Steven P. BarrettOBAMA'S A LIBERAL CONGREGATIONALIST: CAN WE MOVE ON FROM HERE?
June 26th 2008 18:33
AS I'VE MADE IT CLEAR IN A PREVIOUS POST, I'M WITHOLDING ANY VOTE FOR BARAK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT BASED ON HIS EXTREMELY STRONG PRO-ABORTION RIGHTS AND STAND ON EMBRYONIC STEM-CELL RESEARCH. IT'S A POINT OF PRINCIPLE BASED ON SPECIFIC SALIENT MORAL ISSUES: NOT THE MAN, NOR HIS FAITH, OR (MIS-PERCEIVED) "LACK" OF IT -- A SLANDEROUS ATTACK IF ANY.
BUT EVEN A CONSERVATIVE CATHOLIC LIKE MYSELF FINDS HIMSELF DOING A LITTLE HEAD-SCRATCHING AT THE PILING ON THE ILLINOIS SENATOR'S TAKING FROM THE LIKES OF THE NATION'S MOST STAUNCHLY CONSERVATIVE PROTESTANT CLERICS AND LAY COMMENTATORS.
AND IT ALL COMES DOWN MOSTLY TO WHETHER OR NOT HE TAKES THE LITERALIST POSITION SHARED BY MANY OF THE MOST HARD-LINE AND SELF-DESCRIBED "ORTHODOX" EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS. (HMMM, THEY BELONG TO DENOMINATIONS THAT HAVE BROKEN OFF OF THE ORIGINAL SOURCE OF CHRISTIANITY AND THEY'RE JUDGING THE ORTHODOXY OF WHICHEVER DENOMINATION DOESN'T SUIT THEIR PARTICULAR FANCY. BEING CATHOLIC, I'M USED TO THAT, AND I'M SURE MY EASTERN ORTHODOX AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOX BRETHERN HAVE TAKEN THEIR SHARE OF EYE-BALL ROLLING EXERCISES BY TODAY'S PROTESTANT EVANGELICA JUDGES OF NEO-ORTHODOXY.
NO WONDER OBAMA'S FEELING A BIT PERPLEXED SINCE MOST OF THE CRITICISM HE'S UNJUSTLY RECEIVED ON THIS ISSUE HASN'T COME FROM THE TRULY ORIGINAL BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY (I.E. THE CATHOLIC BRANCHES RIGHTFULLY CLAIMING DIRECT FOUNDERSHIP FROM JESUS CHRIST) -- BUT FROM PROTESTANTISM, PARTICULARLY ITS MOST EXTREMELY BIGOTED FOLLOWERS AND ENFORCERS.
THESE ARE THE SAME KINDS OF PROTESTANTS WHO NEVER TIRE OF YELPING TO MAKE THE U.S. A "CHRISTIAN NATION" AS ITS "FOUNDERS" CREATED HER TO BE. AND WHILE THE WORST DISPLAYS OF RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY, ESPECIALLY ANTI-CATHOLICISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM WERE TO COME AFTERWARDS, WE SHOULD ALL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL THAT JAMES MADISON WROTE THE FIRST AMENDMENT THE WAY HE DID NOT TO PREVENT "POPERY" FROM INVADING OUR SHORES, BUT TO KEEP THE PROTESTANTS FROM GOING AT EACH OTHERS THROATS, PARTICULARLY INSOFAR AS RELATIONS BETWEEN ANGLICANS AND OTHER PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS WERE CONCERNED.
AS FOR ANYBODY STILL HOLDING ON TO FANTASYLAND NOTIONS THAT THE SOVEREIGN LAND WE LIVE IN AND COMMONLY KNOW AS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WAS "PREORDAINED" BY THE ALMIGHTY AS A HAVEN FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE OUGHT TO READ UP ON HOW CATHOLICS WERE TREATED IN PART OF NEW ENGLAND WERE TREATED, RIGHT UP TO OUR TREATY OF COOPERATION WITH BOURBON FRANCE.
MY HOME STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS WAS AS OFFFICIALLY BIGOTED AS ANY THEOCRATIC STATE COULD'VE BEEN CRAFTED UNTIL THE 1830S. AND NEARLY ALL OF NEW ENGLAND WAS PRETTY MUCH UNDER THE THUMB OF THE OLD-LINE PURITANS AND CONGREGATIONALISTS UNTIL THAT TIME. EVEN WHEN THE OFFICIAL RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT LOST IT'S LEGAL CONTROL, IT COULD ALWAYS COUNT ON THEIR UNOFFICIAL FRIENDS AMONG THE POPULAR "NO-"KNOWTHINGS" WHO BURNED CONVENTS AND WERE THE PRECURSORS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN.
