tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post116300188638979823..comments2023-09-03T10:27:50.770-05:00Comments on Personal Musings of Priestly Goth: Um Excuse me... but isn't this Overstatement?!Community of the Holy Trinityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15327079170088324442noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-1163016016355814152006-11-08T14:00:00.000-06:002006-11-08T14:00:00.000-06:00Larry,I just read Tempting Faith by David Kuo. It ...Larry,<BR/>I just read <I>Tempting Faith</I> by David Kuo. It is an interesting book that is making the rounds where he talks about how Christianity is being used by the Republican party. He worked for the President's "faith based" inititive but became disillusioned by all the politics. It is definitely being written by a conservative Christian, and yet it is full of disappointment in the Republican party. <BR/><BR/>What the author realized is that politics is not the answer. What he discovered was that Christians were putting their trust in false gods. His prescription is for Christians to fast from politics for two years. He prescribes this not to hurt the politicians, but because he is convinced that the religious right has their priorities out of whack.<BR/><BR/>What I got out of the book was that many of the politicians who I am particularly disappointed in started off on the right track. He tells a story of John Ashcroft and his father and an annointing ceremony when Ashcroft first was confirmed into the senate that is extremely powerful and on track. But then (it seems to me) Ashcroft was seduced by the power of politics. The same with President Bush. <BR/><BR/>I think the problems you mention are real and should be taken into consideration, but I think that the deeper problem is that politics is so very seductive and when you mix it with Christianity, you have God serving the political process and not the other way around. <BR/><BR/>Because of this I voted for democrats this election and will probably find myself voting for republicans in the future, because you are completely right: the reforming party will turn into the decadent party and the party that is out of power will turn into the reforming party.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-1163014997529962962006-11-08T13:43:00.000-06:002006-11-08T13:43:00.000-06:00Angeli,I really hope you are right and I am wrong....Angeli,<BR/>I really hope you are right and I am wrong.<BR/>I don't have the faith in our system or the American people to actually believe it.<BR/>However, if what you say actually happens and the signs continue to show the change in the electorate you speack of I assure you I will start voting again.<BR/>However, in the long view, not only of my life time but the life time of this nation, I find little evidence of what you see, and I just see the same old ineffectual game and lies we tell ourselves, appeasing ourselves with small reall changes but no great thing happening.<BR/>The civil rights era really was a blip, and aberation as far as I read our history, and largely the status quo has co-opted that for its own puposes. <BR/>But really, I really do want what you say to be true, and if it actually happens I will rejoice. <BR/>But I also wonder if we are examining differetn phenomena. And thus what seems like a great change simply appears to me to be a minor shift with little significance.Community of the Holy Trinityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15327079170088324442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-1163005493066413722006-11-08T11:04:00.000-06:002006-11-08T11:04:00.000-06:00Oh, I so totally disagree with you. There is a man...Oh, I so totally disagree with you. There is a mandate for change, just not the change Rahm thinks it is. This is not a mandate for liberalism. Its a mandate for competance and accountability.<BR/><BR/>What the American people seem to want is a divided government so that congress will be forced to stop being partisan ideologes who want to dictate other people's personal lives and actually do the boring job of governing.<BR/><BR/>It's clear that Iraq is a massive problem, but it is only one of an array of massive problems that our hyperpartisan government is paralyzed on: the environment, medical care, energy, globalization. I think we'll accept a Republican or Democrat who is willing to do that. <BR/>AngeliAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com