"How can I win with just one voter?"
Some subpar reasoning from one of the prominent leaders of Emergent and progressive evangelicalism:
“I’ve only met one person in my travels in recent months who has said he is voting for McCain, and that was because he was an admittedly single-issue voter,” Mr. McLaren said. “Nearly all the vocal people I’ve met are enthusiastic about Obama. Based on the people I’m in front of as a speaker, I’d never guess the poll numbers are as close as they are.”
This is a pretty limited perspective. It would be like me saying, “I’ve only met two people in all my travels who were actually born in China. Based on the people I talk to, I’d never guess there were a billion Chinese people walkin’ around.” Unfortunately for me, there are, in fact, a billion Chinese people. And unfortunately for Mr. McLaren:
While national polls show Mr. McCain to be neck and neck with Mr. Obama, a survey from the authoritative Barna Group shows that Mr. McCain holds a commanding lead among evangelicals, with 61 percent to Mr. Obama’s 17 percent.
I find it hard to believe that he thinks he’s speaking in front of a representative sample of evangelicals.
Washington Times via Between Two Worlds
There’s a movement afoot (how often do you get to use that word?) whose leaders like to repeat a particular statistic over and over. I’ll pause and let you try to figure it out, as you list everyone who fits this description in your head. Okay. Here’s a smattering of statements from the group in question:
“…there are more than 2,000 verses of Scripture that call us to express love and justice for those who are poor and oppressed.” Tony Campolo
“The religious right wants to say there is only one or two issues that reflect our values, but as Rick would say, I’m sure, poverty, if there is 2000 verses in the Bible about the poor, that becomes a religious issue, as well.” Jim Wallis
“He [Rick Warren] became fond of repeating that the Bible has 2,000 verses dedicated to the poor…” Time Magazine, link via GetReligion.org
I’ve always been a bit skeptical about this. I’ve heard this stat repeated dozens of times, but never have I found any references to accompany it. I’ve actually been searching the internet for it periodically, with no luck. If anyone has the list, let me know.
My issue isn’t that I don’t think caring for the poor is important. It clearly is. The problem I have is that these leaders are making care for the poor through politics the focus of the Christian mission. But that’s not what the Bible is about. As Gary DeMar said in The American Vision, the philosophy “takes verses that are directed at individuals and turns them on their head and gives them a political twist.” (continue reading…)
I was in the middle of another post, digging up some source material, when I came across this video:
I thought it was great, and spot on about confrontations. And it applies to so much more than just race. This is how you should confront someone when you think they did something rude, inappropriate, vulgar or selfish, among other things.
The big application I see though, is for conversations about sin. (continue reading…)
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that Michael Phelps set a World Record with his eyes closed?
Mollie at GetReligion has posted a really interesting entry about Protestants and Natural Family Planning. This is typically a Roman Catholic practice, but it seems that quite a few Protestants, my wife and I included, have taken an interest. I don’t really have any commentary to add to what she posted, so give it a read.
In a (somewhat roundabout) introduction to the story, she posted this:
Last week, Ruth Gledhill at the Times (U.K.) wrote about Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’ view that gay relationships can be comparable to marriage. Part of his reasoning was the ubiquity and official acceptance of contraception:
(continue reading…)
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