You won't hear much about this elsewhere with all of the Halloween hooplah going on today, but this is the 490th anniversary of the beginning of freedom of religion, as well as of the transformation of Europe and the restoration of Christianity to its foundational roots. On October 31, 1517, a humble man named Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 complaints on a church door, complaints against the twisted version of Christianity--Dark Ages' Roman Catholicism--that dominated every aspect of European life. Some passerby liked what he read in the document, and he made copies (on that recent invention called the printing press) that would be distibuted from England to Rome. This set off a revolution in theology and government that profoundly affects us today.
Most people, when hearing the name "Martin Luther," would say, "He's the Black civil rights leader who was killed in the 1960s, right?" Dr. King's German namesake did far more to change the world for the better, yet he is so underappreciated. I encourage you to learn more about this flawed but amazing man.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Presidential Punditry, Polls, and Primaries
Misconceptions are about to be shot down:
1) Focus on the Family founder James Dobson never said that Fred Thompson is not "Christian enough." He said that in his opinion, many in the religious right would not consider him "Christian enough" to vote for. This and a few other intentional mischaracterizations by the "drive-by media" of Dobson's positions have made him the whipping boy du jour for many naive conservatives and some Christians.
2) Rudy Giuliani is not the inevitable G.O.P. nominee. Now he enjoys the united support of social liberals in his party, while social conservatives are split several ways. Once weaker Republican candidates start dropping out, you'll see a uniting of social conservatives behind one man who will hopefully rocket past Rudy.
3) Conservatives can be just as irrational and mean-spirited as many liberals are. I must confess that this was a shocker to me, because my conservative friends are generally rational and rarely spiteful. I'm kinda new to the blogosphere, and I found that trying to explain points 1) and 2) to some posters on right-wing websites was an exercise in futility. I'm disillusioned. I don't know...maybe some of those hatemongers were liberals in disguise, trying to get us divided. But there seems to be too many half-baked haters in the G.O.P. Talk about Republicans acting like Democrats...
1) Focus on the Family founder James Dobson never said that Fred Thompson is not "Christian enough." He said that in his opinion, many in the religious right would not consider him "Christian enough" to vote for. This and a few other intentional mischaracterizations by the "drive-by media" of Dobson's positions have made him the whipping boy du jour for many naive conservatives and some Christians.
2) Rudy Giuliani is not the inevitable G.O.P. nominee. Now he enjoys the united support of social liberals in his party, while social conservatives are split several ways. Once weaker Republican candidates start dropping out, you'll see a uniting of social conservatives behind one man who will hopefully rocket past Rudy.
3) Conservatives can be just as irrational and mean-spirited as many liberals are. I must confess that this was a shocker to me, because my conservative friends are generally rational and rarely spiteful. I'm kinda new to the blogosphere, and I found that trying to explain points 1) and 2) to some posters on right-wing websites was an exercise in futility. I'm disillusioned. I don't know...maybe some of those hatemongers were liberals in disguise, trying to get us divided. But there seems to be too many half-baked haters in the G.O.P. Talk about Republicans acting like Democrats...
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