Some of Our Churches are Failing (Part 2)

A few weeks ago, I ranted how a study showed that evangelical "Christians" were more likely to support the use of torture than other religious groups. Well, some of their leaders weighed in, and their comments are not encouraging. Read them here.

So some evangelical pastors say that there are cases in which torture can be justified. One argument is that Christians are supposed to submit to the government, provided it does not force them to do something against God's teachings. The problem with this argument is that the United States is a republic. Thus the people are the government. So Christians have the moral responsibility to contact their representatives to stop the torture. These actions may not be successful, but the attempt must be made.

If you do find yourself in a "church" whose minister gives defense to torture, get the church council to replace the minister, or find another church, as the Word of God is not being taught there.

Freedom (For a While, Anyway)

I am now officially finished my first year of graduate school. The last final was taken this morning, and the grades and paperwork for my students have been submitted to the undergraduate office. So for the next week or so I will not do much work. I will head home at some point this week to see my family and take care of a couple of things. Other than that, I will catch up on some reading and rest (I still haven't recovered from the weekend at St. Mary's yet).

So, if any of you who also do not have anything to do over the next week want to stop by the apartment, feel free to (just let me know so that I will actually be here).

After the rest, it's off to studying for qualifying exams.

Oh, and congratulations to those of you who graduated, and best of luck as you go to graduate school or join the workforce.

Beware the Hypocrites

Well, today is the so-called "National Day of Prayer." I'm sure that it was created with noble intentions, but recently, the actions of those supporting it have not been so noble. In fact, they have countered Christ's own teachings.

When President Obama said that he would not have the ceremony in the White House that the previous president had for the Day of Prayer, some in the religious right had a bit of a problem. This makes me think (yet again) that they missed part of the New Testament.

"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:5,6 NSRV)

So this is my problem with the Day of Prayer. Some in the religious community want the president to make a show about it. Even though Jesus says clearly that we are NOT to do so. So when President Obama says that he wants his prayers to be a private affair, which they should be, not something paraded in front of the press, the religious right has a problem. Well, if they want to make a show out of praying, I say let them and notice them. At least that way they will get their reward. However, I suggest not making a statement by praying. This is a conversation with God, too sacred to use for increasing political power.

And on another note, I have yet to get the take-home exam I was supposed to get on Tuesday.

Things Are Looking Up?

Well, the car is in good shape after Friday's incident. The scratches on the rear bumper are the only damage. So, no work needs to be done.

On another note, I was supposed to get a take-home final today. It has yet to be posted to the website. (Granted, this is the same professor who has not given us any assignments this semester.) But I did finish the last assignment for one of my classes. One down, two to go.

On that note, May 18th will be fun. I have my one final that is after the last day of classes at 8 a.m. At 10 a.m., we have a course meeting to pass back exams and set grade lines. Then I have two hours to put the exams together, total the scores, get grades submitted, and turn all the paperwork into the undergraduate office. If it were a Friday, there would definitely be some drinking with friends that night.

And since all of this goes down on the 18th, I will (provided no snafus occur) be down for graduation at St. Mary's on the 16th (and the night of the 15th). It'll be a respite before the storm.

And don't forget the shuttle launch of Atlantis this coming Monday. It is the last Hubble mission. And the last time two shuttles will be on launchpads at the same time (Endeavour is on rescue-mission standby).

Under Construction

I apologize for the changing formats to this blog. I'm trying to find a template I like. The plain black-and-white one is too Spartan, even for me.

Sadly, my St. Mary's trip for the weekend was aborted. Someone rear-ended my car Friday evening as I was going to get groceries. So tomorrow, I get to take the car up to my parents so that they can have the shop look at it. I only saw some scratches (hard to see ones at that) on the rear bumper, but I do want to make sure there is no frame damage or anything.

However, it does appear that I will be able to make it to graduation at St. Mary's, provided my numerical analysis final is not that weekend. So there may be one last trip after all.

Oh, could we please stop the hype about H1N1? So far, more schools have closed in the United States than there have been confirmed cases of the virus. More people are going to get sick stressing out about this than are actually going to get the virus if this keeps up. If you get it, see your doctor, get the antivirals, and recover, like everyone else from the United States.

So please, no panic. I already have enough stress with the end of the semester coming up. Although, I did get an email this morning saying that my study plan was approved. So that's one bureaucratic hurdle down on the way to a PhD.

Some of Our Churches are Failing

Before reading this post, read the story at this link . Don't worry; I'll wait.

Now that you are upset like me, you will be able to understand this post. How can any group of Christians be the MOST in favor of torture among all religious groups. Weren't the evangelicals the ones who wanted us to go see The Passion of the Christ so that we could see the brutality? And now they support the same brutality people were supposed to be appalled by, so much so that they would come to Christ?

Throughout history, and even today in some parts of the world, Christians are persecuted. Yet, here some of us are calling for the same kinds of torture. Do they still teach the Golden Rule at evangelical "churches", or are they too busy dealing with just gay marriage, abortion, and yes, that Satanic theory of evolution? Or, have they so completely sold their souls to the Republican party that they cannot call out the sin for what it is and must quietly follow in lock-step behind it? I don't know. I wish I did. Then we could figure out a way to get this sickness out of God's church.

It is clear by these numbers that it is not just a handful of evangelicals who believe this. This points to a failure of their preachers and leaders. And it means that those of us who are Christian, but not evangelical, have failed. We have failed to make God's message heard over the din of false prophets (remember that tsunami Pat Robertson predicted would hit the East Coast in 2005). We must do better. People will not want to be saved if they believe that this kind of torture is what Christ wants.

Okay, the rant is finished. Let's hope my preacher doesn't find this post and decide to have me give a sermon on it.

"What You Do Now Will Change the Future. Don't Fail."

My Facebook page will give you the reference for this entry's title.

Many of you have asked what I'm considering that could be a bad idea. Actually, I have been considering several things. Some are trivial; some are not so trivial.

1. I was considering giving my students a really hard quiz. I decided against that.
2. I have been toying with the idea of online dating. Right now, I am very much in the "no" column, but I am certainly more open to it than a year ago.
3. Something else that I'm not yet ready to talk to others about, at least not until I figure some things out for myself. (For the record, I am not renouncing my faith, and I am straight, so it's nothing like that--sorry Jon.)
4. St. Mary's trip(s) for commencement and maybe a couple of SMP presentations. I can't say that I will be able to make it for graduation, as I have my own finals to give and to take, but I do plan to make it down there at least once before the end of the year.
   

And at least we made it through one of the more depressing weeks when it comes to anniversaries. Although, Frederick County did add one event to the list for this year.

Well, at least the weather was really nice this weekend (and I do NOT have anything to do with it).