A Christian Man Speaks Out

Back in 1960 John F. Kennedy was forced to tell the nation that he would not allow the Pope to intervene in Amercian politics. Some people were very concerned that the U.S. would be run by Catholics because Kennedy was Catholic.

I think the U.S. is now being run by political Christians. I am concerned about that.

My research shows that in 2001, 80% of the citizens in the U.S. called themselves “Christian” by religion. There were 5% who were in all of the “other religions” combined and a whopping 15% who called themselves No Religion/Atheist/Agnostic, up from 8% in 1990.

We have a President who said he consults with his Christian God about political matters.

We have groups called Christian Coalition, Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, People for the American Way, Traditional Values Coalition and at least seven other major Christian political groups as shown here: [http://www.csuchico.edu/~kcfount/christian.html]

In addition, we have people telling us that the country was founded on Christian ideals and Christian philosophy.

As a member of my local library’s board of trustees I have born again type Christians trying to rip into the fabric of free speech that has taken over 200 years to ferment and I have the Concerned Women for America sending threatening letters to the board.

I have Christian individuals and Christian organizations telling me that the schools should allow prayer in public schools and that the schools should be allowed to put up Nativity scenes.

We have Christians telling the husband of a dying woman he cannot honor his wife’s wishes to pull the plug, that he was lying about her wishes, that the poor weeping Catholics and their priests ouside the hospital should sway the judge to continue her vegetative life.

We have a President whose campaign manager admittedly went after the Christians to swing the election and afterwards Rove said without them the Reps would have lost. And to get their vote Rove and Bush would leave no stone unturned.

We have a new breed of Christian pastors who use the pulpit to get out the vote. This includes one “Pastor Russell Johnson paces across the broad stage as he decries the ‘secular jihadists’ who have ‘hijacked’ America, accuses the public schools of neglecting to teach that Hitler was “an avid evolutionist” and links abortion to children who murder their parents.” [http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-08-02-christian-cover_x.htm]

There are Christians who are totally pissed off because the grade schools will not teach Creationism in the science curricula.

We have very powerful Christian leaders who even Christians admint are just plain NUTS. Jerry Falwell, Jim & Tammy Baker, Pat Robertson. Then we have a list of preachers who are just goofy: Charles Stanley , Joel Osteen, Robert Schuller, Jimmy Swaggart. Who did I leave out? These men march around the stage spewing the most incredible and unprovable messages ever heard by the ears of man, and people lap it up.

Here is something that boggles the mind:

“Less than two years after it was plunged into a rape scandal, the Air Force Academy is scrambling to address complaints that evangelical Christians wield so much influence at the school that anti-Semitism and other forms of religious harassment have become pervasive.

There have been 55 complaints of religious discrimination at the academy in the past four years, including cases in which a Jewish cadet was told the Holocaust was revenge for the death of Jesus and another was called a Christ killer by a fellow cadet.”

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/04/evangelical-christians-terrorizing-us.html

Is it any wonder that I, a church-going Christian, am worried about the very secular nature Christianity in America and that these people might be successful in telling me how to worship, study, pray, for whom to vote?

I am fine with any religion that keeps its views to itself. I am ashamed that Christians twisted the words of Jesus to allow them to get their long noses into the public arena.

Dear Christian brothers and sisters. I think most real Christians in the U.S. are tired of the ranting of those who want to capture power in America. Please be concerned about your own spirituality. Kindly do not tell me how I SHOULD live and think. Keep your prying beliefs to yourself. Most of all, I would appreciate it if you would stop using the name of Jesus to influence voters in America.

Thank you.