Distance does not decide who is
your brother
and who is not. The church is going
to have to
become the conscience of the free
market if it's
to have any meaning in this world -
and stop
being its apologist.
Bono,
singer, World Keeper; he was born
on
this date, 1960
[
What! 16 years after I?! ]
The “church” … and, I would think, all religious or
faith paths … must re-find their roots as the “conscience of the free market” …
and, as a matter of fact, as the conscience of many other aspects of human
community Life today.
I ponder a lot about “religion”, about “faith”. It
seems to me that they almost all started out as protests against practices and
ways of living that were detrimental to the human Spirit, detrimental to the
health of the human being. Now, in so many ways, religion and faith have become
the handmaidens of capitalist (or any other social or economic) tools of
enslavement. In the America of the “Right” today, Jesus has become the
Christian equivalent of CEO of BP Oil … with the Pope and rich tele-evangelists
and the Koch brothers and entrepreneurial Muslim Arab sheiks as collaborators.
The people to whom I’ve been listening today – on
the issue of North Carolina’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and of
President Obama’s courageous and principled statement re. same sex marriage,
say that this may be a turning point in the character of America. I hope so.
From an enlightened Biblical point of view, all
human beings ~ men and women ~ are equal in all ways in “God’s sight”. The
American Constitution intimates the same truth. And therefore, all American
citizens should have absolutely equal rights. Religions, by their individual
quirks, may hold their own views … but as genuine American citizens, they must
support unequivocal equality. Is there an Old Testament supporting principle?
Yes: “You must treat the stranger with your gate as part of the Family”. Is
there a Christian one? Yes: “In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek”.
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ … you must
follow Him on the hard … but Just
… path.
Brian+
No comments:
Post a Comment