If it is true that God is in charge, then we should be able to apply His principals to any problem that we face in this world, including the middle east crisis? There are many different religions that claim to know God. I will attempt to list the major religions of the world and outline their basic tenants of faith. In doing this, I hope to show the unique qualities that exist in the Christian faith and when it is practiced faithfully, how it differs from the other religions.
Hinduism
In being a follower of Hinduism you may be polytheistic (believing in more than one god), monotheistic (belief in one god), pantheistic (the universe, nature and god are one), atheistic (no god) or agnostic (not sure there is a god). Because of this open theology it is hard to pin down the foundational beliefs of Hinduism.
The Hindu paths to salvation include the way of works (rituals), the way of knowledge (self reflection and realization of reality) and the way of devotion (depending on which god you choose to follow). Simply put, if a Hindu follower accomplishes one or all of these three points, they can reach salvation.
As stated earlier, it is hard to pin down a strict orthodoxy in Hinduism. However, virtually all Hindus believe in the following:
The Caste System - Caste placement in Hindu beliefs relates what you have done in a previous life. If you have been good in the previous life, you were rewarded with a higher stature in this one and if, in this life, you are poor and destitute it is believed that you were very bad in your previous life and therefore you deserve no pity or mercy because of your current plight.
Brahman - A three-in-one god that is composed of Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Preserver) and Shiva (the Destroyer). Hindus also worship the wives of Shiva or one of Vishnu's ten incarnations known as avatars. The Hindu religion has very many gods and goddesses that can number in the millions. Brahma is the main god and Hindus teach that all living things are Brahman in their core and are to be considered godlike.
Karma - All of our good or bad actions, thoughts and deeds have an impact on future consequences that we may receive in either this life or the life to come.
Reincarnation - The Samsara or transmigration of souls, describes this tenant of Hindu faith. Reincarnation is described as the "circle of life" where each person experiences a series of physical births, deaths and rebirths. With good karma, a person can be reborn into a higher caste with the opposite effect for those who have done bad things in their life. If you are really bad in one life, you could even be born into an animal in your next life.
Nirvana - Achieving nirvana is the goal of all Hindu believers. Nirvana is the release of the soul from the endless cycles of reincarnation. The release from the cycle of reincarnation allowing access to nirvana is called, moksha, or salvation.
Islam
The Five Pillars of Islamic faith are considered the cornerstones of Islam and are considered to be obligations of faith required by every Muslim to follow. The Five Pillars are:
Shahadah - The most important of the Five Pillars requires faith in one God and that Muhammad received and delivered God's final revelation to humanity. Every Muslim is expected to say the Shahadah, which is summed up as:
"There is none worthy of worship except God and Muhammad is the
messenger of God."
Salat - These are the prayers that each Muslim must recite five times, each day. They are broken down into five different prayer times that start in the early morning and end in the late evening. By saying these prayers, the believer establishes a prayerful rhythm in their daily life and allows them to focus on god (Allah) at different times of the day. These prayers include verses from the Qur'an, repeated in Arabic while the believer faces Mecca (Muhammad's birthplace).
Zakat - This is a financial obligation that every Muslim has towards the Ummah, the community of believers. Allah owns everything and believers only hold these possessions in trust. Muslim believers are required to share their possessions with the less fortunate. The minimum requirement is to be one-fortieth of their total capital and if they want to give more, it must be in secret without fanfare.
Sawm - This fourth Pillar refers to self-purification through fasting. Tradition dictates that every Muslim must fast from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan (the ninth month of the lunar calendar). With the exception of small children, the sick, the elderly, pregnant or nursing women and those Muslim believers who are on a journey, all others must abstain from food, drink and sexual relations during this period.
Hajj - Depending on their health and financial ability, the fifth Pillar requires that each believer make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life. When believers make this journey, they are to wear simple clothing so as to eliminate all national, cultural and class differences they may have with other believers, thereby creating the impression that the community of believers are one and equal.
As in all of the major religious faiths there are different sects in
the Islamic faith. Ranging from the orthodox to the mystical, there are
twelve different Islamic sects.
Buddhism
There are five precepts of faith that all Buddhists are required to follow. They are:
1. Kill no living thing.
2. Do not steal
3. Do not commit adultery
4. Tell no lies
5. Do not drink intoxicants or take drugs.
Buddhist belief is based on four Noble Truth's:
The First Noble Truth is the existence of suffering. Life is painful from beginning to end.
The Second Noble Truth is the cause of suffering. The desire for the pleasures of the senses and the craving for happiness and prosperity in this life, and in future lives.
The Third Noble Truth is the end of suffering. To gain freedom, one must give up all of these cravings so that passion and desire are eliminated in life.
The Fourth Noble Truth leads to the ending of all pain by way of the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path reinforces the Noble Truths and other base beliefs of Buddhism. They are as follows:
Step One is Right Views, the acceptance of the Four Noble Truths.
Step Two is Right Resolve, the renouncement of the pleasure of the senses and the believer must never harbor ill will or harm towards any living creature.
Step Three is Right Speech. No lying, no abusive or idle talk regarding others.
Step Four is Right Behavior. No stealing, no destruction of any living creature and no unlawful sexual acts.
Step Five is Right Occupation. In the pursuit of your life occupation you may not harm anyone.
Step Six is Right Effort. You must suppress personal evil qualities, strive to acquire good qualities and nurture your existing good qualities.
Step Seven is Right Contemplation. Be free of desire and sorrow, be observant, alert, strenuous and contemplative.
Step Eight is Right Meditation. After you have abandoned all sensuous pleasures and evil qualities, you must then enter the four degrees of meditation, which is achieved and produced by concentration.
In Theravada (Southeast Asian) Buddhism, there are the "Three Baskets" or Tripitaka, a group of holy writings and scripture that guide the Buddhist believer. The Vinaya Pitaka (discipline basket) contains rules for the higher class of believers. The Sutta Pitaka (teaching basket) contains the discourses of Buddha and the Abidhamma Pitaka (metaphysical basket) contains Buddhist theology.
In Mahayana (Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese etc.) Buddhism contains over five thousand volumes of holy writings. Since there are no clear limits as to what should be admitted as scripture there are many writings considered with the oldest scriptures are based on Sanskrit, an Indo-European Classical Language of India.
Judaism
The Jewish religion can be traced back for 4,000 years and is considered the oldest of the monotheistic religions and like Christianity and Islam, its roots originated with the prophet Abraham. Jewish followers seek guidance in Jewish holy texts: the Torah and the Talmud.
The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament in the Christian bible and in these books you will find the foundational beliefs of the Jewish faith and it's moral authority. The Talmud is a collection of commentary and law, based on the Torah, and includes stories, laws, debates and points of discussion about moral issues all designed to give guidance in daily Jewish life. The Jewish place of worship is the Synagogue and the religious leader is known as a Rabbi. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew
means great or distinguished (in knowledge).
Foundational Jewish beliefs include:
1.There is one and all-powerful God who is the creator and ruler of the
universe.
2.The Jewish people are God's chosen people.
3.The Ten Commandments (the core instruction for Jewish life) were given to Moses and are considered religious law.
There are six different sects in Judaism and there is an estimated Jewish population worldwide of 12 million people with the majority living in Israel and the United States.
Christianity
Christianity can be considered to be a successful offshoot of Judaism. Jesus was born a Jew and the first Christians were Jewish. Christians believe in the Old and New Testament portions of the bible and like Islam and Judaism, trace the promises of God back to Abraham. One area that Christianity parts from the other two religions is in the definition of "one God". Christians agree that there is only one God that consists of three distinct entities. They are The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit known as the Trinity. Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled the messianic promises of scripture that date back to Abraham and basically Jews and Muslims do not.
Foundational Christian beliefs include:
1. The bible is the true word of God.
2. Jesus Christ was conceived by Immaculate Conception and while He retained His Godliness, was born and lived a sinless life as a man.
3. Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice and died for the sins of man.
4. Jesus Christ overcame death by rising from the grave after He was murdered.
5. Jesus Christ rose into heaven and is the intercessor, on behalf of man, before the Father.
6. By accepting Jesus Christ into your life, confessing that belief with your mouth and heart, accepting what He did for you on the cross, accept the forgiveness offered and offer that forgiveness to others and go forward in your life using Christ as an example, you are a Christian.
Each of these religions, with the exception of Christianity, place redemption in the hands and heart of the believer. Laws and rules that must be followed are the only ways to please God. In all of these religions, with the noted exception, believers are immersed from a cultural standpoint and faith is something that you inherit along with those rules and guidelines.
Whether it is peace in your own heart or between warring countries, forgiveness, when given and received, will bring an end to strife and nurture future, peaceful coexistence with others.
We would spend an eternity establishing who would accept being in the lower caste level, which deity we would worship, deciding who receives favor and grace and above all knowing that we were successful in our efforts. When I apply the principals of Christianity, I start to see that any conflict or problem that is approached with the teachings of Jesus Christ can be resolved quickly and peaceful results are achieved immediately.
If this solution is so evident and attainable why is it ignored? The answer is simple. We don’t like change, we like to carry grudges, we need our enemies to make us complete and we don’t want to entertain the option that those who went before us were wrong in their beliefs. Because the answer is so simple it is dismissed because of its simplicity. If we were to have peace in the world, not just in the middle-east, it would require that all nations would admit their wrong behavior of the past, ask forgiveness for those transgressions and forgive their enemies in like manner with all parties agreeing to move forward in the name of Jesus Christ. As the world moved forward in Christ, we would become more educated and living in the Word, we would then become better people.
Unfortunately, even those of us who say we are Christian can’t seem to keep our faith in Christ that simple. When we throw theological stones at each other and invent man made rules that others have to follow in order to truly comply in faith, when we kill one another because of some schism in the church that occurred centuries ago and when we fail to be the hands, feet and body of Jesus Christ we inhibit others from seeing the simplicity in His message.
The bible tells us that, every person knows God as his or her Creator. It is standard equipment from the factory, so to speak. Even if we were alone in this world without a single commentary to explain God to us, He says in His word that we will know that He exists. When we see all that He has created around us, that alone gives testimony, that He is God.
One day while driving, I heard an author of a book being interviewed. His book was based on the history of the Christian missionary efforts made with the Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest. He spoke of a missionary who had labored among the tribes to no avail as they rejected his teaching about Jesus Christ and basically tossed him out of the area. This failed missionary was returning to the east coast by train and happened to share a seat next to another man of God and poured out his heart about his failure connected to the Indian tribes. While listening to the man share his tale, the second missionary realized what mistake the aforementioned man had made. He determined that he would return to those very tribes that had rejected the other missionary and correct the error.
