Reconciliation With the Right

It is heaven, but only thee conservative Christians
will make it up there. Or maybe not.

The Culture War Continues Even Among Christians

On the one side you have the Conservative Christians who see the big issues as abortion and homosexuality. On the other side you have the more Liberal/Progressive Christians who see the big issues as peacemaking, protecting Creation, and fighting poverty. It is the Liberal/Progressive side who are more open to reconciliation and "hearing out" their theological opposites.

As for me, and many others like me, I have nothing personal against Conservatives. In fact, some of the most wonderful people I know are Conservatives, including my own extended family. However, I am angry and frustrated at how they chose to embrace just a couple of moral standards and were quite willing to throw all the other standards down the drain. Sadly, during the recent elections there was little talk about the environment or poverty, or even long-term peacemaking. The Right did a better job of keeping their pet issues — abortion and gays — in the forefront and keeping the opposition on their toes.

I really would like to have talks with Conservatives to find common ground. I would love to give presentations at their places of worship and listen to what they have to say. I would enjoy talking about "big picture" issues like the future and sustainability.

However, I know that these good people are believers in "dispensationalism," which is a belief that the world will get continually worse and ultimately Christ will come to rescue all the people who "got it right." My belief is just the opposite. I believe that as responsible humans we each have a lifelong obligation to make the world BETTER. So, there is little common ground to begin our discussions with.

Teen Pregnancy - Just Get All Sides Talking

As I once mentioned before, in 1988 I had this crazy idea of getting all sides in the teen pregnancy issue to the table to talk. At least the Catholic representatives heard me out and gave me well-thought reasons of why they weren't going to participate. For that, I will always have respect for them. But then I remember talking to this founder of a Christian adoption ministry that tried to get pregnant women to give up their babies instead of having an abortion. At least he was calling me "brother" a lot, but he really chewed me out on the phone. Apparently, he was horrified that I was even associating with some of the other organizations, such as Planned Parenthood. Well, my whole idea fell apart. So much for the whole "common ground" thing.

And Now, a Message on Poverty

Poverty is a complex and age-old problem that I need to give more blog time too. I just wish the Republicans had brought up the topic more when they were screaming about "family values" and a "culture of life." Perhaps all the abortion/gay rhetoric was designed to divert attention from more endemic problems like poverty. Yes, gays can't get married and girls who have abortions will be thrown in jail, but what about the growing millions of Americans who are struggling financially every day?

I am a believer that problems should be addressed at the root level, and once again I must say that human overpopulation is a main contributor to poverty. For the past six years, population growth has been my main issue, but now I am seeing that help is also needed on a personal level. I'm not sure what my calling will be, but I would like to do something to help the poor and disadvantaged. In my past job I was editor of a citywide teen newspaper and I had the opportunity to help in an indirect way — by providing educational and work experience opportunities for inner city youth. But now I think more is needed — I feel there are people out there who are not even getting enough to eat.