at that time. But when Jesus disarms Peter, he is disarming all christians. We are to lead a non-violent life. Being Christian means we act like little Christs. And Christ didn't have a flame thrower.
So here's where people might get even more upset with me. Another issue that has been upsetting me lately is the issue of gay marriage. Last week voters chose to change the California constitution to ban gay marriages. This breaks my heart. The bible never talks about Jesus taking away the rights of sinners. And if God is love, and I know He is, then how are we loving gay people by taking away their rights? Won't christians reach more gay people by treating them equally and with love rather than creating laws that make them hate the church? What about divorce? Maybe we should make divorce illegal for christians. It's clearly a sin in the bible, right? So why is the divorce rate among evangelical christians higher than the rest of the population of the United States? Evangelicals are getting divorced and gays want to get married and "christians" are saying that gays are destroying the families of america. Wake up America.
OK, back to Jesus for President. This book filled me with hope and new creative ideas for the life Jesus wanted us to live. New ideas on saving energy like hooking up a stationary bike to the washing machine and letting it run off the power gathered by the bicycle as I excercise. Ultimately, this book filled me with the hope that giving is more contagious than hoarding, love converts hatred, light overcomes darkness, and there are loving solutions to all problems. I'm very hopeful for my outreaches and the effects we will have as we fight extreme poverty in the slums of India and in the remote villages of Ethiopia and Nepal. I leave Saturday for Budapest, Hungary and I will also be traveling around the town of Győr in Hungary. I'll try to post more photos next time. Love you all! If you hate my opinions and even if you don't, pray for me.
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Hey sweetie. Hope you're having an awesome time in Hungary. We've been praying for you.'Jesus 4 President' sounds like a really good book. And the whole topic of our founding father's faith is of interest to me. I actually have spent a lot of time researching it over that last decade (when people started arguing these 2 extreme viewpoints). You'd be amazed at how much info is out there. Don't be too hard on your friends there for their beliefs. Honestly there is as much "evidence" out there (both in books and on the web) to support either viewpoint. There are new books on the subject coming out all the time. I found that the most objective resources are biographies on the individuals. I also found the Oxford History of the American People had a lot of good info. It seems most sources agree that Jefferson & Franklin were definitely deists & Paine embraced the age of reason. But the majority of the founders were very involved in Christian churches. Of course going to church doesn't make you a Christian. Except for Patrick Henry, who openly professed faith in Christ, who can know what they truly believed. Many were Anglicans, Presbyterians, Quakers & even Methodists (*_*) As far as influence of Christianity on the government, the southern colonies were a church state (the leader of the state being the head of the church & paid by the state). Church and state were not completely separated until 1785 in Virgina. In Connecticut & Mass. the official state "preference" to Congregational church continued into the 1800's... I was surprised that you had never heard that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. It was taught in all of our history classes when I was growing up (a really long time ago). I find it sad that extremists on both sides seem to feel a need to prove that the founders' beliefs somehow justify their own way of thinking & seem to be trying to rewrite history to prove their point. I recently read a quote by a Professor Holmes from William & Mary College that supports your admonishing us to use our brains. He said (regarding this topic of the Founder's faith) that he hopes that the evangelicals and the secularists will both do more reading. Amen to that. We can have some fun discussions when you get back. I love you very much. Auntie
I love you! Auntie
I LOVE that you research this stuff too. You make me so happy. You are the best Auntie! Yeah, I totally look forward to talking to you about this when I come home. Love you! MUAH!
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