Now imagine going back to the very tribe that had made it clear to the other man of God that him and his God were not welcome ever again. The second missionary asked for an audience with the tribal leaders and bravely started to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. He explained that the God of creation, which the Indians believed in, sent His Son to earth to be a perfect sacrifice for the sins of man and that He rose from the dead and resides with the Father for eternity. His audiences understood this concept and after hearing about the redemptive process, accepted Jesus and were baptized as believers.
As the first missionary witnessed to the tribe, he found out that they had an Indian name for the God of creation and he told them that they could no longer refer to the God in that native name. He even went so far as to say that because the name was not biblical, that it was the name of the devil, which at that point the angry tribe threw him out on his ear. The second missionary understood that these people who were isolated in the wilderness with no formal biblical training, knew exactly who the creator was and was not offended by their native reference and name for the Creator. When he continued the story of Jesus, it was a logical continuation of their beliefs and acceptable to them.
The point of this story is that God makes Himself known to everyone. It does not matter who you are or where you are in this world. Everyone has the opportunity to know Him or reject Him.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Israel and Christianity
When I hear or see a news story about Israel and the middle-east
crisis, the reporter always seems to convey a sense of hopelessness and
despair when speaking of the situation. The question is, can there or will
there be peace in this part of the world anytime in the near or distant
future? The answer to that question is yes, when Jesus Christ comes back to
rule on earth and judge mankind.
As a child attending parochial school, I was given an excellent
education up to and including the eighth grade. My parents sacrificed to send me
to this school and while I didn't appreciate at the time, that strong foundation
of primary education has served me well through life. When it came to high
school I could have continued to learn but chose not to. Sports, cars
and girls were far more interesting. During my whole Catholic school
education I was taught many things about God but don't remember their
mention of Jesus coming back to earth. I know that I confessed to not
paying attention but probably would have remembered that important fact
if it had been presented to me.
In Micah, Chapter Four, the prophet was given several visions of the
future for Israel and Jerusalem. In this chapter, the author gives us a
view of enemy nations gloating over Israel's pending destruction
(think Iran, Syria etc.), calling for the blood of the Jewish people
and how the enemies of Israel will gather to destroy her. In the book
of Isaiah the prophet writes of God's faithfulness to Israel and how He
will not forget her and how He will protect her from her enemies. Isaiah
also speaks of how Israel will stand in the end with no nation to
support her at all.
As a bible believing Christian, I have asked God to show me in His word
why He was and is so concerned about this little country that seems to
cause so much anger to her enemies. After all, I had watched the
Israeli army flatten Palestinian houses, put down revolts and demonstrations
and none of these actions endeared me to the people of Israel. I reasoned
that Israel was at best, as bad as its enemies and wanted to know for
myself why God showed favor to such an incomplete group of people. As
God can only do, He answered me with the words of the prophet Ezekiel.
This man of God was given the commission to minister to the wayward
people of Israel and God infused in him hardness and stubbornness to
match the people he was to speak to.
This "Watchman for Israel" reports that God said in Chapter 28:25,
that the people of Israel will live in the land that He gave to them
through their ancestor Jacob and they will be gathered from distant
lands and returned to build homes and plant vineyards. God further
warns that the enemy nations that wish to destroy Israel will be punished and
treated with contempt by Him and that they will know that I am the
Lord their God.
In Chapter 34:29 the message continues with the promise to place His
people in a land that is fertile so that they will never go hungry
again or be scorned by foreign nations. God further describes Israel as, His
people and He, as their God. More prophetic words follow in Chapter
36:22-38 describing why God considers Israel to be His people and by
telling them that even though they have been sinful and profane in
their actions among the societies of the world, He will wash them clean, will
give them restored faith and will replace their stony heart with a
faithful one. He will do this not because the people of Israel deserve
it but instead because He is protecting His holy name and fulfilling a
promise made to Abraham long ago.
According to these scriptures, we live in exciting times. We are alive
to watch God bring the people of Israel home and establish a strong,
diverse and successful nation. God brought His people from all points
of the earth and restored her cities, vineyards and society. This does not
mean that Israel has fulfilled her divine appointment, quite to the
contrary as Israel suffers the same societal sins shared with the rest
of the modern world. The fact is that Israel is led by men and women who
are secular in both spirit, design and action. They do not even recognize their
position with the Creator and rely on country's like ours to develop policies
that are against God and pleasing only to their secular benefactors and
determined enemies.
In modern day Israeli society you can read newspaper reports of school
violence, murder, racism, pornography, child abuse, suppression of
other religions (including Christianity), Jewish elitism, immorality among
the clergy, organized crime, gambling, governmental failures of bribery and
graft and assorted other terrible crimes found in all societies. The
critics and enemies of Israel point to these failures and ask,
rightfully so, "These are God's special people, you have to be
kidding me?" Despite all of these human shortcomings I have never
found a place in God's word where He has renounced these promises
to His people.
While we are watching the fulfillment of prophecy we must keep in mind
that God is not through working with Israel, or us. God is patient and
sees what we will become, not who or what we are now. The final part of
His prophecy involves the replacement of the stony heart with a
faithful one. At that time we will watch Israel become the nation that God says
that they will eventually become.
An interesting part of the Christian church in America believes in the theory of “replacement theology” meaning that the modern Christian church is the replacement for the people of Israel and that what the bible teaches about Israel is no longer valid. Believers in this theory, also known as Supersessionism, are convinced that because the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah, they fell short of their calling as God’s chosen people. Rooted in a theory promoted by a second century early Christian theologian by the name of Marcion of Sinope, this theory known as Marcionism, is evident in the Christian faith today. This man lived between the years of 110 to 160, was an early Christian theologian and was a very capable organizer. He founded a church and established himself as Bishop and according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, his church “was perhaps the most dangerous foe Christianity has ever known”. Marcion based his church on the gospel of Jesus Christ and the writings of Paul the Apostle only. This was a pretty good trick because Jesus and Paul referenced the Old Testament writings constantly in their teachings. Marcion felt that it was his job to deliver Christianity from false Jewish Doctrines. He was successful in spreading his church as I have stated earlier, he must have been a very good organizer of people because he built a church organization that expanded throughout the known world and rivaled the Catholic Church for centuries. Marcion’s ideas have lasted through today and have been reappearing in different guises, for example in the aforementioned Jefferson Bible, Albert Schweitzer the Nobel Prize winning author and missionary and even today in the Jesus Seminar movement. All of these examples have one thing in common; they have rewritten the word of God to meet their needs and beliefs and failed to submit to God’s word. The very word (biblical teaching) that defines who God is, not who man thinks that He is.
The major Christian churches that are identified as having this theology as part of their doctrine include the Roman Catholic Church, United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, African Methodist Episcopal Church, The Episcopal Church, Churches of Christ, Corsicana, Texas, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, United Church of Christ and Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Jopli. It should also be noted that the Mormon church or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believes that it’s members have also replaced Israel and are in line for the blessings intended for God’s Chosen People.
The Christian Churches that do not embrace Supersessionism are the Southern Baptist Convention, Church of God in Christ, National Baptist Convention, U.S.A. INC., National Baptist Convention of America Inc., Assemblies of God, National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc., Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Inc., American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. and the Baptist Bible Fellowship International.
What this means is, that out of the top twenty two Christian Churches in America, over ninety six million Christians believe that they and their churches have replaced Israel as God’s Chosen people while just over forty two million remaining members of those top churches still believe in the bible as it is written. In fact President George Bush was raised in the Methodist church and it is quite possible that he believes that the church has supplanted Israel as God’s chosen people. This belief is directly at odds with New Testament scripture in the book of Mark that says Jesus came, so that Scriptures (Old Testament) may be fulfilled, not cancelled out by biblical revisionists.
In addition to the established and larger Christian Churches, there are many non-denominational churches in America who have large congregations and have rejected “replacement theology” and are bible based in their teachings. While Israel is, and should be wary of Christians who subscribe to this belief, bible based Christian churches are more likely to side with Israel and will be an asset to them in the future.
I can’t help but see irony in the list of church’s that share this theology. Largely because of this kind of thinking, the Roman Catholic Church instituted the Reformation (partly based on replacement theology) and one of the churches hated most by them was the Lutheran church. Now, one of the branches of that church are in agreement with the very theology that was used to suppress them in the past. Another thing that I find amazing is that major Christian churches are in total agreement with the Mormons in this tenant of faith. These churches don’t consider The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be a Christian church but yet they share a basic theological premise of replacement. Lastly, all of those churches that are in a hurry to claim the blessings from God that are promised to His Chosen people, never seem to mention wanting the curses that were also promised. You can’t “cherry pick” your faith; the curses come with the blessings.
In regards to the future of Israel, this theology explains why ordained clergy, insisting that the connotation “reverend” be placed before their names can get away with the reference to New York as “Hymietown” and why famous movie actors unleash a string of anti Semitic insults in a drunken rage receiving front page scrutiny in the process. It is easier to dismiss the Jews and Israel if you discount what the bible says and if you subscribe to the modified theological premise of replacement theology. The real irony is that the Jewish faith denies the inerrant word of God in the bible and with the replacement church, regards the prophetic books of Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel and others to have historical value at best with no appreciation of their prophetic value.
A big reason that this replacement theology has been revived is because of Palestinian Christians and their supporters have made an effort to undermine Israel’s scriptural claim to their land. One of the leaders of this revised theology is the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, Riah Abu El-Assal who himself is a Palestinian. It is reported that he has publicly stated, “We are the true Israel…no one can deny me the right to inherit the promises, and after all the promises were first given to Abraham and Abraham is never spoken of in the Bible as a Jew…He is the father of the faithful”.
By redefining Israel’s claim to the land and undermining the validity of that claim, we as Christians become at odds with God. When we tailor the word of God to meet our beliefs and needs we cut away essential truths that God intends for us to use as a foundation of our faith. The secular and religious world may be at odds with the Jews and Israel from time to time and we may not understand their actions, but God’s word says that who Israel is and what she does is no consequence to you and me. According to Ezekiel 36:22, the land and people of Israel are where they are today, not because of who they are, but instead because who God is. He states that He is Lord and fulfills the promise to Israel so as to protect His holy name.
