What follows is a letter sent to me by my good friend Brenda. I made a few minor edits, namely adding links to the Scripture references. Part III will follow soon, authored by me.

I'm not saying that our national defense needs to turn the other cheek when something like 9/11 happen, however, enough with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What we should be doing is heading to Darfur. The US has been the Pharisee who passed on by in that situation, and it's time we were the Good Samaritan.

As far as abortion goes, who cares what the law is? The church used to be the one who had the influence on that, and we've handed that influence and ability to speak into people's lives over to the government. Shame on us! It's time for the church to step out of politics (which have little baring on national culture) and head out into the streets and anywhere there are pregnant women with an unexpected child, teach them about God's love (even when it's out of wedlock) and support them once they've made the right choice (Crossroads Pregnancy Centers offer some, but what about our church communities? Or is it not safe to allow sinners in our midst?) We also need to offer a place of forgiveness and healing, and then acceptance for the woman who has had the abortion. Thinking that having a simple law passed will end abortion is like handing all parental authority and influence over to the adolescent babysitter.

I think on all things liberal, though, it doesn't matter what the law is, people will do them or not do them regardless. The laws won't stop a thing. The governments job is to create order. It's the churches job to infuse the nation and culture with Godly morals, but we keep looking to the government to do that. Then, even if we have permissive, liberal laws, they won't matter if the church has had an effective enough influence on culture to end abortion and gay relationships (not just marriage.) I also think this us vs. them liberal/conservative war is ripping both the nation and the church as a whole apart. Nothing gets done that way because all anyone does is argue. The harder one side pushes, the harder the other side pushes back. After a while, no one is thinking anymore, they're just reacting out of emotion and pride. Some of the statements I've seen on conservative Anglican/Episcopal forums are SOOOO filled with hatred for the "other side" and for gays. It's entirely reactional. People seemed to have stopped thinking about what they're saying.

Is Obama the best candidate ever? Probably not. But Bush (whom I admit I voted for) has done a terrible number on the country both at home and abroad, and I seriously believe that McCain will simply be more of the same but without the charismatic personality.

Most of our politics are so trivial when there are people suffering in our own United States. The church would be smart to recognize that.

From Mathew's Gospel:

Ch. 7

21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Ch. 25

31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, [6] you did it to me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' 45 Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

The church has dropped the ball and wasted our time on things that won't change our culture. It's time the church took back what she was originally created to do. The early Christians couldn't vote, but they certainly changed the world.

Discuss below.

Hello all,

Many of you are my friends. Chances are I have not met most of you, as I imagine that there are hundreds of thousands (or perhaps millions) of you who I have not met in my various homes in Michigan. But I believe that I understand at least to some degree where you are coming from, specifically because of my experience with Focus on the Family as mentioned yesterday.

I'm writing to you as part of my continuing response to his radio show from Tuesday, June 24th regarding Senator Obama's speech from 2006. I have listened to Senator Obama's speech as well as the entire audio of the radio show from Focus on the Family's website, and I would like to bring to your attention a few points of concern I have. (I will break these into a few separate posts in hopes that this makes it easier to read.)

First of all, Dr. Dobson made a statement about Senator Obama's worldview that is wholly inaccurate. Dr. Dobson said "[Senator Obama] is trying to make the case that it's antidemocratic to believe or fight for moral principles in the Bible that are not supported by people of all faith, or presumably by people of no faith." That statement, if true, would quite simply be damning for Senator Obama in his attempts to garner support in the evangelical community. But what did Senator Obama say? He said:

Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.

"Amenable to reason." That does not read as "antidemocratic." I can understand this statement by Senator Obama. It would make sense that we would need to have a universal value to convince those who are not Christians to support legislation as such. Just as the defense "God told me to" typically does not hold up in the American court system, so "God told me" does not typically hold water in the American judicial system. It seems that Obama was encouraging Christians to hold themselves to a higher standard, not writing Christian thought and politics off as "antidemocratic."

Stay tuned for Part II.

I do not wish to have any negative rhetoric or lack Christian spirit in this series, whatever its length, so please feel free to call me out if my comments seem vitriolic or mean. With that being said, make sure you're kind in your words and spirit as well, and I believe we will have a positive dialogue.