To be is to do .....

So .....

Politics seem to be the dish of the next few months ....So I am going to try and post about religion and politics.

I have wondered when religion became so ingrained with politics in this nation? I know how our nation was founded. I know the founders and framers looked towards a higher power when planning our country. But they were also clear to place in our constitution that "te congress cannot pass any law making any religion the religion of the United States, or take away the freedom to worship as one pleases ." Ammendment 1, first paragraph of the Constitution.

Abortion and the right for two men or two women to marry seems to be the main thing that people talk about when it comes to politics and religion.


The following statistics come from a group called The Pew Forum: Religion and Public Life Survey. They are independent of any church or social group.

Abortion

I honest to God dont think there will ever be a time in this country when everyone agrees on this subject. Recent polls have shown that more than half of those surveyed say that abortion always will be or should be legal. A majority of those said that abortion should be legal if the person involved is raped, the life of the mother is in danger or there is incest involved. 13% said it should be illegal in any circumstance.

46% of women in this country who had abortions in 2006 were not using birth control of any kind. Using birth control of some kind would have possibly resulted in 500,000 fewer abortions that year. Perhaps if both sides could agree on birth control then maybe less abortions could be achieved in this nation.

What if we went back and started really trying to show that sex is a sacred act between two people. Not something you do after a few dates or drinks. This would also DRASTICALLY reduce abortions in this nation.

70% of those polled who had abortions called themselves Christians. Perhaps as a church we could do more to support those who decide to carry the child to term. Show them love and understanding. The church has to do a better job of saying "We love you ...regardless"

Its clear that over the last nearly 40 years nothing has changed as far as the debate on abortion goes. It will take calmer heads and understanding to address this issue. But its generally not one that should be held on a national debate stage.

amicans cannot be easily characterized as conservative or liberal on todays most pressing social questions....Along with favoring no clear ideological approach to most social issues,the public expresses desire for a middle ground on the most divisive social concern of the day:abortion.

Summery of the Pew Report on Abortion.



Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage

These are also two very difficult situations to wrap our minds around and come to some sort of middle ground. The stark reality of it is this: One day we will all know people who are openly gay and living their lives. They might be children,grandchildren,neices and nephews,co workers or close friends.
Those against homosexuality or same sex marriage often quote scripture. Genesis 19:1-29 deals with two messangers sent to the town of Sodom where Lot lived. The men of the town demanded that the messangers be turned over to them and to be sexually assulted. Most biblical historians will say that this is more of a cultural reference. The men would sexually assult other men to show their power over those men.

Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 come from a section of the Old testament known as the Laws of Moses. Purity or Holiness Codes. 18:22 says that "You shall not lie with a male as with a women; it is an abomination." The word abomination translated from greek and arabic means something uncustomary. Not a sin. The people of that time were trying to build the nation of Israel. There are many laws on the pages of Leviticus that we never mention... "Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material" Leviticus 19:19. "Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed" also found in chapter 19.

Corinthians mentions "male prostitutes and sodomites" alongside with drunks and the greedy. God says that they shall not inherit the earth. How many of us have ever been drunk or greedy?
1st Timothy 1:10 mentions "sodomites" along with liars and those involved with other women outside their marriage. Who out there have ever lied about something or possibly cheated on our wives or husbands.

Some people will say that at the very core of this debate is the issue of civil rights . We have two different standards in the country in relation to how we treat gays and lesbians. Many of these people daily live a life that is a living nightmare.

Billy Graham was asked once in an interview his views on homosexuality he said" Im going to quote the Bible here, not myself, that homosexuality is a sin. But there are other sins. Why do we jump on that sin as though it's the greatest sin? The greatest sin in the Bible is idolatry, worshiping other things besides the true and living God. But homosexuality is a sin and needs to to be dealt with and needs to be forgiven, and thats why Christ came and died on the cross"

Christianity has to be a mix of grace and truth that Jesus Christ brings to us all. We all have sexual baggage . We all have baggage...PERIOD.
Matthew 5:28 says " it is ultmately a matter of the heart, and brokeness is as common in our private thoughts and attitudes as it is in our behaviors."

James says in 1:26 " If you claim to be religious but dont control your tounge, you are fooling yourself , and your religion is worthless"

and of course in Pauls letter to the Corinthians he says this : Faith , hope and love ...and the greatest of these is love" 13:13

We need to love. Unconditionally each person. Each other. Every day.

I close with this

My church's exclusion of homosexuals who confess Christ and live together in committed love makes me very sad.....Is there really a wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of the sea? Is his mercy wide enough to fulfill one of the deepest of all human needs by the way my wife and I have fulfilled them for fifty years-In an abiding partnership of lasting love? I think I know my own heart well enough to believe that if his mercy is wide enough for me, it must be wide enought for them also....
Lewis Smedes.