Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Cultural Shift
Just read a great book (very challenging and controversial). "Thy Kingdom Come" - An Evangelical's Lament: How The Religious Right Distorts The Faith And Threatens America, by Randall Balmer. In short, this book is a call to Christians and the Church to untangle itself from the distracting propaganda and power of the religious right and to realign with the message of the gospel. The message that God loves us and has made a way - that there is hope, forgiveness, redemption and real power to change the world - the message of Jesus Christ. That is what we should be known for, not for what we are against or who we endorse or what we stand on the corners of streets protesting.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Great to have you guys downtown. I look forward to your contribution to the community.
ReplyDeleteAs to the post...how is it that the "religious right" (as defined by Balmer) is said to distort the faith and threaten America? This has me curious.
It seems that the title of the book is every bit the "distracting propaganda" that the religious right is said to be. If Balmer wants the church to stop thinking of politics and start serving the poor and emphasizing grace (without reading the book, I assume that's his point, and it is a valid one), then why is he writing a book aimed at a certain political group? One does not end a distraction by calling further attention to it.
Whatever issues Balmer deems "distracting" apparently matter enough to him to write a book about them and call attention to them. Does he really find these political issues distracting, or does he find them important (in a different way than the religious right do)?