Earlier today, Mary Walter, one of the hosts of WMAL’s popular Mornings on the Mall show, stated in the first segment of their talk show format that churches should not be involved in politics or political matters, but should keep themselves limited to spiritual matters or matters of faith.
Quite frankly, Ms. Walter is so far wrong and so off base that she has obviously forgotten everything about our history. It is well known that if you did not have a Christian church in the 1770’s in the then colonies, you have no American Revolution. It was only with great American patriots such as Anglican Minister John Peter Muhlenberg of Woodstock Va, that we have independence. One Sunday, Muhlenberg gave his congregation a list of the sins committed by King George on the American people to his flock. He then read from the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3, saying there was a time for love and a time for hate. A time for war and a time for peace. Muhlenberg then tore off his priestly robes and he was wearing a Colonel’s uniform of the Virginia militia, declared that he chose war, and asked his congregation to follow him. That little band of soldiers became the 8th Virginia Continental Infantry, which served the Americans from 1776 through 1780. For those of us in Shenandoah County, our children grow up learning about Peter Muhlenberg, and that it was the pulpit which helped give us independence from Great Britain.
The necessity of pastors preaching on issues of the day was also in vogue during the 1800’s when the anti slavery movement took root in the pulpits of the US. One could not be a Methodist or a Baptist without being told that to hold another human in bondage was against God’s law. As early as 1784, the Methodist hierarchy tried to expel church members who held slaves, but found the policy unenforceable and had to withdraw their ban against churchgoers owning slaves. But Methodist ministers still railed against the practice of slavery. http://www.christianchronicler.com/history1/slavery_and_the_churches.htm
Baptists formed their first Anti Slavery Society in 1840, and it was understood that Baptist preachers were to rail against slavery from their pulpits.
After the Civil War, it was Northern ministers and their missionaries who flocked to the South to help the freed slaves learn to read and write. However old prejudices sometimes die hard. And while blacks were technically free, they did not have many of the rights that we take for granted, including the right to vote. It was churches in the South in the mid 1900’s – including The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. (NOTE THE REVEREND AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS NAME) who preached for the black man to be given the same rights as the white man and did so from the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia. He took this message to churches all across the Southern USA.
So it was with the help of churches that African American men and women were finally treated as equals under the law regarding voting and other issues.
I will agree with those who say that we are on a slippery slope, and that we must be careful as these rights will also be given to non Christians (aka Muslims who practice Sharia) and could backfire. Patrick Henry understood that the USA must remain a Christian nation, and that the moment we ceased to be a Christian nation, that meant our future could take a dark turn. I will also grant that a church should not endorse candidates as a whole. But pastors have the responsibility to tutor their flock about issues of the day, everything from abortion to gun ownership (remember that in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 22 verse 36, Jesus tells his disciples to have a sword, and if the disciple did not have a sword, they should sell their coat and buy a sword) to taxes and everything in between. And to remember the teachings of Paul to the Ephesians chapter 4 verse 26 – Be angry yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Meaning be outraged, but do something about your anger. Don’t let it fester but use your anger to further the public good.
We have a right and responsibility to protest when our Republican Congress continues to fund Planned Parenthood. We should be outraged when Christians are slaughtered around the globe and our previous administration denied this was occurring. And these and many others are among the issues which should be called out by our churches. And to say our churches should not be involved in issues of the day is not only wrong, it is irresponsible and does not further the public good.
24 comments
Why add the racist comments about muslims ? I am sure you know that not all and not even many Muslim practice Sharia law just like not many Christians practice the violence and oppression of the Bible. But you knew that
1/2 of my family is Muslim – from Afghanistan. If you think that saying the word Sharia is racist, then you really need to get out of the house more. Note I didn’t say ALL MUSLIMS – I said “aka Muslims who practice Sharia”.
