A few things to add to my boycott list:
Lowes: For pulling their ads from the tv show "All American Muslim". I try not to buy anything from companies that support right-wing or Tea Party causes.
Menards: The family supports Tea Party candidates.
Verizon: My wife recently abandoned Verizon after many years and joined me at Credo Mobile when she found out that Verizon gave money to Tea Party candidates.
Alabama: We have been snow-birding for several years on the Alabama Gulf Coast, but we are never going there again because of their racist immigration law. We'll be looking in the nearby Florida panhandle instead.
These will be added to my list, which already includes:
The Golf Channel: Can't I go anywhere to get away from Rush Limbaugh?
Amazon.com: Until they decide to pay state sales tax like every other retailer.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Bad Religion Makes Bad Politics
One of the blogs I follow regularly (The Motley Cow) made reference to this article by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/06/my-take-jesus-was-a-free-marketer-not-an-occupier/. I decided I wanted to blog a bit about it, too.
Perkins' astonishing assertion is that Jesus espoused free market economics. (In another context Perkins once went further and claimed that Jesus was a supply-sider.) It is astonishing partly because his description of the meaning of the parable is surprisingly shallow and superficial for one who claims to speak for Christians in a public way. It is shocking that he believes that this parable is about economics. The minas in the parable are not the "opportunity of life"; rather, they represent the unmerited faith that has been given to Christians. The king's test, then, is that we are to not bury that faith in the ground but to let it shine and multiply in others, as the Spirit sees fit. It has nothing to do with money.
Perkins seems to be saying that Jesus gave us this faith and ascended to heaven and now he wants us to strive to become Steve Jobs until he returns. If that is what he sees as the central teaching of this parable, then it's back to Catechism class. The parables in Scripture are not comic book stories or updated Aesop's fables. Perkins correctly states that parables have "deeper spiritual meaning", and then proceeds to trivialize the parable and turn it into a silly earthly lesson.
Okay, Tony, we get it. You don't like the Occupy movement. That's your right as an American. But to twist scripture to further your political agenda is a serious thing. It's a false teaching. In another part of the Bible, Jesus says to Peter, "Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.'" Mr. Perkins has taken a parable of God and turned it into a thing of men. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and the Apostles warn Christians to be vigilant for false teachings. Just as Jesus refers to Satan when addressing a believer (Peter), most of the warnings are to be wary of false teachings from inside the church. They are a greater danger than anything outside. This misuse of scripture by Mr. Perkins to further his earthly agenda falls into that category.
Perkins' astonishing assertion is that Jesus espoused free market economics. (In another context Perkins once went further and claimed that Jesus was a supply-sider.) It is astonishing partly because his description of the meaning of the parable is surprisingly shallow and superficial for one who claims to speak for Christians in a public way. It is shocking that he believes that this parable is about economics. The minas in the parable are not the "opportunity of life"; rather, they represent the unmerited faith that has been given to Christians. The king's test, then, is that we are to not bury that faith in the ground but to let it shine and multiply in others, as the Spirit sees fit. It has nothing to do with money.
Perkins seems to be saying that Jesus gave us this faith and ascended to heaven and now he wants us to strive to become Steve Jobs until he returns. If that is what he sees as the central teaching of this parable, then it's back to Catechism class. The parables in Scripture are not comic book stories or updated Aesop's fables. Perkins correctly states that parables have "deeper spiritual meaning", and then proceeds to trivialize the parable and turn it into a silly earthly lesson.
Okay, Tony, we get it. You don't like the Occupy movement. That's your right as an American. But to twist scripture to further your political agenda is a serious thing. It's a false teaching. In another part of the Bible, Jesus says to Peter, "Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.'" Mr. Perkins has taken a parable of God and turned it into a thing of men. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and the Apostles warn Christians to be vigilant for false teachings. Just as Jesus refers to Satan when addressing a believer (Peter), most of the warnings are to be wary of false teachings from inside the church. They are a greater danger than anything outside. This misuse of scripture by Mr. Perkins to further his earthly agenda falls into that category.
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