President George Bush was raised in the Methodist church and it is quite possible that he and other influential Christians believe that the church has supplanted Israel as God’s chosen people. President Obama says that he is also a Christian, what denomination, I don't know, and what he believes in regards to this topic is a mystery. It may help us to better understand how our country relates to Israel in a political sense if we know what our leaders believe. The secular view of the State Department and the skewed biblical view of other leaders in the Executive branch of government can explain our current actions and lack of action in regards to Israel. Add into that mix of thought the secular government of Israel and their motivations, no wonder the situation is so confusing to the casual observer lacking a biblical view on the matter. And to kick the whole matter up a notch, throw in an enemy that is also in denial of the true word of God and has contorted that word to justify their actions. It is possible that this theology, by itself, could help undermine the continued support that Israel receives from the United States and could help fulfill the prophecy of the bible that says that Israel will be alone in the world without any allies or protection. The fact that man distorts the word of God to fulfill prophecy is truly ironic.
When Adolph Hitler set about to systematically destroy the Jewish community in Germany, he imposed an economic boycott urging the German people to not buy from Jewish businesses. Starting with this economic boycott, Hitler was able to systematically destroy the Jewish population in Germany. It is important to note that I do not equate Hitler to the following American and International churches and organizations but to a minor comparative degree, The Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Episcopal and United Methodist Church all called for limited economic boycotts of Israel in 2004 and 2005. The Presbyterian Church warned Motorola, Caterpillar, ITT Industries and United Technologies that if they continued to supply Israel with cell phones, night vision equipment and helicopters that they would not have any chance at the church investment funding that currently tops eight billion dollars. Other mainline Protestant churches have followed in the campaign to use corporate divestment as a tactic to influence the future of Israel. It should also be noted that international groups such as the World Council of Churches and the Anglican Consultative Council have also urged similar economic boycotts of Israel. The ironic aspect of this situation is that both the Christian churches involved and the secular government of Israel are both operating outside of bible truth and both think that their position is the correct one.
To add even more irony to this whole debate, a recent discovery in Dublin, Ireland speaks volumes. A construction worker found an 800 to 1000 year old copy of the book of Psalms while digging with a backhoe. The discovery of the 20-page book overcame tremendous odds because of its fragile nature surviving in the ground for all of that time and then to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is in itself amazing. This ancient medieval document was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations’ attempts to wipe out the name of Israel. Is it possible that God allows this fragile document to survive and to be a witness to His word regarding Israel? Is it a coincidence that this book was found at the same time that the world is increasingly coming against Israel? I believe that where God is concerned, there are no coincidences and those who have made themselves the enemy of Israel in the theological, military or social sense should be very careful how they proceed.
Everyone in the world looks at the middle-east conflict with such confusion and uncertainty, with no government or individual able to offer a reasonable and simple solution. It is a situation that defies all logic as we have a small country that is surrounded by its enemies, that same country has defeated those enemies on the battlefield several times and for good measure has a 4,000 year old grant deed of trust proving that it owns not only the land it occupies but also owns the
land that many of her enemies live on. Even Israel's enemies do not dispute that God gave them the land and they also point out that, in their opinion, Israel depends on the United States too much and not enough on God. A large part of the continued conflict is fueled by Israel's enemies finding her unworthy of the land and promises that God bestowed upon her. It matters not what the world
leaders think, what her enemies think or even what her own leaders think, because
God has said that He is in charge of the future of Israel, no one else.
We, as Christians are called to know all of God’s word. When we parse it according to our intellect, then we are espousing only what our brain can accept, not the full intention that He lays out in His inerrant word. In reading the bible I have found many opportunities to be perplexed and troubled by what I have read. Some things I will never understand and look forward to asking Him to educate me as I spend eternity with Him. Despite my confusion in such matters I trust that God planned for my inadequacies and never intended for me to know and understand everything in the first place.
Recently, I had an opportunity to speak at length to a man who described himself as a member of the Presbyterian Church. During our conversation, we discussed replacement theology and the position of Israel in regards to prophecy in the bible. He explained to me that his church does teach that Israel no longer is a factor in regards to scripture and that it was very possible that we are currently living in a period of millennial rule. He used the example of how the Christian church is growing on a world - wide basis to support this theory. He also felt that recent books concerning “end times” prophecy were misleading, without merit and causing confusion among fellow believers.
After the conversation, I felt a sense of sadness for my brother in Christ. On one hand, this man does a tremendous amount of work to promote the kingdom of God. On a personal level and through his church he feeds, educates and houses many people less fortunate. He promotes Jesus Christ in his ministry and follows the two greatest commandments that Jesus gives us in Matthew 22:37-40. In those words, we are commanded to love God with all of our heart and to love our neighbors as ourselves and that all other commandments and all other demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. Without question, this man is doing the work of God and no one could doubt the validity of his obedience to God’s word. The only nagging sense that I could not shake did not involve the salvation of my brother, but instead the loss I felt for him as he was and is influenced by a scriptural view of the bible adopted by his church hierarchy. A loss of appreciation for how it is evident that God is fulfilling bible prophecy on a daily basis and has Israel at the center of it.
This is an exciting time in history and to use a sports metaphor, I am glad that God has not only given me a front row seat, but a game day program so that I can follow the action and know who all the players are as well as the necessary background information to see how much time is left on the game clock.
crisis, the reporter always seems to convey a sense of hopelessness and
despair when speaking of the situation. The question is, can there or will
there be peace in this part of the world anytime in the near or distant
future? The answer to that question is yes, when Jesus Christ comes back to
rule on earth and judge mankind.
As a child attending parochial school, I was given an excellent
education up to and including the eighth grade. My parents sacrificed to send me
to this school and while I didn't appreciate at the time, that strong foundation
of primary education has served me well through life. When it came to high
school I could have continued to learn but chose not to. Sports, cars
and girls were far more interesting. During my whole Catholic school
education I was taught many things about God but don't remember their
mention of Jesus coming back to earth. I know that I confessed to not
paying attention but probably would have remembered that important fact
if it had been presented to me.
In Micah, Chapter Four, the prophet was given several visions of the
future for Israel and Jerusalem. In this chapter, the author gives us a
view of enemy nations gloating over Israel's pending destruction
(think Iran, Syria etc.), calling for the blood of the Jewish people
and how the enemies of Israel will gather to destroy her. In the book
of Isaiah the prophet writes of God's faithfulness to Israel and how He
will not forget her and how He will protect her from her enemies. Isaiah
also speaks of how Israel will stand in the end with no nation to
support her at all.
As a bible believing Christian, I have asked God to show me in His word
why He was and is so concerned about this little country that seems to
cause so much anger to her enemies. After all, I had watched the
Israeli army flatten Palestinian houses, put down revolts and demonstrations
and none of these actions endeared me to the people of Israel. I reasoned
that Israel was at best, as bad as its enemies and wanted to know for
myself why God showed favor to such an incomplete group of people. As
God can only do, He answered me with the words of the prophet Ezekiel.
This man of God was given the commission to minister to the wayward
people of Israel and God infused in him hardness and stubbornness to
match the people he was to speak to.
This "Watchman for Israel" reports that God said in Chapter 28:25,
that the people of Israel will live in the land that He gave to them
through their ancestor Jacob and they will be gathered from distant
lands and returned to build homes and plant vineyards. God further
warns that the enemy nations that wish to destroy Israel will be punished and
treated with contempt by Him and that they will know that I am the
Lord their God.
In Chapter 34:29 the message continues with the promise to place His
people in a land that is fertile so that they will never go hungry
again or be scorned by foreign nations. God further describes Israel as, His
people and He, as their God. More prophetic words follow in Chapter
36:22-38 describing why God considers Israel to be His people and by
telling them that even though they have been sinful and profane in
their actions among the societies of the world, He will wash them clean, will
give them restored faith and will replace their stony heart with a
faithful one. He will do this not because the people of Israel deserve
it but instead because He is protecting His holy name and fulfilling a
promise made to Abraham long ago.
According to these scriptures, we live in exciting times. We are alive
to watch God bring the people of Israel home and establish a strong,
diverse and successful nation. God brought His people from all points
of the earth and restored her cities, vineyards and society. This does not
mean that Israel has fulfilled her divine appointment, quite to the
contrary as Israel suffers the same societal sins shared with the rest
of the modern world. The fact is that Israel is led by men and women who
are secular in both spirit, design and action. They do not even recognize their
position with the Creator and rely on country's like ours to develop policies
that are against God and pleasing only to their secular benefactors and
determined enemies.
In modern day Israeli society you can read newspaper reports of school
violence, murder, racism, pornography, child abuse, suppression of
other religions (including Christianity), Jewish elitism, immorality among
the clergy, organized crime, gambling, governmental failures of bribery and
graft and assorted other terrible crimes found in all societies. The
critics and enemies of Israel point to these failures and ask,
rightfully so, "These are God's special people, you have to be
kidding me?" Despite all of these human shortcomings I have never
found a place in God's word where He has renounced these promises
to His people.
While we are watching the fulfillment of prophecy we must keep in mind
that God is not through working with Israel, or us. God is patient and
sees what we will become, not who or what we are now. The final part of
His prophecy involves the replacement of the stony heart with a
faithful one. At that time we will watch Israel become the nation that God says
that they will eventually become.
An interesting part of the Christian church in America believes in the theory of “replacement theology” meaning that the modern Christian church is the replacement for the people of Israel and that what the bible teaches about Israel is no longer valid. Believers in this theory, also known as Supersessionism, are convinced that because the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah, they fell short of their calling as God’s chosen people. Rooted in a theory promoted by a second century early Christian theologian by the name of Marcion of Sinope, this theory known as Marcionism, is evident in the Christian faith today. This man lived between the years of 110 to 160, was an early Christian theologian and was a very capable organizer. He founded a church and established himself as Bishop and according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, his church “was perhaps the most dangerous foe Christianity has ever known”. Marcion based his church on the gospel of Jesus Christ and the writings of Paul the Apostle only. This was a pretty good trick because Jesus and Paul referenced the Old Testament writings constantly in their teachings. Marcion felt that it was his job to deliver Christianity from false Jewish Doctrines. He was successful in spreading his church as I have stated earlier, he must have been a very good organizer of people because he built a church organization that expanded throughout the known world and rivaled the Catholic Church for centuries. Marcion’s ideas have lasted through today and have been reappearing in different guises, for example in the aforementioned Jefferson Bible, Albert Schweitzer the Nobel Prize winning author and missionary and even today in the Jesus Seminar movement. All of these examples have one thing in common; they have rewritten the word of God to meet their needs and beliefs and failed to submit to God’s word. The very word (biblical teaching) that defines who God is, not who man thinks that He is.