Helps to get your story and facts straight before hurling out the racism charges.
so, you think that anyone not Christian will burn in hell? Just by including that inane comment about Muslims show how bad of a person your truly are and how bad a writer you are
🙂
Slinging a “racism” label around on anything you dislike diminishes the meaning of the word. “muslim” is not a race. It is a totalitarian political ideology with a religious component.
“Christians practice the violence and oppression of the Bible.” Are you going back a few hundred years? In the 21st century how many people have been beheaded, raped, dismembered, burned in cages, blown up or seen their homes razed to the ground in the name of any religion other than islam?
hey WW – stop insisting that all Muslims are alike and all do these terrible things – yes, you are racist. Why not embrace your true self?
Socratic arguments must not be your strong suit. Classic fallacious argument. Misrepresent what your opponent states, then argue against your misquote. Where did I insist “all muslims do terrible things”?
You attempted to compare violence and oppression of people who follow Christianity with those who follow islam. If we tally the perpetrators of acts of evil in the name of religion world wide the numbers are going to be dominated by one group.
islam is not a race. It is populated by people of all races and of all skin colors. It most certainly is a totalitarian political ideology with it’s own prescription for how government should operate.
You should stop slinging words around you don’t understand.
semantics -s a terrible game and leads to noting. In the 80s, the UN declared the Israeli Right of Return tat granted citenzship to all Jew to be racist, Since then, the popular approach is to use the word for any hatred toward race or religion. Your position that the inclusinof Mulsims and Shariia law is OK but my use of the work racism is not is exactly the problem –
You really are reaching. Your comparison is not equivalent. The Jews actually are a race. That is why hitler committed genocide when he murdered millions of them. There are Asian, Caucasian, African.. all manner of genetic backgrounds following islamic law.
And you are attempting to diverge from your own fallacious point. You equated violence from followers of the Bible to those who follow islam. For over a century this is simply not true. The number of people committing atrocities in the name of thier religion can be boiled down to precisely one group and it isn’t Christians.
Jews are a race?. You are a simple a dreadful person! Why not simply come out and condem all non-Christians. Why not come out and condem all non-whites. You know you want to
Where did I condemn Jews or non-Christians? Another example of taking something I didn’t say and condemning me for what I didn’t say. Typical.
Now, lets deal with something called FACTS. Hebrews are a race of people. The “Jews” when it is used in that way references the descendants of the people who followed Moses out of Egypt. These are the descendants of Jacob. Yes, those people, they are a race. There are others who believe in the old testament and that Christ was not the savior but a prophet. They are few and far between.
Now, lets see if we can get you to focus on the garbage that you started here.
In the last… 100-150 years, how many atrocities committed in the name of any Christian religious figure?
In the last 100-150 years, how many committed in the name of the murderous death cult and it’s pedophile founder?
If we place those in a ledger sheet there is only one of them that will be lengthy. You made the claim that “Christians practice the violence and oppression of the Bible.” equating that violence and oppression to that of islam.
What violence? Are Christians beheading non-believers who refuse to convert? Are they burning them alive in cages? Are they throwing homosexuals off tall buildings? Are they capturing women and forcing them to become sex slaves?
Only one group of people on our planet can be identified as doing these things in large numbers in the last century.
You will continue to believe the driver your dad taught you and you will continue to hate all those who are not like you. The thing is I know you. I know that you think that Christianity is the only choice and that all others are doomed. You say things that sound smart but are actualy quite bitter and hateful. And I know this because I know you. I have grown up with you. I work with you. I live next door to you. Ok. Maybe not you specifically but someone just like you. See, if you can say that all Muslims are alike and all Jews are alike than I can say that all radical right, white Christians are alike. The only difference is that I am correct and you are wrong
What in the heck are you even talking about?
Did I say Christianity is the only choice? Nope.
Did I say all muslims are alike? Did I say anything negative about the Jewish faith? Nope.
Who is painting with broad brushstrokes here? That would be you. The bigot. You are projecting (I know that is a big word, look it up).
I am making one salient point. I am doing it repeatedly because you refuse to acknowledge it. You are so far from correct that you wouldn’t realize it even if it stung you on the forehead.
