First of all, please indulge me while I share something of my own beliefs. In no particular order, I am or have been, an agnostic, a dunked-in-the-water Southern Baptist (the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message kind, excluding the 1998 addendum), a humanist(h.t. to our own mrboma), a metaphysical naturalist, a follower of the Church of Reality(shot of chinaco to bartcop), a Bahá’í, a Zoroastrian, a deist, a Naturalist Buddhist, a Transcendentalist,a Unitarian Universalist, and an American Baptist, of sorts (h.t. and a deep bow to Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes and a hearty “Amen” for his sermons – check out Patriotism is Not Enough for the text of a fine example of a great anti Iraq war sermon or this mp3 sound file of his recent sermon entitled “Tangible Truth” for an earful of mellifluous vocalisation with a real message).
Whew. It’s been a long road for me and all of those belief/non-belief systems. I invite you to examine some of the many links I provided above and enjoy the diversity of systems that humans have created for themselves/have received. Or look for links to other systems that I have not included here. There are many belief systems that I haven’t gotten to…..yet! LOL! (If you would like to leave us all another link or two to share some good websites explaining your own religion or belief/non-belief system or that of others, please do so in the comments below.)
At this point in my seeking, I no longer believe that it matters to me what you believe in your own private mind about who, what, or if Goddess/God/gods/goddesses is/are. The only evidence I can have about what you believe in your own private mind is how you publicly act on your private beliefs. (Given that speech is a form of action, I rule out of consideration as pure action only those words which you speak about what you believe in your private mind about who, what, or if Goddess/God/gods/goddesses is/are – but that’s another religio-philosophical essay which basically boils down to who cares what you say about what you believe if you don’t act right….)
OK, I’ll start getting to the real purpose of this diary: the proposition that some who call themselves Christians act as though they do not believe in the words of the Bible, which is the official record of Christianity and the storehouse of Christian knowledge and Christian concepts of moral truth. I offer this diary as a rebuke to them, in the spirit of the Christian faith that I believe contains much truth. To wit:
Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
I also offer this diary as a tool and reference for you to use to rebuke certain of our brothers and sisters, regardless of what you believe in your personal private mind about Jesus and the Bible. Personally, I consider it universally moral to use the words of a particular belief system to rebuke the adherents of that belief system in order to promote the morality and truth I find within that belief system. I may be wrong about that, but its not because I haven’t thought about it a lot and tried hard to arrive at a correct understanding.
And so, finally, now that the disclaimers are done and my purposes proclaimed, we arrive together at the point of all this: A fine piece of work I stumbled across that fleshes out my own understandings of the moral failures of the current administration from the perspective of the faith that Mr. Bush proudly proclaims.
Bloodguilty Churches [or, pdf]
Why Bush’s Agenda Is Immoral and an Abomination to God
By Katherine Yurica
George W. Bush, his administration, the Republican controlled congress as well as the Republican Party itself, and most of the churches in America (including evangelical, Southern Baptist, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic), stand indicted–not by men–not by this writer–but by the very Holy Scriptures the religious-right and Mr. Bush profess to uphold.
Weighed against the Bible, the Bush actions are not only morally corrupt–they are unchristian and unbiblical to the core.
I recommend that you download the pdf for future reference, or at least read the whole article online, but I have excerpted a few sections for you here.
On the rush to war:
The prophet Isaiah describes the nation who rushed to war this way:
“Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths and highways.
“The way of peace they know not, and there is no justice or right in their goings; they have made them crooked paths; whoever goes in them does not know peace.” (Isaiah 59:7-8 Amplified)”.
On torture:
There is not a single instance in the Bible where torture is authorized or condoned. It is always presented as something used against the righteous, and the righteous have never resorted to torturing their enemies. The word is used only once in the King James Version at Hebrews 11:35:
“…Others were tortured to death with clubs, refusing to accept release [offered on the terms of denying their faith] that they might be resurrected to a better life. Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith]; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated…” (Hebrews 11:35-37 Amplified Version).
On immigrants:
God actually instructs us by making reference to the forerunner of our tax system that funds are to be used to feed and clothe the aliens among us as well as the poor, the orphans and the widows:
“…and the stranger or temporary resident, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are in your towns, shall come and eat and be satisfied; that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.” (Deuteronomy 14:29. Amplified.)
“And if a stranger dwells temporarily with you in your land, you shall not suppress and mistreat him.
“But the stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 19: 33-34. Amplified Version.).
On tort ‘reform’:
Thus Mr. Bush’s so-called reform marks the end of the victim’s ability to receive just compensation for his or her injuries. Mr. Bush also wants to put additional limitations on filing lawsuits: he wants to establish new rules for class action lawsuits and asbestos cases, making it more difficult for the victims to prosecute their cases.
Not only does Mr. Bush’s position violate biblical laws, but it is reprehensible to God: the balance of power in a courtroom cannot and may not be switched to the defendant’s side by edict of the president and his slavish Republican “Christians” that sit in the House and Senate!
In fact, Mr. Bush and his congressional leaders are attempting to undo what God established: the Bible states unequivocally:
“You shall not deprive the poor man of justice in his suit.” (Exodus 23:6. New English Version).
On abortion:
To understand the biblical view of abortions, one must examine miscarriages and how the Bible treated them. In fact, the Bible makes no distinction between a woman who miscarried and a woman who was having her regular menstrual period…. In this respect, an abortion or miscarriage was equal to a woman’s menstrual period and the fetus was not ever considered a person. [see Leviticus 15:19, Leviticus 15:25 and Leviticus 18:19]
…
The real topping to this issue that reveals the hypocrisy of the churches is the fact they have never believed a miscarried fetus is a sentient human, else they would have held funerals for them.
And in conclusion:
There are seven attributes of a man that God hates. God lays out the psychological profile of those traits he abhors. The following are from Proverbs 6:16-19 in the Amplified Version:
- “A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others].
- “A lying tongue,
- “Hands that shed innocent blood,
- “A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans,
- “Feet that are swift in running to evil,
- “A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath],
- “And he who sows discord among his brethren.”.
I’m humbly looking forward to forgiveness for our sisters and brothers who repent. Some of them have already, some are beginning to, and some may never. Remember, most of them are really trying to do the right things, they just don’t see things our way. Let’s work to change that.
And now, I ask you to please return to Rev. Gomes, my favorite Christian preacher of all time for a 33 minute long mp3 sound file of his May 28, 2006 sermon that applies to this exact topic, and which is a savvy commentary complete with references to Hitlerian evil and including some inspiration for all of us, Christian or not, to stand with “Power” against the force of evil.
Rev. Gomes
Today and forever may Goddess/God/gods/goddesses be with you, or not, as you believe in your private mind, and may you seek, find, and be moved by the source of your power to act for good.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead