(surprising) LTTE from a fundy

[central scrutinizer]

The following letter appeared in today's fishwrap:

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/06/09/ed.letters.0609.html
<excerpt>
Near Election Day last November, the pastor of my church endorsed George Bush for president. According to the pastor, Bush was the moral choice. Although the Downing Street Memo had not yet come out, much information had, and I doubted whether Bush was moral at all.

I wrote a three-page letter to the pastor listing my reasons for questioning his judgment and placed 38 copies on vehicles in the parking lot. I didn't receive a single reply except from the pastor, whose response from the pulpit misled the congregation concerning the focus of my letter. He justified his endorsement saying he believed James Dobson.

<snip>

But I see the church as standing with a ruler who uses it to accomplish an agenda.

My husband once said maybe we should just go back. I said if the church can tell us to vote for Bush as the moral choice, what else would it tell us to do? Evidently, some pastors and congregations allow their hierarchy to do their critical thinking.

<snip>

Hasn't the pastor abandoned his first duty as shepherd? Is he about his faith's business stumping for the Republican Party?

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. what else would it tell us to do?

Eventually it comes to either killing somebody or killing yourself, the climax of all cult progressions.

[POAS]

2. My question would be

"If the pastor calls Bush the "moral" choice and my conscience tells me this is false then what else that he is teaching about morals and God is false?

[suziedemocrat]

5. Religions are very seldom "moral."

I'm sorry - but that's my view. I was raised Catholic, and although I think there are a lot of great things about the Catholic Church, you don't have to look too far to find some pretty gruesome flaws.

I think it is dangerous whenever we allow another person to make "moral" decisions for us. Each of us has a "moral" compass. Every single human being knows right from wrong. Once you turn that off and let other people tell you right from wrong - you are heading down a very dangerous path - IMO. Plus - in the spirit of "power corrupts - absolute power corrupts absolutely." I think the awesome power that someone would have where they can tell people how to act - tell them to ignore their inner beliefs and follow what he/she says blindly because he/she knows more about "right" and "wrong" than they do -- how tempting that would be to wield that kind of power!!!

The most dangerous thing to most religions is a bunch of smart, educated, independent thinkers who can make informed decisions for themselves about what is "right" and "wrong."

BTW - check out Michael Newton's Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls. They are by far the best spiritual books I've ever read!!

Link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1567184855/qid=1118351397/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-1551860-5210507?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. Journey of Souls...

Got me through my mother's ugly demise.

I pray it is true.

[DiverDave]

3. My hometown paper, er

well,
Next door to my hometown.
I grew up in Goshen/Springfield

[pstans]

4. This letter is good too

Memo reveals a concocted war

Three words: Downing Street Memo. This document, leaked by someone with the high plane of moral courage that Mark Felt (Deep Throat) has, reveals that President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair conspired to make war against Iraq in July 2002. Before the American and British people knew, before their lawmaking bodies knew, these leaders concocted an illegal war.

Last month, 80 American soldiers were killed in Iraq. The toll now is 1,667, another 15,000 wounded - many seriously. These men and women aren't dying for our or anyone else's freedom or liberty. They are dying for neo-con nothing and oil greed. Read the "Project for a New American Century." Read it.

Time to bring them home. Time to realize George Bush is a war crimi- nal.

Instead of buying a meaningless, self-pondering magnetic ribbon for $1.50, why not use the money for postage to write your congressman? Stop this war!

[rateyes]

7. Please contact Americans United for the Separation of Church and State..

and let them know about this. Such endorsements are ILLEGAL, and a church can lose its tax-exempt status if it stands for that crap. AU will look into it. So might a lobby called, surprisingly, The Baptist Joint Committee for Public Affairs. They are there to protect your point of view about Church and State. Web sites are:

www.au.org

www.bjcpa.org