We don't know how many justices will be appointed by the next President, but it could be as many as three. We also don't know what role a President Obama would have his Vice President play in judicial appointments. However, Senator Biden has a long and thoughtful record on issues like the separation of church and state and reproductive choice. He has opposed school vouchers, prayer amendments to the Constitution, discriminatory hiring in the faith based initiative, removing jurisdiction of the federal judiciary over religion cases, and many other affronts to real religious liberty. He opposed Roberts and Alito based on a cogent understanding that they rejected not just the idea of a "living Constitution" but any document which seemed to have even a breath of life in it.
Frankly, if I have any criticism of Senator Biden it was that he didn't bring more witnesses to the table during the confirmation process for Justice Clarence Thomas. I'm sure you read the excellent book about the process, Strange Justice, by Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson from the Wall Street Journal. The authors recorded not just the truth of Anita Hill's testimony but the presence of unused testimony of other women who would have buttressed her case with their own sad stories.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
"I also don't believe that the other things that need to be done to help the situation must come from government initiatives...I do believe in a large place for faith-based outreaches, charity / non-profit outreaches, etc...."
I wholeheartedly agree with you on this point, Ann. But I am concerned that there is clearly not sufficient focus on this vital part of the solution by churches. If the government is not to step in and provide these much needed services, why is it that the churches are not stepping up to fill the gap? And, as many, many studies have shown, a gap still exists and is growing yearly.
What is preventing churches today from committing sufficient resources to fill these gaps? Will God make provision if His people make the commitment to act? What is missing here?
I don't believe that I'm qualified to speak for the entire Church community so I don't have an answer for that one. I wish I knew...all I can do is share my thoughts.
I personally believe that God's intent for His Church was to be 'His hands reaching out to anyone hurting, in crisis, etc....' It is a much larger part of the Church's purpose than has been seen in history. When the Christians didn't do this, the government stepped in and began to...but it wasn't really meant to be a part of the purpose of government and that's why the government hasn't done a great job at it...it wasn't REALLY their job...but someone had to do it.
I'd guess there are quite a few specific reasons why the Church didn't do this, but I doubt that they'll be a legitimate excuses 'come judgement day'. I don't think that the best way for the church to do this 'helping people' outreach is through political action...I just believe they should 'go & do'. Let's not forget that there ARE many ministries who do all kinds of outreaches to people with all kinds of needs...it's just not something that you'll hear very much about on the network/cable news programs. Even so, I agree that more is needed.
I do believe that if the churches will only be faithful to commit to whichever outreach they feel led to do...that God will make a way for them to be successful. He can still provide a way and open closed doors if we only put our faith & trust in Him to do so.
"When the Christians didn't do this, the government stepped in and began to...but it wasn't really meant to be a part of the purpose of government and that's why the government hasn't done a great job at it...it wasn't REALLY their job...but someone had to do it."
If God can make the rocks cry out praise for His name, then surely he can make governments do the work the churches should be doing. As churches spend more and more of their money on larger and larger buildings, political outreach, modern electronics, and trendy ministry techniques, more and more people find themselves in need of help. When they cannot find it through the church, they turn elsewhere. So far, we have refused to let masses starve in the street (although I suspect there are some who would be quite content to do this as long as they got their taxes cut.)
I agree with the summation of your post, Ann. There really is nothing stopping the Church (and individual churches) from doing more to meet the needs of their communities. Nothing, that is, save their own greed.
hello again.... RE: "If God can make the rocks cry out praise for His name, then surely he can make governments do the work the churches should be doing."
My knowledge & understanding of God says that although God CAN do ANYTHING...and there is nothing that's impossible for Him...He gave mankind the gift of free will. Therefore, He will not force anyone to do anything. I believe that God deals with people and tries to guide them into making wise & correct decisions...but He will not MAKE them do the right thing.
I can understand your bitter tone about greed in the church...and what I'm going to say is in NO WAY meant to sound like I'm excusing that when it really is there...but... Greed is a big thing among people who aren't a part of the church too and is just as wrong in the one place as it is in the other. Greed is greed whether it's living in a Senator, Doctor, businessman, or a minister.
The thing I'd like to point out here refers to what I said above... Remember that there ARE MANY ministries who do a huge amount of outreach to help hurting people in America and across the world. I follow what several major ministries do in this area...and you'll rarely (if ever) hear about any of it in the secular media.
However, you will hear them making mountains out of molehills over a ministry who owns an airplane, etc... How ridiculous is that when you consider that actually owning one may be a money saver for the ministry and a huge help in that ministry being able to accomplish MUCH more outreach than it could have done without having it? ...And besides, I've never heard a "news story" against Donald Trump's aircrafts or Jay Leno's automobile collection. I don't say this to judge any of them...it's nothing to my life anyway... but from my perspective there's more greed shown by a single person owning, say... 3 vehicles, a speedboat and a fishing boat, and a 4-wheeler, plus a camper and 2 jet-skis than in a ministry owning an airplane that's a useful ministry tool....
...I didn't mean to digress - All of that was just to make the point that there really is a lopsided bias in what people generally hear in the media...it's good to remember that every so often. :-)
The founding fathers stated people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They did not state people have the right to DEATH, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You speak of individual rights so tongue and cheek. What hypocrisy. What about the individual right of the fetus in the mother's womb? Don't these little ones have the same individual rights as you even though they do not weigh as much or may not be as tall? They should have rights all the more so. Believe me, they are justified individuals evidenced by the sound of their heartbeats beating inside their chests. If you are quiet for a moment, maybe you can hear them and their cries for life.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.