This evening Lou Dobbs on CNN was railing about some Church officials should not comment upon or advocated for illegal amnesty. Lou Dobbs is an intelligent man with whose intellect I would not measure. While I may agree somewhat with his views on various issues including one of his main hobby horses, boarder control, I strongly disagree with his position that those of faith, including its leaders must remain silent and muzzled.
Faith if properly understood is more than piety. Faith is part of one’s life. Faith shapes one’s values and passions. It challenges us how we interact and treat each other, and how we conduct business. Faith calls for justice, both in the courtroom and in the boardroom.
The faith community is part of the overall community. It is a corporate citizen that like any other body should speak out. What the learned and informed Mr. Dobbs seems to have overlooked is that there are a host of those in the religious community, including religious leaders, who hold his views.
Faith if it is to be dynamic and true must interact with the issues of the day. Its practitioners must listen with there heads and hearts to the dialogue. In faithful reflection they must weigh out sets of biblical principles and interpretations in seeking how one should look at an issue.
Lou Dobbs is alarmed when religious leaders speak to the faithful and encourage their people to take a look at an issue from a particular point of view. He sees that the Church are interfering improperly in the business of the nation and that such interference is not only improper but insane.
He and his staff even push pulled a survey to demonstrate that 93% of viewers hold that religion should not be involved in pushing a political agenda. What would be the result if the church had not been involved in political debate and pushed particular issues in the last two hundred and fifty years. It was the faith community that pushed and political agenda for the funding of public schools. It was the faith community that pushed the agenda end slavery. It was the faith community the promoted and pushed the need for higher education. It was the faith community that pushed public hygiene agendas and public health. It was the faith community that pushed the agenda of limiting unfettered monopolies and robber barrens. It was the faith community that pushed the civil rights agenda, including voting rights and school integration. Would Lou Dobbs wish to argue that the nation would have been better off if the faith community had not spoken out on these issues?
The faith community nor its leadership is a monolith. I cannot concur with the Dobbs on this issue and hold that his position is untenable when understood within the context of history. The Church should not determine political outcomes or seek to rule. Yet its voice should be heard just as Mr. Dobbs’ voice and positions are heard across the airwaves. In conclusion of my views of Lou Dobbs’ position I would use one of his common phrases, “that is insane.”
Reflective Wanderings - Reflections on various topics that arise out of my personal, life and professional experiences. There are also are some family related news, travels and pictures.
4 comments:
I disagree with several of the positions voiced by some prominent Christian leaders in the USA. Nevertheless, they have as much right to speak out as the business people and special interest groups who form PACs, etc.
Anybody who believes that non-religious points of view are less "biased" than religious ones is full of baloney. Everyone has a world view that is based on some set of assumptions: philosophical, theological, etc. At least religious folks know their hearts and minds well enough to recognize the foundations of their views. Some folks act on the basis of a half-baked hodge podge of ideas they've acquired and don't have a clue that they are rooted in philosophical systems of thought.
The first amendment appropriately prohibits any one religious body from using the political system to impose its beliefs on all citizens, i.e., the establishment of a State Church. It does not prohibit believers from participating in the political system or acknowledging that their political positions are based upon religious tenets.
You are totally correct on this one David!! You can't separate life from faith. They are intertwined and cannot be separated. My faith is who I am, it affects how I live, what I believe and how I behave.
As you pointed out, those with an amoral political agenda be it right or left need to be reminded that it's because of people living out their faith you have the freedoms and values you enjoy as a nation. Who would argue that Martin Luther was wrong to use his passionate faith to speak out against the civil rights abuses that was rotting the core of his country? It's because of faith that could not be separated from one's life, you have the freedoms today.
The way of life in large parts of the Western World has been shaped by people who could not separate their faith from their behaviour and their way of life - the universal medical and education systems, the rise of the anti slavery movement in Britian that led to the eventual abolishment of this evil throughout the empire including here in Canada.
This person you speak of needs to know his history before advocating the complete separation of faith and life (which is not the same as the separation of church and state). It leads ultimately to a disintegration of societal core values and even destruction.
I'm afraid that we are bordering on this here in Canada. The political pundits have gone to extreme measures to appear separated from their faith. You certainly do not want to be seen as someone whose faith, especailly that of a Christian, leads you to make policy that had been influenced by beliefs. There certainly needs to be a balanced perspective when you live in a plualistic, multi-cultural society such as what we have here in Canada.
It seems that many in the States are reacting strongly against narrow - politcial agendas that has been mixed up as being faith. ie. the Christian right promoting and the preservation of carrying conceal hand guns is a case in point
ie. the Chritian right influencing and colouring of the science community
"Anybody who believes that non-religious points of view are less "biased" than religious ones is full of baloney. Everyone has a world view that is based on some set of assumptions: philosophical, theological, etc. At least religious folks know their hearts and minds well enough to recognize the foundations of their views. Some folks act on the basis of a half-baked hodge podge of ideas they've acquired and don't have a clue that they are rooted in philosophical systems of thought."
Quoted from Evie. I totally agree. Everyone has strong opinions but there's something about the Christian view point that scares the crap out of people.
Lou Dobbs is not one of my favorite people! (and his opinions are very strong ... should we be afraid of him?)
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