UMC article on Faith and Politics
Cites several divergent viewpoints on the impact and role of faith in politics. This one , from a conservative Republican from Alabama, is puzzling:
“If the Bible is used to try and tell someone they are wrong, that’s not what it’s intended to do,” says Rep. Spencer Bachus, a conservative Alabama Republican and Baptist.
A Baptist, saying that the Bible should not be used to tell someone they are wrong? Something’s off kilter here. Of course, this individual is probably offended that OTHERS are telling the president that HE is wrong to wage pre-emptive war, wrong to run rough-shod over the environment, and over the poor, and over the trust of the American people.
I also like the quotes from George McGovern….
Former Sen. George McGovern, a bomber pilot during World War II who was a staunch opponent of the Vietnam War, said when the commander-in-chief implies he’s carrying out God’s will, he freezes debate. McGovern, the Democratic nominee for president who lost to Richard Nixon in 1972, noted that the Pope and the National Council of Churches opposed the war in Iraq.
“God must have been sending mixed messages,” McGovern said.
Mr. Bachus misses a key part of II Timothy 3:16–17: that scripture “is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Rebuking and correcting sound a lot like “tell[ing] someone they are wrong.” Of course it has to be done with the right attitude and in the right way, but there is nothing wrong with using the Bible to show someone how they should change to be more like Christ.
“God must have been sending mixed messages.”—It wouldn’t be the first time. In John 12:29–30, God’s voice was misunderstood as an angel’s voice and thunder.