Posts Tagged ‘liberal’

“Segregating people on the basis of health…”

Posted February 26, 2010 by Charles
0

One of the great things about the health summit was getting to witness certain members’ rhetorical skills and getting to hear how they think about things.  One of the most revealing comments was made by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who lamented that people whose medical bills are higher have to pay more, as this constitutes “segregating people on the basis of health.”  He added, “It’s time to stop that kind of segregation in our country.”

Surely we can all unite in opposition to the injustice that Sen. Harkin so mercifully highlights.  I mean, what’s next?  People whose housing bills are higher could have to pay more, which would segregate them on the basis of how nice their house is (although they’d still get to live in the same neighborhood).  People whose food bills are higher could have to pay more, which would segregate them on the basis of their appetite.

In all seriousness, Harkin’s remarks say a lot about the liberal mindset.  Having people pay their own way is apparently an injustice akin to segregating them by race or creed.  Well, as Harry Reid said to Lamar Alexander, “You’re entitled to your opinions….”

Health Care Summit Non-Sequitur at The Weekly Standard
Category: Politics

Emerging Theology, Liberal Politics

Posted October 7, 2008 by Charles
2

Collin Hansen at CT writes about the very apparent “Left-Left” connection. The connection is there he says, but not “inevitable.” He names several who, as Mark Driscoll claims for himself, are (or were) theologically conservative and politically and socially liberal.

The subhead asks, “Does one lead the other?” I think the answer is yes, but it’s hard to say which. I’ve known quite a few people who held liberal views of society and politics, and felt uncomfortable with the conservative beliefs they’d held.  So they became emergent or progressive Christians.

I’ve only known a few who were really guided by their liberal theology. It seems too often that politics comes before Jesus.  I catch myself from time to time saying things in a political conversation that make me cringe as the sentences are still forming. At that moment I can choose to make my theology meet my politics, or make my politics meet my theology.  It’s a struggle.

H/T JT

Category: Politics, Theology

2000 Verses

Posted August 15, 2008 by Charles
4

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.” Read more

Category: Politics, Theology

Wife Swap and the Liberal Mind

Posted February 14, 2008 by Charles
5

wife_swap_with_border.jpgMy son is sick, so my wife stayed home tonight while I went to praise team practice at the church. While I was gone she watched Wife Swap. Tonight’s episode swapped a very conservative Christian family with a very liberal Christian family. In my trade mark fashion I will refer to them as “Connie” and “Libby”…you figure out which is which.

Connie is a stay-at-home mom, six kids (if I counted right). Libby works and her husband is a stay-at-home dad, 2 girls. I’m going to watch the episode as soon as I can find it somewhere online, but this is one situation related to me by my wife:

Connie’s children don’t date. Her philosophy is that young teens aren’t ready to make a serious (read: “lifelong”) commitment, so there’s no reason to date. Libby has no such rule.

When Connie sits down with Libby’s girls to discuss dating, she says, “This is what I believe about dating…What do you think?” When given the opportunity to think about it, one of the girls says that it makes a lot of sense. Over at Connie’s house, Libby has told her oldest girls that they have to go speed dating. They refused. Read more

Category: Philosophy

Like Harry and Lloyd

Posted January 6, 2007 by Charles
0

Remember the part in Dumb and Dumber when Harry and Lloyd were going to Aspen? This reminds me of that.

Harold Meyerson expounds with amazing detail the situation involving the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. Yes, he notes that quite accurately that those churches left because the rest of the ECUSA is starting to treat gays as equals. He’s also dead on about the “ick-factor”(my term, not his) involved allowing a woman to preside over the church. Yuck.

Yes, memberships to God’s Country Club are hard to come by, and these people don’t cut the mustard.

Mr. Meyerson is just miles ahead of us, isn’t he?

There’s something systemic in the minds of liberals/progressives that propels them on these types of rants. Of course, there’s something similar going on in the conservative world. I wish I truly knew what it stemmed from, but I can’t quite figure it out.

The left is led by the self-appointed intellectual elite. They are the smartest, most forward thinking individuals in our society, and therefore the arbiters of social and political correctness/morality. To be the elite you must be decisive, which means there is no question about their stance on the issues. There is a right way to see things, and they’ve found it for us. In fact, it was so easy for them, they will find all of the correct views for us, because we aren’t quite smart enough or compassionate enough or peaceful enough to come up with them on our own, or even as a group.

Because this is true, when a person comes to a conclusion, they see that conclusion as indicative of the person’s character. For example, if I say that I believe homosexual activity is wrong, and explain why, then follow that explanation by discussing how the issue makes me feel, including the fact that I know homosexuals who are good and normal people, and that I’ve had a number of gay co-workers and acquaintances, what one of these types of liberals will hear is, “I believe homosexual activity is wrong, and blah blah blah blah blah”. They will then launch an attack, calling me a “homophobe” and implying that I am a bigot.

Two problems are exposed there, the first being that they seem to have no ability to perceive internal struggle on an issue. So they feel perfectly justified in saying you’re all of those things. They don’t even appreciate the finer points of the issue, which I’ll save for another time. The second is that they also feel justified in engaging in intellectual dishonesty to promote their “correct” viewpoints. This is also known as “lying.”

These guys (and gals) think they are so far ahead of the game that they haven’t noticed they’ve taken the Shaggin’ Wagon about 1000 miles in the wrong direction. They could be halfway to Aspen by now.

Category: Church, Politics

  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2
  • >

Power of Suggestion is proudly powered by WordPress.org and whiteboard

© Charles Jones 2006-2009 // pos51.org