A Labyrinthine Journey: Soon Coming in 3-D

Adam S. in a comment to my post yesterday about Pat Robertson refers to an almost faith-fatal connection between some in the evangelical community and a particularly conservative political activism. I grew up in a similar church and while my faith was scarred by it (I’m still working through issues of God and Grace because of it) the biggest fatality was to any kind of patriotism or involvement in society (my blogging lately is part of my recovery program). For quite a while now I have been a-patriotic. I don’t mind when other people are, I just have trouble being one.

So this year I have to stand up and say, Happy Veteran’s Day. Thank You.

I am seeing that Veteran’s Day (and Memorial Day also) are not Pro-war days of remembrance. Most of the veterans I talk to have no desire to glorify the horrors of war (in fact many of them grow silent in telling some stories). They either had to serve (drafted) or felt they needed to serve in order to help their families or their country. And there are good people in the military. People who want to help people and who really don’t receive any pleasure or satisfaction about hurting any person, yet sadly they are in situations where they must.

My father was graced to have an understanding CO during the Korean Conflict. He saw my Dad had the heart of an artist and didn’t want to spoil that by making him fight. So he was able to get Dad into cooking school for the duration.

I think of my cousin Mark who spent a year in Iraq trying to help tell the story of the good things our troops were trying to do there.

On this Veteran’s Day I want to celebrate people. And I pray and hope that soon, very soon, our men and women in uniform will be home with their families. To be Pro-peace is to want them all home doing other things.

I opened up the CNN home page and saw that Pat Robertson was in the news again. I also found this post on one of the blogs I have found myself reading more and more lately.

The Moderate Voice – Pat Robertson Tells PA Town God Will Punish Them For Their Vote

I’m sorry, but the more I listen to Pat Robertson the further away from his theology I find myself moving. First he pretty much condones murder (remember those commandments?) and now he describes a God who is prone to petty jealousy (like playing on the playground and someone takes away my ball).

The God I know in my life and the God I preach from the pulpit looks nothing like the God I hear Pat Robertson talking about. My God is the Beloved and does everything out of and for love, not out of or for control. Control has to do with certainty. The God I see in the Bible is the God who is always surprising us with grace.

The prophets have a lot more to say about idolatry than anything else. Today, our idols are prestige, money, power, and human organizations (nations, denominations and political parties being only some of them). Jesus preached more about greed and tearing other people down than what kind of science was taught.

I believe that true believers are more involved with living the love of God in their own communities than they are talking about it (or even preaching about it (so says the Preacher)).

One more comment on Mr. Robertson: One of our favorite shows is “Whose Line is it Anyway?” Right after the show is on, our local ABC Family station broadcasts the 700 Club. Lately, there has been a disclaimer:

The views expressed in the following show are those of CBN, and do not reflect the views of ABC Family networks

It is a shame when a supposedly Christian program now needs a disclaimer to warn the viewer of what might be said.

Sadly, Mr. Robertson continues to provide reason for the disclaimer to remain in place.

I received an email this afternoon telling me about the recent statement by the National Council of Churches on the mixed signals about torture coming from the current Presidential administration. Here is a part of that…

Take Action: Oppose Torture – AGAIN! Torture, regardless of circumstance, humiliates and debases torturer and tortured alike. Torture turns its face against the biblical truth that all humans are created in the image of God.

Since this is the first political issue that I am stepping out in expressing my opinion about, I need to let you know that I put my name on it (somewhere in cyber-space). Certainly something good to do.

How about you?

Up until this point I have found myself a bit reluctant to venture out into the world of commenting on society and particularly politics, but I find myself compelled to begin that coming out of my shadows with this article I ran across today in Reuters and CNN.

Top News Article | Reuters.com WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top Republicans in Congress are considering a investigation into leaks of information used by The Washington Post in an article on a covert global CIA prison system, congressional sources said on Tuesday.

It took me a few times reading it to realize that I was wondering where black became white and an investigation that I feel should have been about how we can continue to abuse human beings (especially after President Bush said that we don’t torture people) suddenly becomes one on who told.

I am finding myself becoming less and less proud of how our leaders are leading.

OK, so this is a pretty weak venture into the world of saying that I am an independent of the moderate-left variety in terms of politics. But, I have to start somewhere.