The major Christian churches that are identified as having this theology as part of their doctrine include the Roman Catholic Church, United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, African Methodist Episcopal Church, The Episcopal Church, Churches of Christ, Corsicana, Texas, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, United Church of Christ and Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Jopli. It should also be noted that the Mormon church or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believes that it’s members have also replaced Israel and are in line for the blessings intended for God’s Chosen People.
The Christian Churches that do not embrace Supersessionism are the Southern Baptist Convention, Church of God in Christ, National Baptist Convention, U.S.A. INC., National Baptist Convention of America Inc., Assemblies of God, National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc., Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Inc., American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. and the Baptist Bible Fellowship International.
What this means is, that out of the top twenty two Christian Churches in America, over ninety six million Christians believe that they and their churches have replaced Israel as God’s Chosen people while just over forty two million remaining members of those top churches still believe in the bible as it is written. In fact President George Bush was raised in the Methodist church and it is quite possible that he believes that the church has supplanted Israel as God’s chosen people. This belief is directly at odds with New Testament scripture in the book of Mark that says Jesus came, so that Scriptures (Old Testament) may be fulfilled, not cancelled out by biblical revisionists.
In addition to the established and larger Christian Churches, there are many non-denominational churches in America who have large congregations and have rejected “replacement theology” and are bible based in their teachings. While Israel is, and should be wary of Christians who subscribe to this belief, bible based Christian churches are more likely to side with Israel and will be an asset to them in the future.
I can’t help but see irony in the list of church’s that share this theology. Largely because of this kind of thinking, the Roman Catholic Church instituted the Reformation (partly based on replacement theology) and one of the churches hated most by them was the Lutheran church. Now, one of the branches of that church are in agreement with the very theology that was used to suppress them in the past. Another thing that I find amazing is that major Christian churches are in total agreement with the Mormons in this tenant of faith. These churches don’t consider The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be a Christian church but yet they share a basic theological premise of replacement. Lastly, all of those churches that are in a hurry to claim the blessings from God that are promised to His Chosen people, never seem to mention wanting the curses that were also promised. You can’t “cherry pick” your faith; the curses come with the blessings.
In regards to the future of Israel, this theology explains why ordained clergy, insisting that the connotation “reverend” be placed before their names can get away with the reference to New York as “Hymietown” and why famous movie actors unleash a string of anti Semitic insults in a drunken rage receiving front page scrutiny in the process. It is easier to dismiss the Jews and Israel if you discount what the bible says and if you subscribe to the modified theological premise of replacement theology. The real irony is that the Jewish faith denies the inerrant word of God in the bible and with the replacement church, regards the prophetic books of Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel and others to have historical value at best with no appreciation of their prophetic value.
A big reason that this replacement theology has been revived is because of Palestinian Christians and their supporters have made an effort to undermine Israel’s scriptural claim to their land. One of the leaders of this revised theology is the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, Riah Abu El-Assal who himself is a Palestinian. It is reported that he has publicly stated, “We are the true Israel…no one can deny me the right to inherit the promises, and after all the promises were first given to Abraham and Abraham is never spoken of in the Bible as a Jew…He is the father of the faithful”.
By redefining Israel’s claim to the land and undermining the validity of that claim, we as Christians become at odds with God. When we tailor the word of God to meet our beliefs and needs we cut away essential truths that God intends for us to use as a foundation of our faith. The secular and religious world may be at odds with the Jews and Israel from time to time and we may not understand their actions, but God’s word says that who Israel is and what she does is no consequence to you and me. According to Ezekiel 36:22, the land and people of Israel are where they are today, not because of who they are, but instead because who God is. He states that He is Lord and fulfills the promise to Israel so as to protect His holy name.
President George Bush was raised in the Methodist church and it is quite possible that he and other influential Christians believe that the church has supplanted Israel as God’s chosen people. President Obama says that he is also a Christian, what denomination, I don't know, and what he believes in regards to this topic is a mystery. It may help us to better understand how our country relates to Israel in a political sense if we know what our leaders believe. The secular view of the State Department and the skewed biblical view of other leaders in the Executive branch of government can explain our current actions and lack of action in regards to Israel. Add into that mix of thought the secular government of Israel and their motivations, no wonder the situation is so confusing to the casual observer lacking a biblical view on the matter. And to kick the whole matter up a notch, throw in an enemy that is also in denial of the true word of God and has contorted that word to justify their actions. It is possible that this theology, by itself, could help undermine the continued support that Israel receives from the United States and could help fulfill the prophecy of the bible that says that Israel will be alone in the world without any allies or protection. The fact that man distorts the word of God to fulfill prophecy is truly ironic.
When Adolph Hitler set about to systematically destroy the Jewish community in Germany, he imposed an economic boycott urging the German people to not buy from Jewish businesses. Starting with this economic boycott, Hitler was able to systematically destroy the Jewish population in Germany. It is important to note that I do not equate Hitler to the following American and International churches and organizations but to a minor comparative degree, The Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Episcopal and United Methodist Church all called for limited economic boycotts of Israel in 2004 and 2005. The Presbyterian Church warned Motorola, Caterpillar, ITT Industries and United Technologies that if they continued to supply Israel with cell phones, night vision equipment and helicopters that they would not have any chance at the church investment funding that currently tops eight billion dollars. Other mainline Protestant churches have followed in the campaign to use corporate divestment as a tactic to influence the future of Israel. It should also be noted that international groups such as the World Council of Churches and the Anglican Consultative Council have also urged similar economic boycotts of Israel. The ironic aspect of this situation is that both the Christian churches involved and the secular government of Israel are both operating outside of bible truth and both think that their position is the correct one.
To add even more irony to this whole debate, a recent discovery in Dublin, Ireland speaks volumes. A construction worker found an 800 to 1000 year old copy of the book of Psalms while digging with a backhoe. The discovery of the 20-page book overcame tremendous odds because of its fragile nature surviving in the ground for all of that time and then to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is in itself amazing. This ancient medieval document was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations’ attempts to wipe out the name of Israel. Is it possible that God allows this fragile document to survive and to be a witness to His word regarding Israel? Is it a coincidence that this book was found at the same time that the world is increasingly coming against Israel? I believe that where God is concerned, there are no coincidences and those who have made themselves the enemy of Israel in the theological, military or social sense should be very careful how they proceed.
Everyone in the world looks at the middle-east conflict with such confusion and uncertainty, with no government or individual able to offer a reasonable and simple solution. It is a situation that defies all logic as we have a small country that is surrounded by its enemies, that same country has defeated those enemies on the battlefield several times and for good measure has a 4,000 year old grant deed of trust proving that it owns not only the land it occupies but also owns the
land that many of her enemies live on. Even Israel's enemies do not dispute that God gave them the land and they also point out that, in their opinion, Israel depends on the United States too much and not enough on God. A large part of the continued conflict is fueled by Israel's enemies finding her unworthy of the land and promises that God bestowed upon her. It matters not what the world
leaders think, what her enemies think or even what her own leaders think, because
God has said that He is in charge of the future of Israel, no one else.
We, as Christians are called to know all of God’s word. When we parse it according to our intellect, then we are espousing only what our brain can accept, not the full intention that He lays out in His inerrant word. In reading the bible I have found many opportunities to be perplexed and troubled by what I have read. Some things I will never understand and look forward to asking Him to educate me as I spend eternity with Him. Despite my confusion in such matters I trust that God planned for my inadequacies and never intended for me to know and understand everything in the first place.
Recently, I had an opportunity to speak at length to a man who described himself as a member of the Presbyterian Church. During our conversation, we discussed replacement theology and the position of Israel in regards to prophecy in the bible. He explained to me that his church does teach that Israel no longer is a factor in regards to scripture and that it was very possible that we are currently living in a period of millennial rule. He used the example of how the Christian church is growing on a world - wide basis to support this theory. He also felt that recent books concerning “end times” prophecy were misleading, without merit and causing confusion among fellow believers.
After the conversation, I felt a sense of sadness for my brother in Christ. On one hand, this man does a tremendous amount of work to promote the kingdom of God. On a personal level and through his church he feeds, educates and houses many people less fortunate. He promotes Jesus Christ in his ministry and follows the two greatest commandments that Jesus gives us in Matthew 22:37-40. In those words, we are commanded to love God with all of our heart and to love our neighbors as ourselves and that all other commandments and all other demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. Without question, this man is doing the work of God and no one could doubt the validity of his obedience to God’s word. The only nagging sense that I could not shake did not involve the salvation of my brother, but instead the loss I felt for him as he was and is influenced by a scriptural view of the bible adopted by his church hierarchy. A loss of appreciation for how it is evident that God is fulfilling bible prophecy on a daily basis and has Israel at the center of it.
This is an exciting time in history and to use a sports metaphor, I am glad that God has not only given me a front row seat, but a game day program so that I can follow the action and know who all the players are as well as the necessary background information to see how much time is left on the game clock.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
God Has No Grandchildren
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
In our current culture, people have lined up on each side of the issue
of city and state seals and symbols that include Christian references.
People of faith feel that society is trying to remove God from our
civic landscape and the opposition seem to want to remove all references to
God in all parts of our society. Both sides reference the " wall of
separation" between church and state phrase written by Thomas
Jefferson. Jefferson Wrote included his reference to this foundational American
belief as part of a letter he wrote to the Danbury (CT) Baptist Association
assuring them that the government would never interfere with their right of religious expression. For the next 150 years our courts upheld this premise until 1947 when the Supreme Court (Everson v Board of Education) reversed itself and began applying the phrase to the Establishment Clause (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof) instead. This caused the federal courts to remove rather than to preserve and protect public religious expressions. In 1962 (Engel v Vitale) the court outlawed prayer in public school.
Those that wish to keep the religious symbols claim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation to begin with and all references to God must remain. The opposition claims that the founders were really interested in protecting us from God. They did this through our so-called inherited religious freedoms, and that all references to God should be removed from our societal landscape. In the 1700's Christ was a big part of every day American life and over 96% of its citizens identified themselves as Christian. In fact, one of the most popular slogans of the Revolutionary war was "No King but Jesus. As a matter of fact, two historians from the University of Houston did a ten-year study of the ideas that shaped our republic and after sifting through 15,000 documents from the Colonial era they came down to 3,154 essential statements and found that 94% of the founding fathers quotes were based on the bible. 34% were direct quotes and 60% from men who had used the bible to arrive at their conclusions.
The truth seems to be that the founding fathers were believers in God, generally speaking, but only a portion of them were professed Christians. The basis for our laws and social structure followed Judeo Christian guidelines, not specifically the Christian faith. A case could be made that this was done less from the standpoint of honoring God and more from a practical sense designed to build and maintain societal order.
