There were some interesting intersecting stories in the New York Times today. One was about Barrack Obama's Christian beliefs and his relationship with his Pastor at his church. The Times said,
"He began his presidential announcement with the phrase “Giving all praise and honor to God,” a salutation common in the black church. He titled his second book, “The Audacity of Hope,” after one of Mr. Wright’s sermons, and often talks about biblical underdogs, the mutual interests of religious and secular America, and the centrality of faith in public life."Okay, that doesn't mean he is going to impose his beliefs on us, but it does make me a little uneasy.
Now switch over to Istanbul, Turkey. The times ran a story today that over 700,000 people marched in opposition to what they saw as a threat to their secular form of government. They greatly fear that the current administration may slowly ease Islamic law into the government. Turkish citizens have relatively great freedom in that part of the world and they don't want to regress to a society that suppresses individuals rights.
One thing is for sure, at the end of the day religion is present in all things political to one degree or another. Only the citizens vigilance will keep it at an acceptable level.
1 comment:
A refresher in the history of progressive politics in the USA might be called for. The struggle against slavery grew out of the churches. (Owning slaves was once a cherished individual right in this country). Christians also led the struggle for women's rights and opposition to child labor. Fast forward to the 1960's and Martin Luther King. The black civil rights movement literally walked out of the churches in Alabama into the streets where vigilant citizens opposed to Christianity influencing public policy threw bricks at them. In fact, weren't there actually "Vigilance Committees" fighting the civil rights movement with violence and intimidation?
Jim Wallis (that's the Rev. Jim Wallis) is correct that every major progressive victory in this country was initiated by people of Christian faith.
I think you painted with way too broad a brush here, Jim. Don't confuse Falwell and Dobson with the majority of Christians, like Sen. Obama, Sen. Clinton, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter etc. Or Howard Zahnhiser, author of the Wilderness Act, who was an evangelical Christian.
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