Not easy being Christian with Election
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| Thu, 09-23-2004 - 8:24pm |
Christians object to their faith being appropriated for political purposes; preaching anger and revenge in the name of Christianity ignores the New Testament messages of grace, love, and inclusiveness.
Indianapolis, IN, (PRWEB) September 9, 2004 -- As the 2004 election approaches, many Christians believe their fellow Christians are deserting the principles of their faith to follow a banner of anger, revenge, and punishment.
One of those is Gregg Hodgson, 67, an Indiana businessman and former banker who has served as campaign manager for Republican political candidates. A self-described "quiet Christian," Hodgson has devoted his recent years to helping people plan their own small businesses. "I've worked, one-on-one, with nearly 2,000 small businesses," he says. "It's the talent I've been given, and I try to make a difference with it before my own Judgment Day arrives.“
Today, Hodgson has decided to back the Kerry-Edwards ticket. "I'm rather conservative," he explains, "so I can't possibly support an administration that throws away a nice surplus and turns it into the worst deficit we've ever seen, in four years. The worst part of the deficit – which is being called our first 'permanent deficit' – was caused by Mr. Bush's lavish tax-breaks to the wealthy,†says Hodgson. “Even ignoring the way he exalts the rich, which of course isn't a Christian principle, what do we have to show for all that wasted money? Virtually nothing. It'll get even worse for the not-so-rich, too. Our treasury is broke, so we'll have to slash education, health-care and environmental programs.â€
Hodgson also decries the Bush administration’s way of governing and campaigning, which he labels, "fear-based manipulation, with nothing behind it." He suggests that politicians who appeal to our primitive fears, angers, and desires for revenge are stuck in the Old Testament, and are forgetting the New Testament messages of inclusion and love.
Hodgson acknowledges that there was a political aspect to the decision by the early Christians to build on the Old Testament. But he worries when he sees modern-day Pharisees attempting to hijack Christianity for political purposes.
"The Old Testament can be handy for bad guys," Hodgson observes. "Whenever they want to appear 'righteous' while exalting the rich, bullying the poor, passing judgment on others, or attacking others with vengeful anger,†they usually invoke the Old Testament.
Real Christians should not be fooled, Hodgson warns. "We've seen plenty of demagogues in our time, wrapping themselves in the flags of Christianity or patriotism so they could gain power. Christ repudiated the vengeful aspects of the Old Testament in very strong language. He ordered us to treat others as we'd want them to treat us – the toughest lesson anyone has ever tried to teach human beings. That's why he accompanied it with blanket forgiveness. He knew we'd often fail at it!"
"Angry, judgmental, revenge-filled people may call themselves 'Christians,' or even 'Fundamentalist Christians,'" Hodgson concludes, "but the Prince of Peace would know them as the very people he came to save! He'd forgive them, of course, but he'd weep bitterly at the harm they do in his name."
For a copy of John Bugay’s “The Christian Right Need Not Fear a Kerry Presidency†and other articles on this topic, contact media@republicansforkerry04.org
Edited 9/23/2004 8:25 pm ET ET by crownotangelgrl

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Wasn't he the one who sold his country out, via the Iran/Contra affair? Hmm, sounds like treason to me (since others on this board throw that term around so freely, I guess I will too); but lucky for him Bush 41 pardoned him so now he can work as a consultant on Fox News!!! A true hero, indeed......
"Bush is a christian. Kerry says he is Catholic. I'm Catholic. Our church does not believe in abortion, Kerry does."
^^^^I'm Catholic and was married in a Catholic mass and I am a woman who believes that adult American women have a right to choose motherhood. My husband's sister is Catholic and gay. My wedding was performed 9 years ago by a wonderful priest progressive enough to mention in our homily the love & loyalty he witnessed in a gay couple he had met. I have not had an abortion but I understand why it legal and available to adult women who need to choose that. Face it: There are plenty of intelligent Catholics in this country who hold varied opinions on how appropriate it is, or not, to hold the church member's strict adherence to dogma as the primary criteria for how "Catholic" they are. We are not talking about how RELIGIOUS these candidates are-- GOD HELP US if we are! America is not a theocracy and we are constitutionally obligated to maintain a separation of church and state. American Law is not the Bible, and AMERICA is not a church. Join the religious fanatics in other countries if that's what you want in a government. What Kerry believes, religiously, is his own private business. How about this? Bush was a draft-doger, Kerry was not, and my country believes in fairness (not special favors) and courage (not hiding from combat).
you wrote:
"Guess that makes him one of those wealthy people that gets a tax break while you poor little people have to pay for everyone."
^^^^^Senator Kerry did not enact the tax cuts that unfairly benefited the wealthy. Bush did. Kerry JUST SAID, in the debate he just won, that he & Bush are the type of people who got the most from the Bush tax cuts, and that he (Sen.Kerry) NEVER would have made that decision to put those unfair tax cuts above more important national fiscal priorities. He said, "We didn't need that money. The American people do."
you wrote:
"Bush does what he says he will do"
^^^^Um okay...whatever you say...
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/06/05/steadfast_bushs_amazing_flip_flops/
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/04/09/con04381.html
http://www.showmenews.com/2004/Sep/20040912News016.asp
http://www.namiscc.org/Advocacy/2004/Spring/BushPatientRights.htm
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=118263
you wrote/lied:
"Two of Kerry's wounds were self inflicted"
^^^^You have bought a marketing campaign from Bush & Co. Did you always want to be a puppet when you were growing up? A Muppet? Check it out...
From MediaMatters.com:
While the veterans attacking Kerry in the ad are veterans of the Vietnam War and may have served at the same time as Kerry, as The New York Times reported on August 5, the Kerry campaign noted that "none of the men had actually served on the Swift boats that Mr. Kerry commanded." Adm. Roy F. Hoffman, one of the veterans in the ad, has even "acknowledged he had no first-hand knowledge to discredit Kerry's claims to valor," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on May 6, "and said that although Kerry was under his command, he really didn't know Kerry much personally."
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