Sometimes I feel like the term “Conservative Christian” has been hi-jacked by assholes. In the public mind it no longer provides an accurate representation of what real conservative Christian people stand for. It’s a kind of false advertising in a way.
I just read an article by Dennis Prager. He wrote about Keith Ellison, D-Minn who happens to be the first Muslim to be elected to congress. Keith Ellison has announced that he will not place his hand on the Bible when he is sworn in.
Prager writes, “…it is an act of hubris that perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist activism -- my culture trumps America's culture. What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book. “
Prager is a Christian as am I. Prager is also a conservative; I am a tad more moderate than he but conservative by most standards. Here’s what bugs me, the status quo, the idea that we have always sworn on the Bible and any deviation from that is a threat to my culture. What Prager doesn’t get is common among conservatives-it’s not a competition.
As a Christian who reads the Bible I am bothered by the practice of swearing by the Bible. The Bible itself cautions man not to swear:
James 5:12 Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.
The practice of swearing on the Bible before taking the stand in court is only slightly more common than the practice of perjuring oneself there after. It cheapens the Bible to have someone who doesn’t value it devalue it by swearing on it and then lie. It cheapens the symbolic shininess of the 10 Commandments to have them aloft watching over the very systematic lawlessness of behavior of our Judiciary. It would be better, truer if you will, to leave the 10 Commandment out of it. It is people that are supposed to abide by divine law, let it be sacred to them without being soiled by the government. Conservatives act as though their religion will lose something, perhaps some of its power, if it is not considered a standard in our culture. So Christians in the public eye continue to piss me off. What else is new.
I just read an article by Dennis Prager. He wrote about Keith Ellison, D-Minn who happens to be the first Muslim to be elected to congress. Keith Ellison has announced that he will not place his hand on the Bible when he is sworn in.
Prager writes, “…it is an act of hubris that perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist activism -- my culture trumps America's culture. What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book. “
Prager is a Christian as am I. Prager is also a conservative; I am a tad more moderate than he but conservative by most standards. Here’s what bugs me, the status quo, the idea that we have always sworn on the Bible and any deviation from that is a threat to my culture. What Prager doesn’t get is common among conservatives-it’s not a competition.
As a Christian who reads the Bible I am bothered by the practice of swearing by the Bible. The Bible itself cautions man not to swear:
James 5:12 Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.
The practice of swearing on the Bible before taking the stand in court is only slightly more common than the practice of perjuring oneself there after. It cheapens the Bible to have someone who doesn’t value it devalue it by swearing on it and then lie. It cheapens the symbolic shininess of the 10 Commandments to have them aloft watching over the very systematic lawlessness of behavior of our Judiciary. It would be better, truer if you will, to leave the 10 Commandment out of it. It is people that are supposed to abide by divine law, let it be sacred to them without being soiled by the government. Conservatives act as though their religion will lose something, perhaps some of its power, if it is not considered a standard in our culture. So Christians in the public eye continue to piss me off. What else is new.
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