I Wonder

Sometimes I Wonder ...

Atlanta, GA, Tim Tuohy -- Sometimes I wonder when we who call ourselves Christian do so many 'stupid' things. If we are Christians, wouldn't we be expected to be trying to put a stop to the stupidity and introduce God's will through our votes and referendums? Even if we ignore illness, deformities or birth defects and address only the evil people do to each other and themselves by omission and the willful act of turning away; wouldn't the list of evils would be incomplete without those done in the name of God? Even today, we Christians continue to act (and believe) contrary to the teachings of our Lord. This article however, isn't written to condemn us, for without Jesus we all accept that we are condemned already. This article is written to call our attention to our own beliefs and thoughts. I think we should do this because we find ourselves challenged on all sides and when so challenged it is good to review our own beliefs and actions to assure we are acting in accordance to the teaching of the one we call Lord.

As a Christian I have many of the same misgivings as many of my Christian brothers and sisters about the anti-Christian (read: anti-Christ) activities and attitudes of the left. Many Christians are even more concerned about the perceived fading of morality on the far left within the United States. However, I am also conscious of an instinct among all human beings to latch onto a thought or believe in things that make them feel secure in an otherwise insecure world. It is easier to feel secure through faith in an all-knowing, all seeing and all powerful God than it is to feel secure that a government of humans is going to be correct in all that it does. It is easier to feel secure with God's powerful hand than to trust that our feeble human effort is sufficient to assure our family will thrive. After all, we can't understand what's up God's sleeve but we can be reasonably certain that God's plan is like that of a father and His will is going to end up being what's best for us.

Are we testing all things as we were instructed in the Bible to see if our belief is valid or are we simply hearing things we think sound good and adopting them as our own firmly held beliefs?
Are we following the opinion of our minister or the Word of God?

Trusted pastors seem to be so even though they are human and subject to human shortfalls and trusted politicians, on the other hand, seem to be a constant source of disappointment. The old proverb that states complete power corrupts completely, proves accurate more times than not. Yet in our efforts to be faithful we are sometimes led into a conundrum of deceit. If we believe the news, the Christians as a group, are in total support of the Republican Party and the President. We are right-wing, ultra-conservative war mongers bent on the destruction of all who don't agree with our religious views. To many an unbeliever, Christians are no different than our Islamic counterparts. There are people pointing out that we are intolerant of choice, sexual orientation and race. They say we are determined to forward a Zionist agenda and if we had our way, we would re-institute prayer in schools, abolish abortion and re-write the Constitution according to Biblical texts that are thousands of years old and incredibly out of date. Further, we don't care about the environment or what industry does to it. And ... What's up with priests?

I think we should step back and think about our position on some of the things that we usually associate with the political left. I think we should evaluate the positions we take not based on the preacher's opinion or the political winds but on what Jesus said.

For instance, there's been much discussion on everything from reproductive rights and stem cell research, to the dire situation in developing countries. We ignore the sins of the bureaucracy hoping it will all go away or that Jesus will come back before it all boils over. We vote for the politicians who openly profess being born again Christians and stand by them loyally as long as they do yet allow our corporations to 'globalize' our jobs and the associated accountability. Let's not forget though that it is not the output from the politician's mouth that makes them historical figures but rather their actions.

Political greatness is not achieved by saying you're a Christian or by the flowery speeches and powerful the words used therein. It is not achieved by being Republican or Democrat; it is achieved by being successful in five areas:

Providing an economic environment conducive of fair commerce.
Providing for the health and well being of the citizens of your country as if they're your own immediate family.
Providing for the care of the eldest of the population.
Providing for the security of the nation from external and internal enemies.
Leading in the compromise of different ideological factions within the country.

A nation's welfare depends largely on its ability to provide jobs, foster businesses and allow its families to thrive. In today's global environment this includes causing international trade to also be fair by taxation and tariffs of goods and services imported at substantially cheaper costs than domestic production allows. In the same manner as government develops highway systems, it is our right to expect government to develop the electrical grid, fresh water supply and fuels necessary to drive our economic engine. It is time for us to rethink everything from the fuel that runs our cars to the fuel that runs our power generation plants.

Why don't we support a national power grid and national power plants?
What is wrong with having a government funded super refinery so that we can enjoy a reasonable price for gas and share in the profits the giant oil companies are reaping?

The people of the nation deserve to be treated as if they matter. The people deserve to have jobs and opportunity to provide for their families and succeed and to do so without fear of lacking health care. Its time for us to rethink the strangle hold we have allowed our insurance companied to get on our medical professionals.

Why can't medical insurance be governed by a Public Health Trust consisting of Doctors and Patients?
Why can't every American Citizen be a member of a large medical group?

For the Christian must be reminded that Jesus told the Pharisees that honoring your father and mother is the first commandment with promise. Providing for our parents is of a higher concern than tithing to the church! Its time for us to rethink how we treat and care for our elderly.

Should we tithe to the church and ignore the plight of our parents?
Should we be tithing when our elderly are going hungry or are being mistreated in homes?

Remember that long wars with large armies deplete a country's resources and it is seldom better to meet an enemy on the battle field of his choosing than to defeat him on one of your own fields. Its time for us to rethink how and why we fight our wars.

What do we care if Iraq falls apart?
Should we be sacrificing our best and our future at the gates of Hell so that we can impose our will on these people?

No country in history has ever survived without some level of compromise between parties of opposing views. Without this all you're going to have is totalitarian rule and while that may be acceptable for a while, there's a very good chance people will soon form new ideas and opinions that are unacceptable under the new regime.

The United States operates best when there is a balance of power, shouldn't we establish laws that make it mandatory for a sharing of power in committees?
Shouldn't bureaucracies be cycled periodically to keep them from becoming evil?

So I challenge us all to re-think our position on almost everything we think we stand for.

Our neighbors shouldn't have to move away because their jobs have been outsourced.
Our parents shouldn't have to work until they are eighty because they have no medical insurance.
Our working class shouldn't have to make life decisions in order to pay for gasoline.
No bureaucracy should have the power to impose its will on any citizen without due process of law.

Many things have changed over the last hundred years; it is time to rethink what society needs. Electronic service isn't a luxury any more. Medical care, water, efficient transportation and fuel aren't luxurious frivolities of the wealthy; these are requirements of a modern society.

All these changes would require much pain, but remember, people started fighting WW2 on horses. Do we really need another major war to move forward? Its time for a change. Its time to think about what the world should look like in the future and stop holding onto the past.

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