Most current surveys state that anywhere from 75% to 86% of Americans, self identify themselves as Christians. A large part of this identity may in fact come from the perception that we are a Christian country. The population at large may think that they somehow inherit their faith or are able to acquire it through some method of spiritual osmosis. If America truly had a population of Christians that large, it would be a different and better place than it is now.
When Christopher Columbus arrived, he represented Spain who was identified as a Christian country. As his name Christopher translates into English as "Christ Bearer", this famous explorer and sailor claimed his new discoveries in the name of God and the king of Spain. The first landfall made by him was called San Salvador or "Holy Savior". When the Puritans left England, they questioned the religious authority of the Church of England and were inclined to put no hierarchy between themselves and Jesus Christ. One of their main goals in coming to the new land was a strong desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Mayflower Compact, the first set of formal laws, were written for the new world and God is prominently featured in that document. Their faith was kept intact despite half of their colony failing to survive their first winter in the new land.
In regards to our founding fathers, it appears that while many of them were Christian, the majority seem to believe in a God as the Creator and had respect for the name of Jesus and at least part of His teachings. In one of several dissertations on the life of Jesus, Thomas Jefferson described his view of our Lord in The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus. Jefferson wrote in a Syllabus that was appended to his bible, that the teachings of Jesus were similar to the earlier Greek and Roman philosophers and to the religion of the Jews in Jesus's time. Jefferson wrote frequently about his belief in doing good works to counterbalance the sinfulness in one's own life. Jefferson admired many of the words of Jesus but felt the need to separate them as some being worthy to follow and some not. He further wrote that he had a low opinion of the apostles and particularly disdained the efforts of Paul the apostle.
The exact words of Jefferson in this regard are as follows:
"Of this band of dupes and impostors, Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and first corruptor of the doctrines of Jesus. These palpable interpolations and falsifications of His doctrines, led me to try to sift them apart. I found the work obvious and easy, and that His past composed the most beautiful morsel of morality which has been given to us by man. The syllabus is therefore of His doctrines, not all of mine. I read them as I do those of other ancient and modern moralists, with a mixture of approbation and dissent..."
Since the meaning of the word Coryphaeus means leader of a party or school of thought or the leader of a chorus. Jefferson appears to be saying that while Jesus got some things right and some things wrong, the apostles were a bunch of knuckleheads and Paul really messed things up as the messenger of Jesus's word. Jefferson was truly ahead of his time in this thinking and very much in tune with the American Church, as it exists today. Because of the culture of freedom in this country today, we extend that freedom to pick and choose which of God's laws that we want to follow and not follow.
There were five dominant and influential men behind the American Constitution. They were Washington, Franklin, Randolph, Jefferson and John Adams. Of these men, the first three were active followers of Freemasonry who fervently subscribed to its ideals. To be accurate, by my research, it is confirmed that Washington and Franklin were official Masons and that Jefferson may not have been a member in a formal sense but did study and agree with the principals of Freemasonry. Edmond Randolph held the position of Grand Master in Virginia and was an important participant in the Constitutional Convention who did not sign the document but did indeed fight for its ratification. In regards to John Adams, he is not identified as an official member but more as a philosophical follower who as president, appointed John Marshall, a Freemason, to be the first Chief Justice to the Supreme Court. While many historians have studied the founding history of Freemasonry, there are several theories apply to its origin. Stories passed on within the organization date it's founding back to the 17th and 18th century by the Knights Templar, a religious secret society whose members were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. What later became known as the Freemason's, embraced a philosophy of separation of church and state, certainly a unique concept for that period.
Another foundational concept to Freemasonry was the belief in a Supreme Being. Membership did not depend on any particular Supreme Being, thereby allowing a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Theist or Deist of any sort to join. The official reference to the Supreme Being in Freemasonry is designated as "The Great Architect of the Universe" and does not identify with any particular religion. This belief seems to coincide with the "intelligent design" theory that is promoted today as an alternative to the theory of evolution.
The Freemason beliefs are very evident in the actions and thoughts of these founding fathers and while they did not fear individual religious beliefs, they did fear the repression of state religious organizations that were interwoven into European society. Freemasonry values seemed to give strength and passion to their beliefs. These men and others like them used the bible for quotations to be part of their speeches and seemed to view organized religion as a glue that could hold a society together and as long as a state sponsored church wasn't established, they felt that any religious beliefs were fine on an individual basis.
To say that those who signed the Declaration of Independence were very brave is a gross understatement. When I read this document, I get a true sense that the signers were fed up with the king of England and the actions of his army. The kidnapping of Americans to England to stand trial on false charges, unfair taxation, the stationing of troops in a time of peace and the lack of punishment that those occupational forces faced for the crimes of murder, rape and thievery caused a great sense of urgency for the signers. If they failed in their task, they would have been hung as traitors. The declaration that God has given man unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness recognizes a God of nature and man. The declaration did not include any reference to Christ as the Son of God or that the bible was the true word of God or that Jesus paid man's sinful ransom on the cross of Calvary. Reference to The Great Architect of the Universe is evident in this great document not the foundational roots of a Christian country.
Those who do not understand the fundamentals of Christianity may think that we as Christians are unhappy that our founding fathers did not establish a Christian Theocracy. The truth is that belief in Christ is a personal matter and is strongest when cleaved to the word of God, not men. I know of no Christian leader who calls for a Christian government in America. We cannot be born into and assimilate to a Christian society and inherit salvation based on the foundational efforts and beliefs of others. In every other religion you can be born into a government and culture that reflects the values of that religion and in effect inherit that religion with no personal choice required. Those men who signed the Declaration of Independence had a long and current history of seeing
the results of a state endorsed religion and they were wise enough to break from that notion in the formation of this new republic.
Those in our society who wish to eliminate God from the societal fabric
of American culture are at odds with the founding fathers. We see
historical evidence of this from a prayer that John Adams had carved
into a marble mantle over a fireplace in the White House, a
representation of the Ten Commandments carved into the wall of the
Supreme Court or the name of God written into our founding documents.
It is curious to me how any one person or group can get so worked up over
something or someone who, by their own admission, does not exist.
This country was discovered and settled by people who knew God the
Father through His only Son, Jesus Christ. They believed in the Holy
Spirit and subscribed to the belief that they were to share the word of
God with their fellow man and that Christ must be evident in their
daily lives. Columbus discovered America with the support of an established
Christian church/state while the Puritan settlers came to America to
avoid that same Christian church/state.
As time went on, Judeo-Christian beliefs became a foundational aspect
of the American landscape and were integral to the laws written for the
new republic. The founding fathers were accepting of many different
descriptions of God and because of this, our country was and is built
on tolerant religious attitudes that still exist today. This tolerance is
in line with the freedom that God gives to each of us in the form of
individual free will. Christianity is an exercise of free will and each
believer makes the determination that the bible is the true word of God,
that Jesus Christ is God, that He was born of a virgin and lived the human
experience, died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead.
The values related to Christ can be assimilated, but the faith in Him is a
result of personal determination, not laws or proclamations of men. There are many societies that are based on religious undertones and customs. You can
be born into those societies and be regarded as a member of that dominant
religion, going from birth to old age immersed in religious customs
without a personal acceptance and understanding of who God is.
Just because America is built on Judeo-Christian values does not make
it a Christian country. Crosses, as well as other religious symbols are
only worth saving if they give glory to God and symbolize a nations
commitment to Him. The enemies of God think that they are winning their
war of rebellion against Him by invoking the separation of church
and state argument as well as their assault on any Godly public
recognition or honor. The truth is that while these enemies are busy
poking their metaphysical finger in God's face, His glory is
manifested by His people. Those who care for the sick, feed the poor,
bring comfort to the forgotten and hope to those who have none are His
representatives and distributors of His love. The enemies of this
country, within and without, refuse to recognize that these same values
are represented in our government on a daily basis. We, as a country,
are the first one there when disaster strikes anywhere in the world.
Our systems of laws are based on those same values and are the envy of the
world because of their fairness and consistency. Our social programs
are designed to help those in our nation who are in need, and as imperfect
as they may be, they are consistent with the aforementioned Jude-Christian religious and moral values.
To defend symbols that do not give honor to God but are viewed as
cultural and historical in value causes confusion to potential and
current believers. Defenders of religious symbols in my area of
southern California take the position that the cross and images of the
California missions found in many official government seals are historic by nature
should remain. The enemies of God recognize those symbols for what
they truly are, Godly and religious symbols that glorify Him, and that
they must be eliminated. On the official seal for the city of Los
Angeles, all references to Christianity have been removed after the
ACLU threatened to sue. It should be recognized that the tiny cross was
offensive but the pagan Roman goddess Pomona, prominently
featured in the middle of the seal didn't offend, and could remain in the city
seal without further objection if the city chose to keep it. Why would the enemies of God be so earnest to remove Christ and not a pagan goddess? Their actions give witness to the fact that He is God and testimony that those same enemies do not fear the influence of a pagan idol.
Another recent example of the efforts to eliminate historical religious
symbols involves the chain of twenty-one missions founded in
California, starting with mission San Diego de Alcala established by Father
Junipero Serra in 1769. From the hillside location overlooking mission
valley, the missionaries moved northward and established the remaining
missions ending with the last and northernmost California mission
located in the city of Sonoma. This mission was founded by Father Jose
Altimira in July, 1823.
A self described watchdog group filed a lawsuit in December 2004
in an attempt to prevent the U.S. Interior Department from releasing
$10 million dollars Congress approved for the repair and upkeep of all of
these historical sites. This group stated that they had no objection to
the upkeep of the missions that were functioning as museums but does
object to the money being spent on those missions that still functioned
as houses of worship.
The truth is that Judeo-Christian principals are part of the foundation
of our country and remain a part of its social fabric. For now we have
In God We Trust on our currency, many cities retain their founding Christian names and Moses and the Ten Commandments still have a home in
our Supreme Court. It could all change tomorrow, but in the end God
will still be God and man will still be man and those that know Him will
continue to honor Him or rebel against Him.
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
In our current culture, people have lined up on each side of the issue
of city and state seals and symbols that include Christian references.
People of faith feel that society is trying to remove God from our
civic landscape and the opposition seem to want to remove all references to
God in all parts of our society. Both sides reference the " wall of
separation" between church and state phrase written by Thomas
Jefferson. Jefferson Wrote included his reference to this foundational American
belief as part of a letter he wrote to the Danbury (CT) Baptist Association
assuring them that the government would never interfere with their right of religious expression. For the next 150 years our courts upheld this premise until 1947 when the Supreme Court (Everson v Board of Education) reversed itself and began applying the phrase to the Establishment Clause (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof) instead. This caused the federal courts to remove rather than to preserve and protect public religious expressions. In 1962 (Engel v Vitale) the court outlawed prayer in public school.
