(Religious mini-rant ahead. You were warned).
This just makes my skin crawl:
Huckabee has fallen into the same trap that many have. It doesn't matter that he calls himself a Christian. It doesn't matter that he's referred to as a "pastor" (he isn't)*. He has fallen into the trap of seeing the government as savior, and it isn't. There's only one Savior, and the government has nothing to do with Him.
As a Christian, it is not my job, nor is it Huckabee's job--even if he were President (God forbid), to brute-force "morality" by the bludgeon of legislation. It is only my job to live by example and to try and "let the glory of Jesus be seen in me." I fail at this, a lot. But then of course I'm not perfect.
I'm sure I've failed to adequately state my position with perfect clarity, so please feel free to misconstrue something I've said. I know someone out there will.
I've said it before: The more I hear about Huckabee, the more I dislike him.
*"Pastor" means "shepherd." The church has only one Shepherd: Jesus Christ. Any human who uses that term to refer to him- or herself is misusing the term.
P.S. Anyone who reads this and uses comments to make bigoted anti-Christian slurs: your comments will be deleted. It's my blog and I'm not in the mood.
This just makes my skin crawl:
"[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it's a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards," Huckabee said, referring to the need for a constitutional human life amendment and an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.In case anyone was wondering, I am against any amendment that would prohibit gay marriage. I am firmly convinced that the Constitution should never be used to restrict any freedoms, and that's what this amendment would do. I was once asked about this, and my answer was, "I don't see any way that gays getting married would infringe on any of my fundamental rights, so I don't care." Anyone who disagrees, please feel free to convince me that I'm wrong.
Huckabee has fallen into the same trap that many have. It doesn't matter that he calls himself a Christian. It doesn't matter that he's referred to as a "pastor" (he isn't)*. He has fallen into the trap of seeing the government as savior, and it isn't. There's only one Savior, and the government has nothing to do with Him.
As a Christian, it is not my job, nor is it Huckabee's job--even if he were President (God forbid), to brute-force "morality" by the bludgeon of legislation. It is only my job to live by example and to try and "let the glory of Jesus be seen in me." I fail at this, a lot. But then of course I'm not perfect.
I'm sure I've failed to adequately state my position with perfect clarity, so please feel free to misconstrue something I've said. I know someone out there will.
I've said it before: The more I hear about Huckabee, the more I dislike him.
*"Pastor" means "shepherd." The church has only one Shepherd: Jesus Christ. Any human who uses that term to refer to him- or herself is misusing the term.
P.S. Anyone who reads this and uses comments to make bigoted anti-Christian slurs: your comments will be deleted. It's my blog and I'm not in the mood.
I don't have a particular problem with the term "Pastor" for the people who are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of the church. Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God. True, he could also be called "Pastor" (he is recognized by his fellow Jews as a wise and accomplished Rabbi), but I don't think it necessarily demeans the term to use it to describe lesser spiritual leaders.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, you are right on the money on your evaluation of the marriage amendment and Huckabee's statement. Marriage is a religious institution that the government should have no say in. Getting the government involved in it is what has diminished it from it's proper place as a holy sacrament and a lifetime commitment to your basic contractual agreement that can be ended by either party at will.
If the government wants to recognize and give special privilege to a legal contract that is similar to marriage that's fine...I object to the use of the term, but not the concept. The Government can, therefore, determine the proper, lawful conditions of that contract within the constraints of the powers granted by the People through the US Constitution...but the government has no proper authority over the holy sacrament of matrimony.
I have no problem with someone's faith guiding their daily life (in fact, I don't see how it couldn't); but when anyone...especially someone with aspirations for the presidency...clearly states that the law should be used to enforce his particular religious convictions on everyone: warning bells go off in my head.
With that one statement, Huckabee lost any chance of gaining this devout Christian's vote.
While it may not be so in your case, it seems to me that most people that don't want the government to enforce any particular view of "morality" what they really mean is "sexual morality". If you want to use dictionary definitions, then "morality" would include all kinds of things to include the standard (and uncontested I might add) laws against theft, assault, murder, perjury, etc.
ReplyDeleteSo, say what you mean when you use the term "morality" and say that you don't think the gov should be in the business of enforcing sexual morality. Now, on to whether or not they should or should not be doing this...
The point can be made that heterosexual marriages and traditional families are very desirable for the future of the nation. I would say more important the public education and you don't see a lot of folks opposed to that.
As to the Pastor/Shepherd issue...
Jesus told us to feed his sheep. Who feeds the sheep? The shepherd. While He is the greatest shepherd, the head of all shepherds, those who serve Him and tend to his flock would still qualify for the title. It would be like saying only guy on the cattle drive qualified for the title of "cowboy".
I think His life was an example for us to follow. He was a shepherd, so we are expected to be shepherds as well. The term is not exclusive to only person, like President or King or even Messiah.
Now, I'm not particularly fond of pastors that shear the flock for their own support. The Master owns the sheep, He has bought and paid for them, and He is entitled to the wool. If you're a good shepherd, you'll leave the wool for the Master and take your payment From Him.
Just my opinion.
GunGeek: Good shepherd analogy.
ReplyDeleteOn your first point though, I beg to differ.
Theft, murder, assault, fraud, etc. are not questions of morality, they are questions of criminal activity...i.e: harming others (aka violations of natural rights).
Please explain to me how sexual acts performed in the bedroom harms someone else's rights. Or a friendly poker game in the living room. Or smoking a little weed in the family room. Those things are all moral questions and are properly not the purview of government.
"No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him."
-- Thomas Jefferson
If you say that all Christians should be pastors, I would not really disagree with that. I disagree with using it as a title: Pastor--to elevate one person above others.
ReplyDeleteI also disagree with using the title Minister, because we are all supposed to be ministers.
Sailorcurt is correct. Murder, rape, fraud, theft, assault, etc., are violations of the Zero Aggression Principle and a violation of someone else's natural rights. It is logical and natural that there should be legal prohibitions against them.