Politics & Religion News

Well, I finally did it…I was a little lazy and it seemed like it would never come to pass, but I finally took the time to set up a ‘proper’ domain name for Politics & Religion. You can still access this website through the original domain name (www.politicsandreligion.wordpress.com). But now, you can use either of the following (easier to remember) addresses:

www.Politics-Religion.com

or

www.Politics-Religion.net

I am pleased to get these names; I was low on options (apparently there are a lot of websites catered to either politics and/or religion…go figure), but I feel like these domain names are short and to the point. If you have enjoyed any of the posts and content, I would be grateful and humbled if you told your family/friends about it.

On a side note, my book is currently going through the second editing phase from the publisher. I suspect it will be released in the Fall of this year. I haven’t mentioned much about it (only in the ‘About Me’ section), but for those who are interested, I wrote it to help believers talk about God. It contains arguments that support the existence of God without using biblical texts. I will give more updates as I get them… but for now, it’s still in the baby stages.

Thank you for all your support as of late and I look forward to your visits in the future.

Why I (a Christian) admire Atheists

Below is a post I put on an Atheist blog (of which I am a Theist contributor).  In it, I describe why I admire atheists.  Given the nature of my post “Responsible Christians are Rare“, I think that the following message fits very well. 

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Simply put, I admire Atheists. You would think, given my religious perspective and convictions, that an Atheist would be considered my “Darth Vader” (like they are to many believers), but such is not the case. I honestly believe that today’s Theist can, and should, adopt some vital lessons from the 21st century Atheists.

Atheism requires a continuous quest for knowledge. As a result, the Atheist often advances their own cognitive condition by subjecting themselves to a wealth of information with an overall goal to progress in their beliefs. Information at the Atheist’s fingertips comes from personal experience, psychology, physiology, astronomy, mathematics, history, philosophy, and countless other sources. The Atheist attempts to maximize their potential through continuous self-improvement. The “church” of Atheism provides a supportive, collaborative mechanism for such progression to occur.

The Atheist is quite admirable.

Christians today could gain much by taking a lesson out of the Atheist “school of learning”. A large percentage of believers do not really know the tenets behind their faith. In fact, many Christians have not even read the Bible! Such reasoning does not make sense. I constantly urge Christian followers to be responsible with their faith and beliefs (pointing to an Atheist for an example). Christians could also benefit by actively pursuing the disciplines I previously listed as it helps us to understand the world and encourages the use of humanity’s gift of an overwhelmingly sophisticated logos.

The Atheist “church” is also something to learn from. Too often Christian church establishments stray away from their original intent of community support and member spiritual/intellectual progression. Unfortunately, many churches have become havens for divisions, persecution, and external judgment (all very un-Christian might I add). Instead, Evangelical churches attempt to “sell” the religion with false prosperity claims, while fundamental churches preach a gospel of superiority.

The Christian church should be like the Atheist establishment – supporting, teaching, encouraging, and fostering an environment of spiritual advancement, among other things.

Responsibility is immensely important in regards to faith and beliefs, and Atheists provide a good example.

Responsible Christians are Rare

 Do you consider yourself a Christian?  Are you a responsible Christian?  So many people today claim to be “Christian” yet don’t follow Jesus’ lead in the slightest bit.  A responsible Christian reads the Bible daily (or as much as possible) to gain constant exposure to the teachings of Christ, His universal truths of morality and civility.

Too many “idle” Christians exist in this country – this is what Jesus was referring to when he said:

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! (Matthew 7:22-23)

Standing on the sidelines and claiming belief in Christ is simply not right; it doesn’t do justice to what Jesus has done for your eternal soul.  Sure, accepting Jesus as Christ is the first step, but too many people feel that is enough.  Do you believe?  If so, what have you done so far in the name of Christ?  Has the spirit moved you to do good works to glorify His name, or have you blocked it out?  A good place to start is the Bible. 

You may laugh, but it is astounding how many people have not even read the book of their faith.

How can God permit Suffering? Consider this…

 Many people around the globe, regardless of their particular faith, have asked, “why does God allow suffering”. It seems like a pretty logical question to ask. As religious scholars point out, if we were gods of a creation, would we allow suffering? Probably not. So why does God? A loving parent wouldn’t allow their child to suffer. Well, first of all, if “suffering” refers to physical pain, we must admit that parents allow this to happen to some degree. For instance, parents will allow their children to have immunization shots, undergo chemotherapy, or teach them how to ride a bike, knowing that there is a good chance they will fall off and get hurt. Therefore, a loving parent does permit his child to suffer physically, but only if the suffering is considered to be insignificant compared to the greater good.

As humans, we are only aware of the physical suffering and pain in the world. However, God is aware of both spiritual and physical reality. God knows that physical suffering cannot harm our eternal souls. He knows that our physical destruction is not an end to our existence. The question then becomes: what greater good can be gained by suffering? God sees the greater good being accomplished in the transformation that will allow us to live eternally in heaven, a transformation that can only take place in the physical world. As one apologetic writer puts it, “Spiritual lessons can’t take place in the garden [of Eden]; they have to take place in the desert.”

