Long May It Wave?

Some of you may have read recent news reports related to a “flag issue” taking place in Boston, MA. If you haven’t, here is an article about the dispute.

According to the article, the challenge has gone all the way to the Supreme Court and they are scheduled to hear the case today (1/18/22), with a possible decision by the end of June.

In my opinion, this is just one more example of Christians trying to overstep their bounds.

Yes, the Constitution talks about freedom of religion, but this doesn’t translate to “religion” entering into every facet of public life. It means those who are “religious” have freedom to worship without governmental intrusion or obstruction.

Interestingly, the Biden administration is in support of the action, as is the ACLU — which has presented a brief that states: “The city (cannot) designate its flagpole a public forum for private speech and then deny access to an otherwise eligible speaker based on viewpoint.” 

On the other hand, Boston officials contend that the flags on the city’s flag poles are a form of government speech and the city has a right to avoid raising a faith group’s flag as it would then be conveying a religious message. (I AGREE!)

This argument has won in the lower courts but in September, the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case and clarify what counts as government speech.

From my non-religious point of view, I see this as simply one more effort to make in-roads towards meeting the goal of the Christian Nationalists. Minor, yes, in that it’s a “city” issue. But Major in that the decision made by the Supreme Court may very well demonstrate the bias many of us believe exists among its members, as well as portend future actions by this group that involve religious issues.

A Good Thing

There are so many “bad” things going on in the world today that I thought it might be fun –and uplifting– to share something GOOD that’s happened (or is happening) in your life.

So right now … this moment … stop and think about something positive that’s going on for you.

Did you recently get a good bill of health from your doctor? Did you get a raise or a job promotion? Did you get rid of a little “extra” weight? Or maybe you got a new __________ (fill in the blank) that you’ve been wanting for a long time.

It doesn’t have to be anything big and/or earth-shattering. All it has to be is something that gave you a lift and made you smile.

So right now … for the next few moments … try to remove all thoughts related to the virus … politics … bad weather … the fight you had with your spouse or kids … the dinner you burnt last night … that pain in your get-along … and focus on something POSITIVE.

As for me? As some of you know, in October I had a recurrence of the issue that put me into the hospital last June. But THIS time, because the hospital “admitted” me (albeit only briefly), Medicare paid my hospital bill in full! Whoopie!

Now it’s your turn. Share that GOOD THING in your life that made you SMILE! 😀

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Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Christian Nationalism

Image courtesy of iStockphoto.com

I just came across an EXCELLENT article entitled, “Here’s where Christian Nationalism comes from, and what it gets wrong.”

Since some of you may not be familiar with this movement and/or the ideology behind it, here is an excellent explanation from the article:

It holds that, like Israel of the Old Testament, America is God’s chosen instrument to fulfill his purposes on Earth. Its adherents believe that America was intended, both by its founders and by God himself, to be a Christian nation, and that defenders of that birthright are divinely appointed to reinstate it by means of political power.

I’m sure many of you who watched the videos of the January 6, 2021 debacle saw individuals carrying the Trump and Confederate flags — but did you also notice the several participants who were carrying Christian flags and wearing clothing with slogans such as “Jesus 2020” and “Jesus in my savior. Trump is my president“?

Christian Nationalism is very popular among many conservative white American evangelicals; in fact, there are reports that some pastors even encouraged their members to attend Trump’s rally.

I really hope you will take the time to read the referenced article because it not only provides some history behind the movement, why its establishment in government has become so important to evangelicals … and even more importantly … why there is an urgency to activate it in the U.S.

The article can be found (link removed) — use PDF file below.

Necessary Qualifier: The article author is an ordained minister (among other things) — and although he believes America needs the Christian gospel, he does NOT support “Christian Nationalism.”

NOTE: Here is a PDF file since most visitors were unable to access the article directly:

Christian Nationalism

Tyranny, They Say!

From my limited knowledge of politics, I get the impression (from various actions that have taken place over the recent past) that Republicans want to State-legislate and only call on the Federal Government when they get into a pickle.

If my thinking is on-target, then it would seem it aligns with something Heather wrote in her most recent “Letters From An American” newsletter (1/7/2022):

From the nation’s early years, lawmakers who wanted to protect their own interests have insisted that true American democracy is local, where voters can make their wishes clearly known. They said that the federal government must not intervene in the choices state voters made about the way their government operated despite the fact that the federal government represents the will of the vast majority of Americans. Federal intervention in state laws, they said, was tyranny.

Following is a portion of one reader’s response to Heather’s remarks (obviously, tongue-in-cheek):

Now that we’ve determined we don’t need Federal government … let’s go a step further. Make each state handle everything on their own. The people they put in office will have no say in anything outside their state. Oh, and wait, that’s too much governing from Albany to say what Buffalo or NYC should do so each place needs isolated government.

We won’t need federal Congress anymore, send them home. We won’t need a President, each Governor will independently lead their 1/50th of the country. All financial resources will come from their own citizens. No more tax money coming from CA or NY where everyone complains about high taxes. We’ll use that money for ourselves.

The only thing we’ll have at a Federal level will be a representative to oversee Federal lands. Just some small agencies.

This all just sounds ridiculous and you all just thought I … must have gone crazy.

But this is exactly what Republicans want to happen. When it does they’ll want to do away with their state government with the exception of banning abortion and voting.

Somehow, I find it difficult to imagine such a scenario would be successful.

But maybe that’s just me.

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Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay

Genesis of God’s Nature

The following was a comment on a blog that I follow:

All scripture was written by human beings who, I believe, unwittingly created God’s nature in their own fallible and often-enough angry, vengeful image. (This may also help explain why those authors’ Maker has to be male.) Too many of today’s institutional Christians believe and/or vocally behave likewise.

Others have made similar observations related to God’s nature.

Personally, I tend to agree. 

However, what I found particularly intriguing was the statement in parenthesis.

Thoughts?