With the election of Obama, you've heard it from all sides. He's been branded the anti-Christ and America's messiah in quick succession. I've heard his 'radical views' are dangerous, his 'extremist left-wing politics' are frightening, his 'cozying up to the right' is indicative of instability. Everybody has an opinion. I tend to keep my opinions to myself, and am not too terribly concerned about everybody agreeing. This is America. We need dissent.
What I am concerned about is where these opinions are coming from. Are they based on study and research? Facts? With multiple sources? You shouldn't form an opinion based solely on Time any more than you should World News.
I had a conversation with my uncle about legislating morality. It's a big gray question, especially in a country that is, historically speaking, founded on Judeo-Christian values. An unbiased glance at the events and arguments that formed our history will tell you that men, not all of them godly, believed in honoring God with the foundation of our nation.
Today it's tricky. Morality has been challenged and redefined slowly to suit our tastes, and there is always a fine line of logic to back it up. The problem is, there's a line of logic for everything. "Morality, like art, means drawing a line somewhere."
There is, very rarely, a pure political agenda. Presidents do legislate morality- their morality. And anyone who disagrees about gay marriage or abortion calls for his resignation.
So what do you do? America may have been founded on potent religious values, but it's not a theocracy and it's not a nation of Christians. How much morality do you demand from people who don't necessarily want it or agree?
Pastor Rick Warren, in his prayer at President Obama's inauguration, said it this way:
"Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans—united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all."
You can't run nation assuming everyone therein is a Christian, just like you can't run a nation like ours assuming we're all vegetarians. Some one's going to protest. What we've got in common are the values of freedom and justice, a government set up so that "no man need fear another." I believe that, it just so happens, the straightest way to freedom and justice is to follow the principals found in the Christian Bible. If you don't like the Bible, fine. But if you want the values that America embodies, understand that the Bible is the greatest source of wisdom for telling us how to get there.
Freedom isn't about letting everybody do whatever they want. We have limits on the pursuit of happiness- don't kill being the most obvious. Take an unbiased stand for freedom and justice, and prevent the ills of society as you can (that's probably the most controversial part- more on that later) and support those who are fighting, even if their source of knowledge doesn't suit your palate.
What I am concerned about is where these opinions are coming from. Are they based on study and research? Facts? With multiple sources? You shouldn't form an opinion based solely on Time any more than you should World News.
I had a conversation with my uncle about legislating morality. It's a big gray question, especially in a country that is, historically speaking, founded on Judeo-Christian values. An unbiased glance at the events and arguments that formed our history will tell you that men, not all of them godly, believed in honoring God with the foundation of our nation.
Today it's tricky. Morality has been challenged and redefined slowly to suit our tastes, and there is always a fine line of logic to back it up. The problem is, there's a line of logic for everything. "Morality, like art, means drawing a line somewhere."
There is, very rarely, a pure political agenda. Presidents do legislate morality- their morality. And anyone who disagrees about gay marriage or abortion calls for his resignation.
So what do you do? America may have been founded on potent religious values, but it's not a theocracy and it's not a nation of Christians. How much morality do you demand from people who don't necessarily want it or agree?
Pastor Rick Warren, in his prayer at President Obama's inauguration, said it this way:
"Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans—united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all."
You can't run nation assuming everyone therein is a Christian, just like you can't run a nation like ours assuming we're all vegetarians. Some one's going to protest. What we've got in common are the values of freedom and justice, a government set up so that "no man need fear another." I believe that, it just so happens, the straightest way to freedom and justice is to follow the principals found in the Christian Bible. If you don't like the Bible, fine. But if you want the values that America embodies, understand that the Bible is the greatest source of wisdom for telling us how to get there.
Freedom isn't about letting everybody do whatever they want. We have limits on the pursuit of happiness- don't kill being the most obvious. Take an unbiased stand for freedom and justice, and prevent the ills of society as you can (that's probably the most controversial part- more on that later) and support those who are fighting, even if their source of knowledge doesn't suit your palate.
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