Josh wrote:Whatever we do, I don't think our goal should be to see more Democrats elected or more Republicans elected. In the Kingdom, our concern for unborn children, refugees, sexual morality, the poor and oppressed, victims of war, and our ability to live our life as Kingdom Christians without persecution all overlap with political issues. That's why we wrestle with questions like whether to vote, whether to debate political issues, etc.
If they overlap with political issues, it's because we aren't spending enough time in the right kingdom. I can be quite concerned for refugees who are my neighbour, and love my neighbour who is a Muslim, without having to join the anti-Trump bandwagon. It puzzles me that so many people can't do this. Or that they don't stop and ask themselves just what their anti-Trump activism is even accomplishing.
I agree that we shouldn't be "joining the anti-Trump bandwagon". A lot of the current protests are full of anger but not very focused on any particular issue, and we shouldn't be instinctively against whatever the president does. We should not seethe with hatred or spend our lives consumed with unreflective anger. Neil Gorsuch was a great choice for Supreme Court. If Trump really does bargain with pharmaceutical companies to bring the price government pays down - as almost all other countries do - that could mean major savings in taxes and medical care. The measure should never be whether it is for or against Trump.
But let's face it. To a lot of people, the religious right political movement is more or less the definition of Christianity, and Donald Trump is the most visible figure in this movement. It's hard to proclaim Christianity without speaking against some false notions of Christianity. There's more than one religious right movement, and the more extreme elements of that are gaining power and visibility. Remember Flemming Rose, the Danish publisher who published insulting cartoons of Mohammed that were extremely controversial? He is now on staff at the Cato Institute. When he met Steve Bannon, Bannon assumed that they agreed on everything regarding Muslims, and shared his Church Militant vision with him. Flemming Rose
share some details of that conversation:
Flemming Rose wrote:What disturbed me the most in our conversation was Bannon’s apparent belief that violence and war can have a cleansing effect, that we may need to tear down things and rebuild them from scratch. He made it clear he had lost faith in Europe as secularism and arriving Muslim immigrants had eroded traditional Christian values as the founding pillar of our civilization. Losing the Christian faith, in his view, has weakened Europe ― it’s neither willing nor able to confront Islam’s rising power and some European Muslims’ insistence on privileged treatment of their religion.
Bannon is of the belief that, if Europe is to be saved, there is no way to avoid armed conflict. The power of Islam cannot be stopped by peaceful means. In short, Bannon told me in no uncertain terms that the West is at war with Islam.
I begged to differ. Yes, we are in a hot war with violent Islamists and in a cold war with nonviolent Islamists who want to undermine secular democracy. But we are not at war with Islam. The Cold War was fought on many fronts, but basically it was a battle of ideas in which Marxists of a social democratic mold played a crucial role defending democracy against totalitarian Soviet Marxism-Leninism. It’s important to provide the same space for Muslims on the side of democracy to engage in the battle against Islamism. That seems impossible if we insist on being at war with Islam.
Bannon's faith is not my faith. That is not the Jesus I know. When people are teaching this in the name of Christianity, we need to be loud and clear about a different vision of Christianity. There's more than one battle of ideas, and one of these battles is about what it means to follow Jesus Christ in this world.
When we go out in the park with the families we are helping, we're concerned about how people feel about them. Right now, Trump's Administration is broadcasting that every refugee is a potential terrorist who is not vetted hardly at all. Feelings are running strong.
Is it biblical? Is it Christlike? Is it loving? Is it true? How can I find out?