In the last 100-150 years there is one religion responsible for atrocities against other human beings in the name of their religion. It isn’t Christianity, as you tried to claim. It isn’t the practitioners of the Jewish faith. It isn’t Buddhists, or Sikhs or Hindus. Tally up every atrocity made in the name of their religion you will find small tallies if any at all done by the groups to which you cast so much hate. It is the one you are providing cover for that is responsible for these acts. Look around the globe, at present there are armed 57 conflicts going on right now. With the exception of drug related fighting in Central & South America there are 53 others. Of those 53 islamists are involved in one or more sides of each one.
I’ve pointed out only a handful of the atrocities done in the name of the islamic religion. There is no other religious group behaving this way today. That is a fact. You cannot be intellectually honest while you compare barbarism with any other group.
Yiu don’t fool me and I hope you don’t fool yourself. Behind close doors you talk about THOSE PEOPLE even worse that your online rants here. AND your rants do say that you beloved that all Muslims and all Jews are the same. (Please reread your previous postings). It I am not surprised that you don’t see the racism in your words. You simply think you are telling the truth
More projection? Muslim is not a race. Wow you are really full of yourself.
So you don’t have to look it up. Wow you are a bigot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection
WW – SD is a typical liberal who finds racism and hurls around taunts everywhere he or she can.
Please do tell us where in the US these atrocities are occurring.
So, you wish to limit this to the USA and ignore the remainder of the globe. Have you been paying zero attention for the last decade?
April 18, 2017 Fresno CA – 3 stabbed by islamic troglodyte while praising allah.
Jan 6, 2017 Fort Lauderdale FL – 5 killed 6 injured by islamic man in airport baggage claim. Islamic man radicalized and inspired to kill.
Jan 31, 2017 Denver CO. 1 priest shot, similar circumstances by the attacker.
Nov 28, 2016 Columbus Ohio 11 injured by Somali muslim while praising his religion.
Sept. 9, 2016 St. Cloud MN. 8 stabbed by Somali muslim…
Sept. 9 2016 NY NY 31 injured in bombing attack by muslim asylum seeker.
August 20, 2016 Roanoke VA 2 stabbed by muslim praising allah.
July 13, 2016 Orlando Florida 49 killed 53 injured by Omar Mateen in nightclub.
Rather than list them all… There are nearly a hundred of these over the last two years. Have you read about the gang rapes of women by muslim immigrants. Not sure if these are done in the name of their religion or just something acceptable to the culture.
When your coworker beheads you because you reject the idea of converting to their religion (Oklahoma 2014) the problem isn’t with Christians.
Maybe you chose not to read the article which is about the US churches. You chose to go off and make this about something beyond the original story. Why?
I am responding to YOUR fallacious comments. Why are you ignoring the salient points.
You asked about the atrocities committed in the name of islam in America. I listed a mere fraction.
Now you change the subject again. Why? (I don’t wonder why, I know why. You are a bigot).
Excellent article John. Being somewhat agnostic about religion and churches, my past experience leads me to think that many mainstream religions are more focused on paying staff and mortages than taking strong political positions on important issues. Churches seem today to be less concerned about spritual development, principled conservative ideas. etc. and more concerned about not making waves in a politically mixed environment. The tax-exempt status provided political cover for liberally educated ministers unwilling to be controversial. It may be looked at differently in the evangelical branch of Christianity.
Very good article! Indeed Christianity formed the fiber of our nation. And President Trump was never more right than when he truthfully and boldly proclaimed our freedom comes from God, not the government.
The Catholic Church took a strong stand against abortion back in the 70s and the lib gov sic’ed the IRS to persecute them.
But the black churches preaching and campaigning for Democrats from the pulpit always got a pass.
Thank you, Mr. President for continuing to #MAGA.
Excellent article…this is so important to realize how much we lost when that liberal Democrat President Johnson stole our Pastors’ First Amendment Rights.
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