Via VirtueOnline:
Dear XXXXX,
Have you been watching the debate about health care reform? Episcopal Church leaders are doing so, and they are strongly in favor of the Obamacare plan to potentially dramatically increase the role of government in health care.
This week the Episcopal Church joined with a coalition of Religious Left leaders to support the "40 Days of Health Reform" campaign. It's the usual suspects: the National Council of Churches, the Unitarian Universalist Association, Jim Wallis' Sojourners, and others, all pressing for a universal health care plan with a "government option". You can read my coverage of the "40 Days of Health Reform" campaign by clicking here. I also have covered the Episcopal Church's lobbying activities in favor of socialized medicine, which far exceed what the Obama Administration is seeking. You can read that by clicking here.
Wallis has been especially vocal about the need he feels to counter conservative resistance to an Obamacare plan.
"I see lies being told, I see fears being raised, and I see violence even being threatened at these mob sessions," the Sojourners president said, alluding to congressional "town hall" meetings where lawmakers have met with a critical reception from some constituents concerned about potentially dramatic government led changes to the health care system.
Wallis has been joined by "Emergent Church" pastor and author Brian McLaren, who in a subsequent blog posting chastised Christians that "have begun seeing Jesus and the faith through the lens of a neo-conservative political framework, thus reducing their vision of Jesus and his essential message of the kingdom of God."
McLaren, who headlined the Episcopal General Convention in July, said that "too many of us are becoming more and more zealous conservatives, but less and less Christ-like Christians, and many don't seem to notice the difference."
The Emergent leader then went on to say that "Thankfully, many Christian leaders are far more thoughtful and nuanced in their integration of faith and public life."
Well thanks, Pastor Brian. We are grateful that thoughtful, nuanced leaders like you are able to steer zealous, un-Christ-like lay people like us away from error. People like you really understand the "essential message of the Kingdom of God" - that's why you headlined the Episcopal General Convention this year - the same one that eliminated all evangelism funding and repeatedly embraced alternative lifestyles and a spirit of Universalism.
"Lives could be saved as a result of our joint calls for Christian integrity and civility: We've already seen what happens when people translate religious and ideological passion into violent action," McLaren warned ominously.
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For those unfamiliar with "emergent-speak", I'll translate: those grannies at the town hall meetings all need to be checked for suicide bomber explosive vests. "Fundamentalist" Christians are just like those other fundamentalists - you know, the ones from that moderate "religion of peace" that McLaren won't mention.
McLaren concludes his appeal by stating that "the moral authority of Christians has been severely compromised in our culture in recent years. The most serious kinds of sexual scandals have rocked the Catholic, evangelical, and charismatic communities, not to mention financial scandals, ugly denominational lawsuits, and high-profile divisions. Studies have shown that some kinds of Christians are not only more likely to support torture - they are also more likely to hold racist views, to engage in domestic violence, and to end their marriages in divorce. No wonder young people are turned off as never before to a hypocritical face of Christianity that radiates shame, anger, and judgment rather than grace, love, and truth."
Translation: "I can't stand you. Now do what I say." McLaren doesn't seem to realize that Christians don't set themselves up as models of perfection. Rather, as Christianity Today Managing Editor Mark Galli recently said, our job is to reflect the light of Christ, speaking for what he says is right, "acknowledging our own complicity in the sins we decry, and pointing to the One who must save us all."
Anglicans will be particularly interested in McLaren's condemnation of "ugly denominational lawsuits" - it would have been helpful if he had brought that up at General Convention. Regrettably, he seems to have forgotten to do so.
In Christ,
Jeff H. Walton
IRD Communications Manager Staffer,
Anglican Action for Faith & Freedom
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