It isn’t that God wills us to experience misfortune, but that these misfortunes are merely the consequence of living in a physical world within our physical bodies. Every day, loving people make the decision to bring children into this world, knowing that it is a world filled with risk and injury. God is no less loving for having created the world in which we all live. But one may ask, “Why doesn’t God do what He can to prevent these injuries, as any good parent would?”

The argument quickly reduces itself into absurdity. At what point should God cease to prevent suffering? Should He suspend gravity for every trip of the foot? Should He suspend the properties of heat for every finger that touches a lit stove? In short, we would be asking God to suspend the physical laws that allow our very existence. We are saying, “Surely, God, there had to be a better way than all of this!” For all we know, the existence that we are experiencing now may well be the only logical possibility of existence.

One could contend that a loving God does not exist because a loving God would not permit suffering. However, given the example of loving parents provided above, we find the following:

1) We consider parents to be loving when they permit their child to suffer insignificantly for a greater good.
2) Our greater good is salvation.
3) Our earthly suffering is insignificant when examined in the scope of eternity.
4) Therefore, we can experience suffering and still believe in the existence of a loving God.

Those are just some initial thoughts regarding the “problem” of suffering on the planet. I have heard countless explanations, some better than others. Hopefully this will give you an insight to the concept, or at least it encourages you to examine the issue a bit more closely. (picture from blogs.indiewire.com)

Jesus: Most powerful name in the World

It really is astounding how popular and powerful the name “Jesus” is on our entire planet.  His name alone has caused people to give their lives, take lives, forgive the unforgivable, despise a people (i.e. Jews), vote in politicians, harbor friendships with strangers, save self-destructive lives, create self-destructive lives, the donation of countless monies, vast humanitarian efforts, and so much more. 

What is even more spectacular is that Jesus’ name spread (although sometimes by very un-Christian methods such as force) during a world before all the technological advances that we have today.  Arguably, there is no name that has more power, influence, and emotion attached to it than that of Jesus.

If one looks back on the ancient civilizations and their once prominent religions with an endless number of deities and spiritual figures, it is fascinating how they have all since disappeared.  Sure, we learn about them in history classes, but the very fact that they are taught in school (in history) demonstrates that it is not deemed a recognizable religion.  These religions were prevalent during a time when a whole slew of spiritual practice to a great number of gods was occurring – the chances of one religion surviving thousands of years into the future were slim to none.

So here we are today, and alleged 2000 years since Jesus and his name lives on (as predicted by the Gospels, especially Luke-Acts).  Believers and non-believers are in the same boat in that they are subject to Jesus’ influence on this globe.  Almost the entire population of the planet knows of the name Jesus.  He is a prominent figure not just in Christianity, but also Islam.  That makes approximately  3.4 billion people familiar with His name (roughly 54% of the earth’s population), and those are just religious practitioners.  We cannot forget the 1.1 billion professed atheists/agnostics/secular humanists etc. (website here) that don’t believe in Jesus’ divinity, but are nonetheless familiar with His name and the amount of power it carries.

No other name has transcended time to the extent that Jesus’ has.  No other name has had an impact on more lives in the history of humanity than Jesus’.  I would argue that no other name will have more powerful popularity than Jesus’.  Being that it is indisputable that His name is a global utterance, don’t you think it to be important to research what He had to say? 

Don’t know where to start?  Click Here to get an unbias introduction, and you will decide where to go from there.

Christians love Satan

 Pretty interesting title isn’t it, but believe it or not, some Christians love the devil.  Why do I say this?  Well, from my experience, I find that many Christians are more eager to defend the existence of the devil than they are to defend God or Christ.  The second someone says they don’t believe in hell or the devil, many Christians flip out, they become red in the face – “How dare you not believe in the devil or hell!” they think to themselves.

I am always astonished at how ready people are to defend hell and the devil.  Believers can get too wrapped up in defending satan that they forget about the universal principles of the faith.  These “hell and brimstone” believers are difficult to reason with and are mostly the product of the previous generation.

A simple question believers need to ask themselves: What’s more important, the teachings of Jesus or the acts/existence of the devil?

Let’s face it, many people tend to have infatuations with the “bad guy”. There is some kind of draw in “knowing your enemy” that it sometimes interferes with knowing your Champion.  Frankly, I am not overly concerned with evil/devil/hell etc.  Giving these things attention is only taking away from the total amount of attention that I could be giving God.

are you someone that defends the concepts of satan and hell more than God and His greatness?  If so, I would suggest re-evaluating the strength and knowledge of your faith.  Are you obsessed with “Armageddon”?  If so, it’s time for you to open the Bible back up and start to dwell on Christ’s teachings.  Yes, He talks about his return – but He also talks about a wealth of other topics that I guarantee no one has come close to perfecting.  In other words, start improving your life the way Jesus wanted you to; be aware that He could return any day (every single generation has believed that they were the “last”), but as Christians we have a greater responsibility to learn and emulate Jesus.  

