Religion, not patriotism, truly is the last refuge of the scoundrel. While most believers want to worship God and serve their fellow human beings, a few people twist the sacred for personal and political profit. Indeed, claiming that "God is on my side" plays the ultimate trump in any dispute.
This played out in the tax debate in Alabama a couple of years ago, when we were assured that Jesus would want a more "fair" tax code, which of course meant raising taxes in order to fund more government social programs.
Perhaps it's best if we rely on Jesus for what He actually did say about transforming our lives from practicers of the deeds of the flesh to those who demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. He seemed to have been more concerned about proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom than giving stump speeches.
3 comments:
Well said. The other point being that one can hardly claim to be fulfilling the Lord's commands to "do good unto all men, especially those of the household of the faith" by having a generous welfare state. I'll be the Swedes don't realize that, by Gov. Riley's and others' barometers, they're the most faithful Christians in the world. I say unaware, because Sweden has church attendance rate of 4% which (at the time of the study) was lower than East Germany. http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_rate.htm
That is the express premise of this article. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0823-03.htm. Unsurprisingly, progressives, who routinely reject God's instructions to deny their appetites (particuarly in matters sexual), think they are justified by confiscating taxes from others. More salvation by works; they just prefer different works.
Don't forget Hugo Chavez, who swore "by Jesus Christ -- the greatest socialist in history."
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