Those that wish to keep the religious symbols claim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation to begin with and all references to God must remain. The opposition claims that the founders were really interested in protecting us from God. They did this through our so-called inherited religious freedoms, and that all references to God should be removed from our societal landscape. In the 1700's Christ was a big part of every day American life and over 96% of its citizens identified themselves as Christian. In fact, one of the most popular slogans of the Revolutionary war was "No King but Jesus. As a matter of fact, two historians from the University of Houston did a ten-year study of the ideas that shaped our republic and after sifting through 15,000 documents from the Colonial era they came down to 3,154 essential statements and found that 94% of the founding fathers quotes were based on the bible. 34% were direct quotes and 60% from men who had used the bible to arrive at their conclusions.
The truth seems to be that the founding fathers were believers in God, generally speaking, but only a portion of them were professed Christians. The basis for our laws and social structure followed Judeo Christian guidelines, not specifically the Christian faith. A case could be made that this was done less from the standpoint of honoring God and more from a practical sense designed to build and maintain societal order.
Most current surveys state that anywhere from 75% to 86% of Americans, self identify themselves as Christians. A large part of this identity may in fact come from the perception that we are a Christian country. The population at large may think that they somehow inherit their faith or are able to acquire it through some method of spiritual osmosis. If America truly had a population of Christians that large, it would be a different and better place than it is now.
When Christopher Columbus arrived, he represented Spain who was identified as a Christian country. As his name Christopher translates into English as "Christ Bearer", this famous explorer and sailor claimed his new discoveries in the name of God and the king of Spain. The first landfall made by him was called San Salvador or "Holy Savior". When the Puritans left England, they questioned the religious authority of the Church of England and were inclined to put no hierarchy between themselves and Jesus Christ. One of their main goals in coming to the new land was a strong desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Mayflower Compact, the first set of formal laws, were written for the new world and God is prominently featured in that document. Their faith was kept intact despite half of their colony failing to survive their first winter in the new land.
In regards to our founding fathers, it appears that while many of them were Christian, the majority seem to believe in a God as the Creator and had respect for the name of Jesus and at least part of His teachings. In one of several dissertations on the life of Jesus, Thomas Jefferson described his view of our Lord in The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus. Jefferson wrote in a Syllabus that was appended to his bible, that the teachings of Jesus were similar to the earlier Greek and Roman philosophers and to the religion of the Jews in Jesus's time. Jefferson wrote frequently about his belief in doing good works to counterbalance the sinfulness in one's own life. Jefferson admired many of the words of Jesus but felt the need to separate them as some being worthy to follow and some not. He further wrote that he had a low opinion of the apostles and particularly disdained the efforts of Paul the apostle.
The exact words of Jefferson in this regard are as follows:
"Of this band of dupes and impostors, Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and first corruptor of the doctrines of Jesus. These palpable interpolations and falsifications of His doctrines, led me to try to sift them apart. I found the work obvious and easy, and that His past composed the most beautiful morsel of morality which has been given to us by man. The syllabus is therefore of His doctrines, not all of mine. I read them as I do those of other ancient and modern moralists, with a mixture of approbation and dissent..."
Since the meaning of the word Coryphaeus means leader of a party or school of thought or the leader of a chorus. Jefferson appears to be saying that while Jesus got some things right and some things wrong, the apostles were a bunch of knuckleheads and Paul really messed things up as the messenger of Jesus's word. Jefferson was truly ahead of his time in this thinking and very much in tune with the American Church, as it exists today. Because of the culture of freedom in this country today, we extend that freedom to pick and choose which of God's laws that we want to follow and not follow.
There were five dominant and influential men behind the American Constitution. They were Washington, Franklin, Randolph, Jefferson and John Adams. Of these men, the first three were active followers of Freemasonry who fervently subscribed to its ideals. To be accurate, by my research, it is confirmed that Washington and Franklin were official Masons and that Jefferson may not have been a member in a formal sense but did study and agree with the principals of Freemasonry. Edmond Randolph held the position of Grand Master in Virginia and was an important participant in the Constitutional Convention who did not sign the document but did indeed fight for its ratification. In regards to John Adams, he is not identified as an official member but more as a philosophical follower who as president, appointed John Marshall, a Freemason, to be the first Chief Justice to the Supreme Court. While many historians have studied the founding history of Freemasonry, there are several theories apply to its origin. Stories passed on within the organization date it's founding back to the 17th and 18th century by the Knights Templar, a religious secret society whose members were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. What later became known as the Freemason's, embraced a philosophy of separation of church and state, certainly a unique concept for that period.
Another foundational concept to Freemasonry was the belief in a Supreme Being. Membership did not depend on any particular Supreme Being, thereby allowing a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Theist or Deist of any sort to join. The official reference to the Supreme Being in Freemasonry is designated as "The Great Architect of the Universe" and does not identify with any particular religion. This belief seems to coincide with the "intelligent design" theory that is promoted today as an alternative to the theory of evolution.
The Freemason beliefs are very evident in the actions and thoughts of these founding fathers and while they did not fear individual religious beliefs, they did fear the repression of state religious organizations that were interwoven into European society. Freemasonry values seemed to give strength and passion to their beliefs. These men and others like them used the bible for quotations to be part of their speeches and seemed to view organized religion as a glue that could hold a society together and as long as a state sponsored church wasn't established, they felt that any religious beliefs were fine on an individual basis.
To say that those who signed the Declaration of Independence were very brave is a gross understatement. When I read this document, I get a true sense that the signers were fed up with the king of England and the actions of his army. The kidnapping of Americans to England to stand trial on false charges, unfair taxation, the stationing of troops in a time of peace and the lack of punishment that those occupational forces faced for the crimes of murder, rape and thievery caused a great sense of urgency for the signers. If they failed in their task, they would have been hung as traitors. The declaration that God has given man unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness recognizes a God of nature and man. The declaration did not include any reference to Christ as the Son of God or that the bible was the true word of God or that Jesus paid man's sinful ransom on the cross of Calvary. Reference to The Great Architect of the Universe is evident in this great document not the foundational roots of a Christian country.
Those who do not understand the fundamentals of Christianity may think that we as Christians are unhappy that our founding fathers did not establish a Christian Theocracy. The truth is that belief in Christ is a personal matter and is strongest when cleaved to the word of God, not men. I know of no Christian leader who calls for a Christian government in America. We cannot be born into and assimilate to a Christian society and inherit salvation based on the foundational efforts and beliefs of others. In every other religion you can be born into a government and culture that reflects the values of that religion and in effect inherit that religion with no personal choice required. Those men who signed the Declaration of Independence had a long and current history of seeing
the results of a state endorsed religion and they were wise enough to break from that notion in the formation of this new republic.
Those in our society who wish to eliminate God from the societal fabric
of American culture are at odds with the founding fathers. We see
historical evidence of this from a prayer that John Adams had carved
into a marble mantle over a fireplace in the White House, a
representation of the Ten Commandments carved into the wall of the
Supreme Court or the name of God written into our founding documents.
It is curious to me how any one person or group can get so worked up over
something or someone who, by their own admission, does not exist.
This country was discovered and settled by people who knew God the
Father through His only Son, Jesus Christ. They believed in the Holy
Spirit and subscribed to the belief that they were to share the word of
God with their fellow man and that Christ must be evident in their
daily lives. Columbus discovered America with the support of an established
Christian church/state while the Puritan settlers came to America to
avoid that same Christian church/state.
As time went on, Judeo-Christian beliefs became a foundational aspect
of the American landscape and were integral to the laws written for the
new republic. The founding fathers were accepting of many different
descriptions of God and because of this, our country was and is built
on tolerant religious attitudes that still exist today. This tolerance is
in line with the freedom that God gives to each of us in the form of
individual free will. Christianity is an exercise of free will and each
believer makes the determination that the bible is the true word of God,
that Jesus Christ is God, that He was born of a virgin and lived the human
experience, died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead.
The values related to Christ can be assimilated, but the faith in Him is a
result of personal determination, not laws or proclamations of men. There are many societies that are based on religious undertones and customs. You can
be born into those societies and be regarded as a member of that dominant
religion, going from birth to old age immersed in religious customs
without a personal acceptance and understanding of who God is.
Just because America is built on Judeo-Christian values does not make
it a Christian country. Crosses, as well as other religious symbols are
only worth saving if they give glory to God and symbolize a nations
commitment to Him. The enemies of God think that they are winning their
war of rebellion against Him by invoking the separation of church
and state argument as well as their assault on any Godly public
recognition or honor. The truth is that while these enemies are busy
poking their metaphysical finger in God's face, His glory is
manifested by His people. Those who care for the sick, feed the poor,
bring comfort to the forgotten and hope to those who have none are His
representatives and distributors of His love. The enemies of this
country, within and without, refuse to recognize that these same values
are represented in our government on a daily basis. We, as a country,
are the first one there when disaster strikes anywhere in the world.
Our systems of laws are based on those same values and are the envy of the
world because of their fairness and consistency. Our social programs
are designed to help those in our nation who are in need, and as imperfect
as they may be, they are consistent with the aforementioned Jude-Christian religious and moral values.
To defend symbols that do not give honor to God but are viewed as
cultural and historical in value causes confusion to potential and
current believers. Defenders of religious symbols in my area of
southern California take the position that the cross and images of the
California missions found in many official government seals are historic by nature
should remain. The enemies of God recognize those symbols for what
they truly are, Godly and religious symbols that glorify Him, and that
they must be eliminated. On the official seal for the city of Los
Angeles, all references to Christianity have been removed after the
ACLU threatened to sue. It should be recognized that the tiny cross was
offensive but the pagan Roman goddess Pomona, prominently
featured in the middle of the seal didn't offend, and could remain in the city
seal without further objection if the city chose to keep it. Why would the enemies of God be so earnest to remove Christ and not a pagan goddess? Their actions give witness to the fact that He is God and testimony that those same enemies do not fear the influence of a pagan idol.
Another recent example of the efforts to eliminate historical religious
symbols involves the chain of twenty-one missions founded in
California, starting with mission San Diego de Alcala established by Father
Junipero Serra in 1769. From the hillside location overlooking mission
valley, the missionaries moved northward and established the remaining
missions ending with the last and northernmost California mission
located in the city of Sonoma. This mission was founded by Father Jose
Altimira in July, 1823.
