I cannot stand the continual cries from Conservative Christians that their “religious freedom is under attack”. It is simply not true. These wannabe theocrats are confusing religious freedom/liberty with religious exclusivity in their drive to “Christianize” everything about American government.
As Jim West said:
Your task isn’t to act as cheerleader for fallen human politicos. And if you think it is, and you must or you wouldn’t allow yourself to be co-opted by human ideology, then you most assuredly have cut yourself off from the Word which you are commanded to proclaim. Indeed, you don’t even know that Word sufficiently well to know your own task: you surely aren’t in a position, then, to tell others what it says.
I was going to let this heretical event pass without mentioning it, even after a few friends of mine turned me on to Wayne Grudem‘s “Democrats are evil” checksheet he posted on his website.
Then I saw his op-ed in the Christian Post.
That’s when I hit my limit.
In an article titled “Why I Am Participating In Pulpit Freedom Sunday” he spews out the GOP party platform with some Jesus dressing on top.
It is, honestly, a perversion of the Gospel and everything Christianity is about. In it he talks the standard talk about marriage equality, abortion, taxes, regulation on businesses, and support for Israel. He draws the comparison that what’s at stake is equivalent to pastors taking to the pulpit to encourage their congregants to vote for Abraham Lincoln as the best shot to end slavery in 1860.
Hyperbole much, Wayne?
I’ll agree that the differences between parties are grander than they’ve been in decades. That being said, I don’t agree that, as Grudem infers, that a vote for a Democratic candidate is equivalent to voting against Abraham Lincoln in the 19th Century. I also strongly disagree with his conclusion on his cheatsheet that “The positions in the B column (Republican) above are not evil positions” inferring that the positions of the Democratic party are evil.
Additionally Wayne, how can you preach adherance to Romans 13 when you’re willingly disobeying Governmental authorities which, in the word of the Apostle Paul, is the same as disobeying God himself?
Pastors and preachers are called upon to stand in the prophetic tradition of the Church and speak truth to power, no matter which political party it is. Aligning oneself, and one’s congregation, with a particular ideology abandons that tradition and dishonors the Church.
I agree with Jim. If you’re a pastor who participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, you need to resign today… you’re no longer a pastor but a political surrogate.
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