Author Topic: Using God Politically  (Read 1940 times)

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Offline MrsSmith

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Using God Politically
« on: August 24, 2008, 05:41:23 PM »
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tannybogus  (806 posts)       Sun Aug-24-08 04:45 PM
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Using God Politically

 Advertisements [?]With all due respect to Pastor Warren and the candidates, and without complaint about what was said, I'm on the side of those who are nervous about the practices that bring this kind of forum about, and its longer-term consequences.. It is almost impossible to stage events with a focus like this without falling into the trap of "using" God.
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What struck me during the primaries was how one set of candidates wanted to be sure that we knew that they followed Jesus and the gospels. in doing so, they were parading their piety in and for the public, and thus violating the Jesus as revealed in the gospels. It may seem strange to end a blog with a Bible verse, but the candidates and "the process" got me into it, so I'll ask Jesus to get me out of it, quoting his words in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:

"Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. . . . 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."

The "street corners" today are television interviews, speeches, and news conferences, through which politicians "receive their rewards," along with great risks to them and to all of us.
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http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/martin_marty...

That's one Bible verse I wish they would heed. All the hullabaloo isn't for God. If God is all knowing then the hooha has to be for human consumption.
 

Get real.  That is the ONLY Bible verse you wish they would heed.  You'd get really, really upset if the ones about "yelling from the housetop" were (um, heeded?).  I wish you fascists would at least READ the New Testament before cherrypicking a verse and trying to use it for a sledgehammer. 


Quote
theoldman (1000+ posts)      Sun Aug-24-08 04:59 PM
Response to Original message
1. Wouldn't it be great to have a secular interview with
 intelligent questions. I wonder how well McCain would fare in this type of setting. Then we would really know who was the empty suit.

Yeah, that would be great.  I'd love to watch Obama mess it all up again...and the "old man" come in and school him.   :-)
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Antifa - the only fascists in America today.

Offline Carl

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Re: Using God Politically
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2008, 05:59:35 PM »
Few things annoy me more then these folks who pretend the Bible endorses their socialistic beliefs and then trample all over it in the next breath.


Offline comradebillyboy

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Re: Using God Politically
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2008, 06:07:12 PM »
Oddly enough, barky is much more prone to bible thumping and religious pandering than McCain. None the less, I suspect McCain is more sincere in his beliefs, seeing as how obama has no beliefs at all. He is a nihilist, rather than an atheist. He will subscribe to whichever religious views he thinks  will get him more votes.

Offline GOBUCKS

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Re: Using God Politically
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2008, 07:58:33 PM »
It's really outrageous to see a godless DUmmy quoting Holy Scripture in the DU cesspool. It's also ironic to see them constantly erupting in hatred and derision against anyone who professes a belief in God or who subscribes to any code of morality, and then turn around and nominate their deity du jour. Maybe they should also quote what the Scripture says about people who worship false gods.

Offline Chris_

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Re: Using God Politically
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2008, 08:31:33 PM »
So going to church only to further your political options is OK, ala the Clintons The REV's Jackson and Sharpton, etc. Anyone ACTUALLY believing and keeping the faith, Bush, Ashcroft, etc is labeled a fundamentalist...
If you want to worship an orange pile of garbage with a reckless disregard for everything, get on down to Arbys & try our loaded curly fries.

Offline USA4ME

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Re: Using God Politically
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2008, 10:55:09 PM »
If tannybogus is trying to make the point that some politicians use God as a way to try and appear pious, IOW they're just saying it and not really meaning it (they're being hypocrites), then I agree.  Of course, God knows their hearts and if they're doing that they'll have to answer to God for it.

OTOH, if he's saying God shouldn't even be mentioned at all, then that's just stupid.  That verse isn't in any way saying that you should keep your religious convictions to yourself.

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Offline JohnnyReb

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Re: Using God Politically
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2008, 07:14:03 AM »
"I knew GOD....and you sir, are no GOD."

Oh well, it doesn't work as well as I thought it might. Back to the drawing board.
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism’, they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.” - Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948

"America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within."  Stalin

Offline Chris_

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Re: Using God Politically
« Reply #7 on: August 25, 2008, 07:19:52 AM »
If tannybogus is trying to make the point that some politicians use God as a way to try and appear pious, IOW they're just saying it and not really meaning it (they're being hypocrites), then I agree.  Of course, God knows their hearts and if they're doing that they'll have to answer to God for it.

OTOH, if he's saying God shouldn't even be mentioned at all, then that's just stupid.  That verse isn't in any way saying that you should keep your religious convictions to yourself.

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Don't forget that moron, their hero, jimmah who asked the Soviet ambassador if he had received Christ into his heart.  That is an inappropriate use of God in politics.
If you want to worship an orange pile of garbage with a reckless disregard for everything, get on down to Arbys & try our loaded curly fries.