MOREOVER, IT WAS NEVER AN INTENTION OF THE MAYFLOWER SETTLERS OR ANY OTHER COLONISTS TO SPECIFICALLY ESTABLISH A "NEW NATION" FOR GOD ON THESE SHORES. (AS FOR THE PREDOMINATELY ENGLISH SETTLERS, THEY CAME TO ESTABLISH COLONIES UNDER THE RULE OF OF EITHER THE KING OR COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND.)
WHAT I FIND ODIOUSLY OFFFENSIVE ABOUT THEIR TREATMENT OF OBAMA IS THE OVERT INTOLERANCE OF ANYBODY WHO DOESN'T AGREE WITH THEM ON THE SPECIFICITY OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU CAN GET INTO HEAVEN OR NOT BASED ON YOUR VIEWS ABOUT JESUS' DIVINITY. NOT EVEN CATHOLICS, WHO CLAIM THEIR CHURCH TO BE DIRECTLY FOUNDED BY JESUS ARE DEMANDING THIS KIND OF A TEST.
SINCE THIS TEST IS GOING TO BE LINGERING AROUND LIKE A BAD ODOR FROM A BADLY COOKED MEAL FROM SEVERAL NIGHTS BEFORE, I'VE GOT A QUESTION YOU'RE NOT LIKELY TO SEE THE BIBLE THUMPERS THROW AT OBAMA. BUT IT'S WORTH PUTTING UP ON THE BOARDS ANYWAY AS FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
ASIDE FROM FALLING FOR ANY OF THAT "RAPTURE" HOGWASH PROMOTED BY THE FAR KOOKY RELIGIOUS RIGHT ELEMENT AND FANS OF TIM LaHAYE AND JERRY JENKINS, WHAT DOES OBAMA'S VIEW ABOUT HOW WE MAKE IT PAST THE PEARLY GATES HAVE TO DO WITH FULFILLING HIS CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES AS PRESIDENT?
WHEN IT COMES TO OBAMA'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS, LET ME MAKE THIS AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE--ESPECIALLY FOR HIS ARCH CONSRVATIVE CRITICS IN THE PHARISEE WINGS OF AMERICAN EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTLAND --
SO LONG AS HE FULFILLS HIS OATH OF OFFICE, IT DOESN'T MAKE A DAMN BIT OF DIFFERENCE WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST. THAT'S BETWEEN HIM AND HIS LORD, WHICH, AFTER ALL, IS THE NORMALLY PROPER EVANGELICAL PERSPECTIVE.
SINCE EVANGELICALS STRONGLY STRESS THE NOTION OF EACH PERSON'S NEED TO DEVELOP A "PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST," WOULD IT BE TOO MUCH FROM SOME OF OUR MORE PROMINENT PHARISEES TO RESPECT THE PERSONAL NATURE OF OBAMA'S WALK WITH CHRIST, WHOM HE'S SAID TIME AFTER TIME, IS HIS LORD?
OBAMA'S A LIBERAL (CONGREGATIONALIST) CHRISTIAN. GET OVER IT.
BUT EVEN A CONSERVATIVE CATHOLIC LIKE MYSELF FINDS HIMSELF DOING A LITTLE HEAD-SCRATCHING AT THE PILING ON THE ILLINOIS SENATOR'S TAKING FROM THE LIKES OF THE NATION'S MOST STAUNCHLY CONSERVATIVE PROTESTANT CLERICS AND LAY COMMENTATORS.
AND IT ALL COMES DOWN MOSTLY TO WHETHER OR NOT HE TAKES THE LITERALIST POSITION SHARED BY MANY OF THE MOST HARD-LINE AND SELF-DESCRIBED "ORTHODOX" EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS. (HMMM, THEY BELONG TO DENOMINATIONS THAT HAVE BROKEN OFF OF THE ORIGINAL SOURCE OF CHRISTIANITY AND THEY'RE JUDGING THE ORTHODOXY OF WHICHEVER DENOMINATION DOESN'T SUIT THEIR PARTICULAR FANCY. BEING CATHOLIC, I'M USED TO THAT, AND I'M SURE MY EASTERN ORTHODOX AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOX BRETHERN HAVE TAKEN THEIR SHARE OF EYE-BALL ROLLING EXERCISES BY TODAY'S PROTESTANT EVANGELICA JUDGES OF NEO-ORTHODOXY.
NO WONDER OBAMA'S FEELING A BIT PERPLEXED SINCE MOST OF THE CRITICISM HE'S UNJUSTLY RECEIVED ON THIS ISSUE HASN'T COME FROM THE TRULY ORIGINAL BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY (I.E. THE CATHOLIC BRANCHES RIGHTFULLY CLAIMING DIRECT FOUNDERSHIP FROM JESUS CHRIST) -- BUT FROM PROTESTANTISM, PARTICULARLY ITS MOST EXTREMELY BIGOTED FOLLOWERS AND ENFORCERS.
