EVANGELICAL REVOLUTION?

So you thought I forgot about religion – no way, everything is really about religion these days so you cannot escape it.

Couple of interesting, lengthy articles in our local paper as well as the New York Times, may indicate a certain trend in the Christian camp, specifically in the so called “evangelical” camp, if there is such a camp.

One was titled “Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock”. That was about the Rev. Gregory Boyd, a charismatic preacher from Minnesota with a huge flock.

His point is that in recent times, conservative Christianity has been tied to Bush and the Republican Party and to American Nationalism – and that is not proper and maybe down right wrong.

He laments the fact that every time you say evangelical Christian, people right away say aha the crazy religious Right. All they care about is bashing gays, reversing Roe vs. Wade, throwing out activist judges and above all supporting THE WAR because that’s what JESUS would do.

He thinks that people have turned politics and patriotism into IDOLATRY.

He is scared America is becoming a THEOCRACY – read Taliban.

Many of his congregants asked “why can’t we be the power, after all Jesus is behind us” – typical theocratic thinking – we are right and therefore we deserve to make the laws. Do you see any danger in this type of thinking?

Rev. Boyd’s message is that all people are inherently good and lead good lives, not only Christians. So if Christians want to reach out to others, they can do it without a gun in their hands.

The other guy is the Rev. Rob Bell that has 11,000 as his congregation in Grandville, Michigan. His message is to get back to Jesus and what he was all about. He says “What got Jesus angry were poverty, institutional racism and religious people who were indifferent to suffering people”. What got Jesus even angrier were “religious people going around proclaiming who was in and who was out of God’s kingdom” – remind you of anyone?

I am heartened by this trend. Jesus has been kidnapped by certain Christians and used and abused for their purposes which had nothing to do with Him and His message. It is always the same no matter what century you live in; people use religion to control other people. America was founded as a country that would NOT allow that behavior.

But unless ministers like the ones I mentioned above, start standing up for their faith and religion, the country will become another theocracy of well meaning but crazy Taliban type people who feel God is only on their side.

Janusz