A self described watchdog group filed a lawsuit in December 2004
in an attempt to prevent the U.S. Interior Department from releasing
$10 million dollars Congress approved for the repair and upkeep of all of
these historical sites. This group stated that they had no objection to
the upkeep of the missions that were functioning as museums but does
object to the money being spent on those missions that still functioned
as houses of worship.
The truth is that Judeo-Christian principals are part of the foundation
of our country and remain a part of its social fabric. For now we have
In God We Trust on our currency, many cities retain their founding Christian names and Moses and the Ten Commandments still have a home in
our Supreme Court. It could all change tomorrow, but in the end God
will still be God and man will still be man and those that know Him will
continue to honor Him or rebel against Him.
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Great Debate / Keyes vs Dershowitz
On September 27, 2000, an event took place at Franklin & Marshall College, site of a former brewery, located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This event has been remembered as the Alan Keyes / Alan Dershowitz debate entitled:
"Does Organized Religion Hold Answers to the Problems of the 21st Century?"
The college organization that hosted this debate has a long and storied history. In 1835, the school's Debating Society was renamed Diagnothian Literary Society at the suggestion of seminary student Samuel Reed Fisher. In June of that year, Diagnothian was divided into two friendly rivals to encourage debate. Diagnothian retained its original name. The genesis of the name is not all that clear; one explanation is that it derives from a Greek term meaning "thorough knowledge." The new society was named Goethean, in honor of German philosopher and poet Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.
It is interesting to note Von Goethe was born in 1749 and died at the age of eighty two years old, quite an achievement in those days as the average life span in the 18th century was 35 years and fifty was considered to be a ripe old age. He was rumored to have contracted syphilis as a young man, making his lifespan nothing short of remarkable.
This German poet, novelist, playwright, natural philosopher and courtier is highly regarded in the world of academia and is considered to be one of the most famous figures in western literature. He gained early fame with his novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), but he will be remembered forever by his two part, poetic drama, Faust. He was also interested in alchemy, a science devoted to the turning of lessor metals into silver and gold, an activity that was frowned upon by the Roman Catholic Church and the King of England. Goethe did influence 19th and 20th century abstract painters with his unorthodox theory of the character of light and color. In the spirit of his creativeness, the aforementioned debate society took this humanist writer and philosopher as it's patron saint, so to speak.
The two organizations have sponsored orations and debated politics, philosophy and literature. They merged together in 1955, but became separate entities again in 1989. The Diagnothian Society is the oldest student organization on campus.
The university offers around 84 student organizations with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship being represented as one of two faith based clubs.There are multiple clubs devoted to science and philosophy and four clubs that focus on various parts of African culture, all military ROTC programs are excluded from being involved with the university and there are multiple organizations that deal with woman's rights, redefining traditional marriage, Amnesty International and gender equality in society.
I point all of this out so that you can understand the ground that Mr. Keyes was trying to plant in. Not exactly a bastion of souls seeking to know the word of God. Instead, I feel safe in assuming that the majority of the audience was young, thought itself to be progressive and liberal, ivy league educated and Mr. Dershowitz must have known that he had the home court advantage.
It is said that one of Theodore Roosevelt's great oratorical talents were displayed in South America, after his presidency. The former president would speak in halls and meeting places filled with folks that resented Mr. Roosevelt's involvement in the building of the Panama Canal. At those gatherings, the people were said to be very hostile toward the former president but after listening to his reasoning, they grudgingly had to agree with the thought process that went into the decisions regarding the obtrusive water way. I feel that Mr. Keyes deserves much credit for willingness engage the "enemy" on their own playing field.
Now, if you think that "enemy" is too harsh of a term, bear with me as I explain. First, the school and those in attendance were hardly open minded in their approach to hearing about God, salvation or religion. Their student society was and is one that revolves around the concept of being contrary to what standard religious society has to say. The school carries the attitude of it's founder, Ben Franklin, in regards to civil liberties without sharing his belief that the Judeo - Christian values found in religion were essential to keeping those liberties. On the surface, judging the school population by the multitude of left leaning organizations that seem worried about self described, "progressive" social issues, hardly fertile ground for discourse of religious or religious and moral topics. The only sense of satisfaction that I know and feel is that, most if not all of those young people that were in attendance are married, have business careers and or have children of their own today. The values that they held on the day of the debate a decade ago are unlikely to be values held by them today. When you have taxes taken from your earnings, view society from the eyes of a parent or watch in dismay as your business, home or job is destroyed by decisions of politicians controlled and manipulated by special interests, you sober you up pretty quick. At that time in one's life, we seek to be closer to God and religion, not run from it.
Alan Dershowitz is a very successful lawyer and it is fair to say that he has a healthy respect for the law. While there are many things that I can disagree with him on, we are in agreement on two important topics. One is Israel, we both believe that Israel for all it's shortcomings as a society, her survival is essential to the world. Secondly, we share a belief that man, as the dominant species, has a responsibility to be kind and thoughtful in our treatment of animals. I should also mention that we share a belief that it is important to not dismantle the constitution just because you don't like what it says. As I said earlier, Dershowitz, who is Jewish by birth and not by faith, has great respect for laws and if I was in trouble, I'd want him on my side in court.
Alan Keyes is a politician and a former ambassador and described by his liberal enemies which by the way, he has many, as a rare African American conservative. His "crimes" against liberalism include:
1. He is a staunch adversary of abortion. Mr. Keyes has participated in very high profile anti abortion rally's. A quote attributed to him regarding morality and government in general and specifically targeted at abortion, is as follows, “How many Americans wake up every day longing to live under party dictators, worshiping at the altar of a propagandized personality cult, in a world where party hacks offer the only hope of relief from bureaucratic tyranny? All in exchange for a surfeit of meaningless sex and the license to kill your unwanted offspring.”
2. He spoke in favor of the Viet Nam war and was very vocal about how the abrupt
abandonment of that war caused millions of Vietnamese to die needlessly. It should also be noted that his father served two tours in this war. When he chastised fellow students at Cornell for taking over the Student Center in a war protest, several of those peaceful students threatened his life because he spoke up and held an opposite view. He left Cornell and finished his degree in Europe and went on to earn his PH.D at Harvard.
3. Mr. Keyes is not an advocate of homosexuality and believes that the act of homosexual sex is a sin. In regards to homosexual marriage, he had this to say: “Homosexuals are essentially incapable of procreation. They cannot mate. They are not made to do so. Therefore the idea of marriage for two such individuals is an absurdity.”
Much like Mr. Dershowitz, I can find a few things that I agree with Mr. Keyes on.
The biggest social sin that I have found to be assigned to Alan Keyes is that his enemies are appalled that he, as a black man, would have a political and socially conservative view at all. It is the basis for racist thought when we assign personal and political thought to people of any race or color. As if a person of Latin descent can't be smart enough to come to their own conclusions about immigration or if you did not vote for our first black president, you are a racist. It is possible for us to think for ourselves, despite being criticized for doing so.
As I stated earlier, Alan Dershowitz admires the law. He considers himself to be a secular Jew but is a fan about rules and regulations that are not related to God. Alan Keyes on the other hand, is a believer in religious law as it relates to religious organizations designed by man. As Christians, we are to believe the bible as the true word of God, as improbable and difficult as it is to read and understand. It becomes a baseline of our belief and when Jesus was here, on this earth, He told us that He came to fulfill the word ( Matthew 5:17-18) not destroy it. By the same token, Jesus didn't assign Peter to be the leader of a church or encourage an English king to establish one in their own image.
For the rest of mankind who share a hatred for organized religion, before you get your hackles up and lay the Holocaust and the Inquisition on the steps of the church, imagine a world without Judeo - Christian values and their associated organizations.
If you do a Google search for Atheistic charities or hospitals, you will run into many chat rooms and boards that are populated with self described atheists who are very creative in their search for any confirmed or suspected atheist who has been involved in any kind of charity. In my search, I came across the name of Robert W. Wilson. Mr. Wilson is profiled in a May 23rd, 2007 Bloomberg article written by Patrick Cole.
Mr. Wilson is a confirmed atheist who donated $22.5 million dollars to fund a scholarship program specifically for inner-city students. The recipient of this kind and generous donation is the Roman Catholic Church. In response to several large donations to the Cardinal's scholarship program, the following quotes are attributed to this generous man:
“Most of what the Catholic schools teach are the three Rs,” said Mr. Wilson, 83, in a phone interview, referring to reading, writing and arithmetic. “And they do it better than the union-controlled inner-city schools.”
"Let's face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no Western civilization,'' Wilson said. "Shunning religious organizations would be abhorrent. Keep in mind, I'm helping to pay tuition. The money isn't going directly to the schools.''
"It was a chance for a very modest amount of money to get kids out of a lousy school system and into a good school system,'' Wilson said.
An anonymous donor has given an additional $4.5 million to the archdiocese after learning that Wilson's gift would be announced today, church officials said.
You might be wondering how Mr. Wilson formed a relationship with an organization that would be at the top of every atheist's "hit list". The following quote explains how it happened.
Edward Cardinal Egan, the head of the archdiocese, didn't reconsider the donation from Wilson because of his atheism, said spokesman Joseph Zwilling. Egan and Wilson, who was raised an Episcopalian, met for the first time today, he said.
"The Cardinal said that he and Mr. Wilson are both opera lovers, and the two of them will get together to talk about opera and move on to other things", Zwilling said, referring to a future discussion about religion. "The fact is that Mr. Wilson is helping to give these children a chance is a good thing, and a chance to attend Catholic school is a good thing.''
In recent years, the New York archdiocese has faced declining donations, church attendance and parish memberships, forcing the closure of some schools and churches.
In 2006, the archdiocese closed eight metropolitan-area schools, Zwilling said.
About 44,000 of the archdiocese's 107,000 students are enrolled in its inner-city schools in New York, LoFaro said. Of that inner-city student population, more than half live below the federal poverty line, she said.
"This kind of money will keep this kind of education available for kids who can't afford it,'' LoFaro said. "And it also gives the families a choice.'' Applicants don't have to be Roman Catholic to be eligible for the scholarships.
Wilson gave $147.2 million in 2006 to charities, making him the 12th most generous donor in the U.S., according to a survey by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. He has made gifts in the past to the Nature Conservancy and the World Monuments Fund.
Without Jesus, there would be no Catholic Church or any other church based on the belief that He is God and that we, as followers, do His work in our earthly lives. This man, who professes to not believe in the existence of God, helps to support Jesus's ministry. I am positive in my belief, that if there was an atheist idea based organization that was serving the underprivileged, Mr. Wilson and other generous benefactors would be seeking them out.