(image from mapsofworld.com)

Christian leader: ‘Vote for Romney is vote for Satan’

 

Some people are idiots…<sigh> … a vote for Satan?  Wow, why don’t you go ahead and call the man “the Devil”…bc clearly he is.  I mean, he has professed his faith in Jesus – so I can see the perfect logic in calling him Satan.

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While some evangelical Christians are defending the presidential candidacy of Mormon Mitt Romney from an attack by Al Sharpton, another prominent pastor is going further in his condemnation – saying a vote for the former Massachusetts governor is a vote for Satan.

That’s the word from Bill Keller, host of the Florida-based Live Prayer TV program as well as LivePrayer.com.

“If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!” he writes in his daily devotional to be sent out to 2.4 million e-mail subscribers tomorrow.

Sharpton, the Democratic Party activist and former presidential candidate, has been widely condemned for singling out Romney’s faith as an issue in the campaign.

“As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don’t worry about that; that’s a temporary situation,” he said.

Keller also comes out swinging against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a cult.

“This message today is not about Mitt Romney,” he writes. “Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago. The teachings of the Mormon cult are doctrinally and theologically in complete opposition to the Absolute Truth of God’s Word. There is no common ground. If Mormonism is true, then the Christian faith is a complete lie. There has never been any question from the moment Smith’s cult began that it was a work of Satan and those who follow their false teachings will die and spend eternity in hell.”

“I guess what I can tell you is it shows that bigotry can still rear its ugly head in society,” Alex Burgos, a spokesman for the Romney campaign, told WND. “It’s sad that anyone would target a fellow American on the issue of faith.”

“We really have no comment,” Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the Mormon church, told WND.

Keller is also critical of other evangelicals who have reached out to Romney.

“I have watched in horror over the past weeks as one evangelical Christian leader after another has either endorsed, supported, or just as bad, refused to denounce Romney’s run for the White House and those Christian leaders who support him,” Keller writes. “Last weekend Pat Robertson, founder of CBN and Regent University, had Romney deliver the keynote address to the graduates of Regent. Regent is one of the great Christian colleges in this nation, and Robertson allowed this cult member to deliver the commencement address. Is he out of his mind? Do you think there would ever be a true Gospel preacher giving the commencement address at Brigham Young?”

But the focus of his appeal to followers is to discredit Mormonism as a legitimate faith in line with the tenets of Christianity.

“I have been warning you for years now about this cult born out of the pits of hell and responsible for sending millions of souls to eternal damnation,” Keller says. “For the nearly 200 years this cult has been in existence they have strived for mainstream acceptance. They are the most devious of all the cults since they have always tried to portray themselves as ‘just another Christian group’ when in fact, they are no more Christian than a Muslim is! Their deception starts with their name, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Sounds like a Christian church doesn’t it? Some Mormons have recently changed their name to simply Community of Christ to disguise even better who they are in an attempt to lure people in.”

Keller goes on to say that when LDS members talk of God and Jesus they are not talking about the God and Jesus of Christianity. He claims Romney’s high-profile candidacy for the presidency is an important effort by the church to gain credibility and respectability.

“There are reportedly 12 million Mormons worldwide, half of those in the United States,” he says. “The worldwide holdings of the Mormon cult are in the tens of billions of dollars. Mitt Romney is the first member of this cult who has had the legitimate opportunity to help them achieve their goal of mainstream acceptance while holding the most powerful office in the world. Romney will have the full resources of this cult behind him in his bid for the White House.”

He says if Romney wins the White House, millions of people will be attracted to Mormonism.

“Those who follow the false teachings of this cult, believe in the false jesus of the Mormon cult and reject faith in the one true Jesus of the Bible, will die and spend eternity in hell,” he charges. “Romney getting elected president will ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell!”

Keller also criticizes Romney for political flip-flops on issues like abortion, citing a recent report that his wife donated money to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the world.

“Please take some time today and pray for Mitt Romney and all those who have been deceived by the lies of the Mormon cult,” Keller adds. “The fact is that unless they renounce those lies and turn to faith in the one true Jesus of the Bible, they will die and spend eternity in hell. Pray also for these Christian leaders who have for whatever reason, foolishly aligned themselves with Romney. Pray the Holy Spirit will convict them and that they will renounce Romney and find a candidate to support who will hold to Biblical values. There is no excuse, no justification for supporting and voting for a man who will be used by satan to lead the souls of millions into the eternal flames of hell!”

Keller was a businessman convicted of insider trading in 1989, a crime for which he served more than two years in federal prison. After getting out, he received a degree in biblical studies from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and has been in full-time ministry ever since.

(picture and story from worldnetdaily.com)