THESE ARE THE SAME KINDS OF PROTESTANTS WHO NEVER TIRE OF YELPING TO MAKE THE U.S. A "CHRISTIAN NATION" AS ITS "FOUNDERS" CREATED HER TO BE. AND WHILE THE WORST DISPLAYS OF RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY, ESPECIALLY ANTI-CATHOLICISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM WERE TO COME AFTERWARDS, WE SHOULD ALL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL THAT JAMES MADISON WROTE THE FIRST AMENDMENT THE WAY HE DID NOT TO PREVENT "POPERY" FROM INVADING OUR SHORES, BUT TO KEEP THE PROTESTANTS FROM GOING AT EACH OTHERS THROATS, PARTICULARLY INSOFAR AS RELATIONS BETWEEN ANGLICANS AND OTHER PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS WERE CONCERNED.
AS FOR ANYBODY STILL HOLDING ON TO FANTASYLAND NOTIONS THAT THE SOVEREIGN LAND WE LIVE IN AND COMMONLY KNOW AS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WAS "PREORDAINED" BY THE ALMIGHTY AS A HAVEN FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE OUGHT TO READ UP ON HOW CATHOLICS WERE TREATED IN PART OF NEW ENGLAND WERE TREATED, RIGHT UP TO OUR TREATY OF COOPERATION WITH BOURBON FRANCE.
MY HOME STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS WAS AS OFFFICIALLY BIGOTED AS ANY THEOCRATIC STATE COULD'VE BEEN CRAFTED UNTIL THE 1830S. AND NEARLY ALL OF NEW ENGLAND WAS PRETTY MUCH UNDER THE THUMB OF THE OLD-LINE PURITANS AND CONGREGATIONALISTS UNTIL THAT TIME. EVEN WHEN THE OFFICIAL RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT LOST IT'S LEGAL CONTROL, IT COULD ALWAYS COUNT ON THEIR UNOFFICIAL FRIENDS AMONG THE POPULAR "NO-"KNOWTHINGS" WHO BURNED CONVENTS AND WERE THE PRECURSORS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN.
MOREOVER, IT WAS NEVER AN INTENTION OF THE MAYFLOWER SETTLERS OR ANY OTHER COLONISTS TO SPECIFICALLY ESTABLISH A "NEW NATION" FOR GOD ON THESE SHORES. (AS FOR THE PREDOMINATELY ENGLISH SETTLERS, THEY CAME TO ESTABLISH COLONIES UNDER THE RULE OF OF EITHER THE KING OR COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND.)
WHAT I FIND ODIOUSLY OFFFENSIVE ABOUT THEIR TREATMENT OF OBAMA IS THE OVERT INTOLERANCE OF ANYBODY WHO DOESN'T AGREE WITH THEM ON THE SPECIFICITY OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU CAN GET INTO HEAVEN OR NOT BASED ON YOUR VIEWS ABOUT JESUS' DIVINITY. NOT EVEN CATHOLICS, WHO CLAIM THEIR CHURCH TO BE DIRECTLY FOUNDED BY JESUS ARE DEMANDING THIS KIND OF A TEST.
SINCE THIS TEST IS GOING TO BE LINGERING AROUND LIKE A BAD ODOR FROM A BADLY COOKED MEAL FROM SEVERAL NIGHTS BEFORE, I'VE GOT A QUESTION YOU'RE NOT LIKELY TO SEE THE BIBLE THUMPERS THROW AT OBAMA. BUT IT'S WORTH PUTTING UP ON THE BOARDS ANYWAY AS FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
ASIDE FROM FALLING FOR ANY OF THAT "RAPTURE" HOGWASH PROMOTED BY THE FAR KOOKY RELIGIOUS RIGHT ELEMENT AND FANS OF TIM LaHAYE AND JERRY JENKINS, WHAT DOES OBAMA'S VIEW ABOUT HOW WE MAKE IT PAST THE PEARLY GATES HAVE TO DO WITH FULFILLING HIS CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES AS PRESIDENT?
WHEN IT COMES TO OBAMA'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS, LET ME MAKE THIS AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE--ESPECIALLY FOR HIS ARCH CONSRVATIVE CRITICS IN THE PHARISEE WINGS OF AMERICAN EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTLAND --
SO LONG AS HE FULFILLS HIS OATH OF OFFICE, IT DOESN'T MAKE A DAMN BIT OF DIFFERENCE WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST. THAT'S BETWEEN HIM AND HIS LORD, WHICH, AFTER ALL, IS THE NORMALLY PROPER EVANGELICAL PERSPECTIVE.
SINCE EVANGELICALS STRONGLY STRESS THE NOTION OF EACH PERSON'S NEED TO DEVELOP A "PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST," WOULD IT BE TOO MUCH FROM SOME OF OUR MORE PROMINENT PHARISEES TO RESPECT THE PERSONAL NATURE OF OBAMA'S WALK WITH CHRIST, WHOM HE'S SAID TIME AFTER TIME, IS HIS LORD?
OBAMA'S A LIBERAL (CONGREGATIONALIST) CHRISTIAN. GET OVER IT.
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