I’ve not written a post in quite a while partially due to being busy, not being motivated to write and also taking in much of the “change” that has been happening in this country over the past few months. The country decided to change leadership in the White House going with the candidate who presumably best represents where they want to go as a country. For the record, I did not vote for Mr. Obama. I voted as such based on my Christian beliefs, which is largely incompatible with liberal values. That millions of Americans obviously feel differently than I do and voted for Mr. Obama is the point of this post.What prompted me to write tonight is an article that someone sent me today written by a columnist Kathleen Parker for the Washington Post. The title of the article is "Giving Up On God". Below is a few “not taken out of context” excerpts followed by some comments from me your humble blogger:
Quote: As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit. Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D. I'm bathing in holy water as I type.
Why is it that people who freely dismiss the notion of God can’t seem to avoid either hostility or sarcasm in the process? If God is so freely dismissed, they seem to have a very difficult time being content is their simple dismissal.
Quote: …in the process, the (GOP) party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship)
So apparently the issue may not be dismissing God after all, but perhaps a disagreement with Christians who follow Christ’s teaching in Matthew 28:19 - Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit – it would be difficult for Christians to “make disciples of all nations” without communicating the love of God verbally and otherwise. As such, I’m quite certain that Satan would agree with Ms. Parker’s point about “a more private approach to worship”. It would certainly be harder to make many disciples that way
Quote: It isn't that culture doesn't matter. It does. But preaching to the choir produces no converts. And shifting demographics suggest that the Republican Party -- and conservatism with it -- eventually will die out unless religion is returned to the privacy of one's heart where it belongs.
I can’t and won’t speak for the Republican Party (a party of which I have minimal if any interest). However I will presume to speak for Christianity and what Ms. Parker refers to as shifting demographics. What she is suggesting, is that as the country becomes more diversified i.e. less whites and more “people of color”, attitudes and preferences will continue to shift towards less “religious” standards. As a person of color I will disagree with Ms. Parker that religion as she puts it “will die out”. Interesting choice of words I might add. The Lord also has something to say on this matter in 2 Corinthians 4: 4 - If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. I will submit to Ms. Parker that it is not shifting demographics that will cause a political party to continue to lose elections. It is shifting moral standards. A decline in moral standards to be more precise. In this world the party that will cater to the desires of lower moral standards will win more and more and win big! Unfortunately for them they will inevitably lose bigger as the Bible puts it: Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Quote: Meanwhile, it isn't necessary to evict the Creator from the public square, surrender Judeo-Christian values or diminish the value of faith in America. Belief in something greater than oneself has much to recommend it, including most of the world's architectural treasures, our universities and even our founding documents.
To Ms. Parker some of the clear benefits of religion include nice looking buildings, schools and man-made documents. Wow! I love however how Jesus evaluates the marvels of such man made monuments: Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." (Matthew 24:1-2)
If you read Ms. Parker’s full article, you will find it to be a very common retrospective in modern humanism. Man worshiping himself and the other things of man: the buildings, secular knowledge, man-made private religiosity, the so-called eloquence of literary prose etc. etc. God however calls man to worship Him (through his Son Jesus Christ). The global outpouring of “hope” in Mr. Obama is very interesting…bordering sometimes on worship. It would be nice to see and hear Mr. Obama (a self confessed Christian) deflect such adulation and praise by re-directing the worship of the masses to the Christ who he says he believes in. As the next President, I suspect he will have many opportunities to do so. It will be interesting to see if he does. Actions speak so much louder than mere words.