Mark Twain, himself no real fan of organized religion, once said, "Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable."
If Mr. Keyes were to participate in a similar debate in the future, My advice for him would be to avoid the religious parts and replace it with faithfulness. In a religious world, we take our faithful positions and build structures of support so as to show substance to something that is ethereal and without required structure. We do this because we are afraid, no doubt, that those around us might miss the true ramifications of our faith or the nuances of its fit and form. People are smart enough to get it if we just live it.
"Does Organized Religion Hold Answers to the Problems of the 21st Century?"
The college organization that hosted this debate has a long and storied history. In 1835, the school's Debating Society was renamed Diagnothian Literary Society at the suggestion of seminary student Samuel Reed Fisher. In June of that year, Diagnothian was divided into two friendly rivals to encourage debate. Diagnothian retained its original name. The genesis of the name is not all that clear; one explanation is that it derives from a Greek term meaning "thorough knowledge." The new society was named Goethean, in honor of German philosopher and poet Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.
It is interesting to note Von Goethe was born in 1749 and died at the age of eighty two years old, quite an achievement in those days as the average life span in the 18th century was 35 years and fifty was considered to be a ripe old age. He was rumored to have contracted syphilis as a young man, making his lifespan nothing short of remarkable.
This German poet, novelist, playwright, natural philosopher and courtier is highly regarded in the world of academia and is considered to be one of the most famous figures in western literature. He gained early fame with his novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), but he will be remembered forever by his two part, poetic drama, Faust. He was also interested in alchemy, a science devoted to the turning of lessor metals into silver and gold, an activity that was frowned upon by the Roman Catholic Church and the King of England. Goethe did influence 19th and 20th century abstract painters with his unorthodox theory of the character of light and color. In the spirit of his creativeness, the aforementioned debate society took this humanist writer and philosopher as it's patron saint, so to speak.
The two organizations have sponsored orations and debated politics, philosophy and literature. They merged together in 1955, but became separate entities again in 1989. The Diagnothian Society is the oldest student organization on campus.
The university offers around 84 student organizations with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship being represented as one of two faith based clubs.There are multiple clubs devoted to science and philosophy and four clubs that focus on various parts of African culture, all military ROTC programs are excluded from being involved with the university and there are multiple organizations that deal with woman's rights, redefining traditional marriage, Amnesty International and gender equality in society.
I point all of this out so that you can understand the ground that Mr. Keyes was trying to plant in. Not exactly a bastion of souls seeking to know the word of God. Instead, I feel safe in assuming that the majority of the audience was young, thought itself to be progressive and liberal, ivy league educated and Mr. Dershowitz must have known that he had the home court advantage.
It is said that one of Theodore Roosevelt's great oratorical talents were displayed in South America, after his presidency. The former president would speak in halls and meeting places filled with folks that resented Mr. Roosevelt's involvement in the building of the Panama Canal. At those gatherings, the people were said to be very hostile toward the former president but after listening to his reasoning, they grudgingly had to agree with the thought process that went into the decisions regarding the obtrusive water way. I feel that Mr. Keyes deserves much credit for willingness engage the "enemy" on their own playing field.
Now, if you think that "enemy" is too harsh of a term, bear with me as I explain. First, the school and those in attendance were hardly open minded in their approach to hearing about God, salvation or religion. Their student society was and is one that revolves around the concept of being contrary to what standard religious society has to say. The school carries the attitude of it's founder, Ben Franklin, in regards to civil liberties without sharing his belief that the Judeo - Christian values found in religion were essential to keeping those liberties. On the surface, judging the school population by the multitude of left leaning organizations that seem worried about self described, "progressive" social issues, hardly fertile ground for discourse of religious or religious and moral topics. The only sense of satisfaction that I know and feel is that, most if not all of those young people that were in attendance are married, have business careers and or have children of their own today. The values that they held on the day of the debate a decade ago are unlikely to be values held by them today. When you have taxes taken from your earnings, view society from the eyes of a parent or watch in dismay as your business, home or job is destroyed by decisions of politicians controlled and manipulated by special interests, you sober you up pretty quick. At that time in one's life, we seek to be closer to God and religion, not run from it.
Alan Dershowitz is a very successful lawyer and it is fair to say that he has a healthy respect for the law. While there are many things that I can disagree with him on, we are in agreement on two important topics. One is Israel, we both believe that Israel for all it's shortcomings as a society, her survival is essential to the world. Secondly, we share a belief that man, as the dominant species, has a responsibility to be kind and thoughtful in our treatment of animals. I should also mention that we share a belief that it is important to not dismantle the constitution just because you don't like what it says. As I said earlier, Dershowitz, who is Jewish by birth and not by faith, has great respect for laws and if I was in trouble, I'd want him on my side in court.
Alan Keyes is a politician and a former ambassador and described by his liberal enemies which by the way, he has many, as a rare African American conservative. His "crimes" against liberalism include:
1. He is a staunch adversary of abortion. Mr. Keyes has participated in very high profile anti abortion rally's. A quote attributed to him regarding morality and government in general and specifically targeted at abortion, is as follows, “How many Americans wake up every day longing to live under party dictators, worshiping at the altar of a propagandized personality cult, in a world where party hacks offer the only hope of relief from bureaucratic tyranny? All in exchange for a surfeit of meaningless sex and the license to kill your unwanted offspring.”
2. He spoke in favor of the Viet Nam war and was very vocal about how the abrupt
abandonment of that war caused millions of Vietnamese to die needlessly. It should also be noted that his father served two tours in this war. When he chastised fellow students at Cornell for taking over the Student Center in a war protest, several of those peaceful students threatened his life because he spoke up and held an opposite view. He left Cornell and finished his degree in Europe and went on to earn his PH.D at Harvard.
3. Mr. Keyes is not an advocate of homosexuality and believes that the act of homosexual sex is a sin. In regards to homosexual marriage, he had this to say: “Homosexuals are essentially incapable of procreation. They cannot mate. They are not made to do so. Therefore the idea of marriage for two such individuals is an absurdity.”
Much like Mr. Dershowitz, I can find a few things that I agree with Mr. Keyes on.
The biggest social sin that I have found to be assigned to Alan Keyes is that his enemies are appalled that he, as a black man, would have a political and socially conservative view at all. It is the basis for racist thought when we assign personal and political thought to people of any race or color. As if a person of Latin descent can't be smart enough to come to their own conclusions about immigration or if you did not vote for our first black president, you are a racist. It is possible for us to think for ourselves, despite being criticized for doing so.
As I stated earlier, Alan Dershowitz admires the law. He considers himself to be a secular Jew but is a fan about rules and regulations that are not related to God. Alan Keyes on the other hand, is a believer in religious law as it relates to religious organizations designed by man. As Christians, we are to believe the bible as the true word of God, as improbable and difficult as it is to read and understand. It becomes a baseline of our belief and when Jesus was here, on this earth, He told us that He came to fulfill the word ( Matthew 5:17-18) not destroy it. By the same token, Jesus didn't assign Peter to be the leader of a church or encourage an English king to establish one in their own image.
For the rest of mankind who share a hatred for organized religion, before you get your hackles up and lay the Holocaust and the Inquisition on the steps of the church, imagine a world without Judeo - Christian values and their associated organizations.
If you do a Google search for Atheistic charities or hospitals, you will run into many chat rooms and boards that are populated with self described atheists who are very creative in their search for any confirmed or suspected atheist who has been involved in any kind of charity. In my search, I came across the name of Robert W. Wilson. Mr. Wilson is profiled in a May 23rd, 2007 Bloomberg article written by Patrick Cole.
Mr. Wilson is a confirmed atheist who donated $22.5 million dollars to fund a scholarship program specifically for inner-city students. The recipient of this kind and generous donation is the Roman Catholic Church. In response to several large donations to the Cardinal's scholarship program, the following quotes are attributed to this generous man:
“Most of what the Catholic schools teach are the three Rs,” said Mr. Wilson, 83, in a phone interview, referring to reading, writing and arithmetic. “And they do it better than the union-controlled inner-city schools.”
"Let's face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no Western civilization,'' Wilson said. "Shunning religious organizations would be abhorrent. Keep in mind, I'm helping to pay tuition. The money isn't going directly to the schools.''
"It was a chance for a very modest amount of money to get kids out of a lousy school system and into a good school system,'' Wilson said.
An anonymous donor has given an additional $4.5 million to the archdiocese after learning that Wilson's gift would be announced today, church officials said.
You might be wondering how Mr. Wilson formed a relationship with an organization that would be at the top of every atheist's "hit list". The following quote explains how it happened.
Edward Cardinal Egan, the head of the archdiocese, didn't reconsider the donation from Wilson because of his atheism, said spokesman Joseph Zwilling. Egan and Wilson, who was raised an Episcopalian, met for the first time today, he said.
"The Cardinal said that he and Mr. Wilson are both opera lovers, and the two of them will get together to talk about opera and move on to other things", Zwilling said, referring to a future discussion about religion. "The fact is that Mr. Wilson is helping to give these children a chance is a good thing, and a chance to attend Catholic school is a good thing.''
In recent years, the New York archdiocese has faced declining donations, church attendance and parish memberships, forcing the closure of some schools and churches.
In 2006, the archdiocese closed eight metropolitan-area schools, Zwilling said.
About 44,000 of the archdiocese's 107,000 students are enrolled in its inner-city schools in New York, LoFaro said. Of that inner-city student population, more than half live below the federal poverty line, she said.
"This kind of money will keep this kind of education available for kids who can't afford it,'' LoFaro said. "And it also gives the families a choice.'' Applicants don't have to be Roman Catholic to be eligible for the scholarships.
Wilson gave $147.2 million in 2006 to charities, making him the 12th most generous donor in the U.S., according to a survey by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. He has made gifts in the past to the Nature Conservancy and the World Monuments Fund.
Without Jesus, there would be no Catholic Church or any other church based on the belief that He is God and that we, as followers, do His work in our earthly lives. This man, who professes to not believe in the existence of God, helps to support Jesus's ministry. I am positive in my belief, that if there was an atheist idea based organization that was serving the underprivileged, Mr. Wilson and other generous benefactors would be seeking them out.
Mark Twain, himself no real fan of organized religion, once said, "Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable."
If Mr. Keyes were to participate in a similar debate in the future, My advice for him would be to avoid the religious parts and replace it with faithfulness. In a religious world, we take our faithful positions and build structures of support so as to show substance to something that is ethereal and without required structure. We do this because we are afraid, no doubt, that those around us might miss the true ramifications of our faith or the nuances of its fit and form. People are smart enough to get it if we just live it.
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