Separation Between Church & State - A CHRISTIAN RIGHT YEARNING FOR “THE RAPTURE”
There are moments in life when we discover the fallacies in some prior teachings we have received. Such moments, tend to lay caution to youthful idealism and are replaced by new realities. These realities may rattle the foundations of our ideological and spiritual underpinning, but, they still enter our lives and minds without fail.
The founding fathers of this great Republic (America), many of whom were slave owners, called for “a separation of church and state,” in their founding documents because they understood that “power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
America’s founders crafted a constitution that separated church and state. They believed this was the best mechanism for protecting the rights of all. .. The United States enjoys unprecedented levels of religious liberty, expanding pluralism and a high degree of inter-faith harmony.
None of this would have been possible without the wisdom of our founders. Despite this record of success, opponents of church-state separation are trying to rewrite American history to promote their ideas of an officially “Christian nation.” At AU, we debunk these discredited claims and provide sound historical materials.
Though the word “rapture” never appears in the Bible, the concept has gripped Christians for centuries. It has spawned novels and movies, books interpreting modern events and thousands upon thousands of feverish pulpit speeches. Some have even tried to predict the date using complicated numerology, counting the days since the crucifixion and so on. In Isfahan, our interpretation of the Rapture, the one shared by most evangelicals across the world, was this: as the end of the world nears, floods, wars and famines will plague the Earth. The righteous will be persecuted as the rest of humanity descends into sin, making normal what was once shameful. Then, one day, as everyone else goes about their wicked business, all true Christians will be snatched up to heaven
“The movement's yearning for apocalyptic violence and its assault on dispassionate, intellectual inquiry are laying the foundation for a new, frightening America.”
"Rapturous longings start with the powerless and spread outward like a virus: despair leads to denial and fantasy, to an attitude of “I’ll just wait this out”. In response to a dark new reality, the weary go underground, retreating into homes, hiding behind screens, using stories as a salve and an opiate. They become watchful, delirious, stunned and effectively paralysed as they wait, refugees in their own land. They eat cake, go to sleep, and hope to wake up in a better reality."
REWRITING AMERICAN HISTORY TO PROMOTE THEIR IDEAS OF AN OFFICIALLY “CHRISTIAN NATION.”
As a veteran war correspondent, Chris Hedges has survived ambushes in Central America, imprisonment in Sudan, and a beating by Saudi military police. He has seen children murdered for sport in Gaza and petty thugs elevated into war heroes in the Balkans. Hedges, who is also a former divinity student, has seen war at its worst and knows too well that to those who pass through it, war can be exhilarating and even addictive:
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• Chris Hedges, veteran journalist and author of the National Book Award finalist War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, challenges the Christian Right's religious legitimacy and argues that at its core it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for the open society.
• Hedges argues that the movement currently resembles the young fascist movements in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and '30s, movements that often masked the full extent of their drive for totalitarianism and were willing to make concessions until they achieved unrivaled power.
• The movement's call to dismantle the wall between church and state and the intolerance it preaches against all who do not conform to its warped vision of a Christian America
He points to the hundreds of senators and members of Congress who have earned between 80 and 100 percent approval ratings from the three most influential Christian Right advocacy groups as one of many signs that the movement is burrowing deep inside the American government to subvert it. The movement's call to dismantle the wall between church and state and the intolerance it preaches against all who do not conform to its warped vision of a Christian America are pumped into tens of millions of American homes through Christian television and radio stations, as well as reinforced through the curriculum in Christian schools.
Excerpts from ‘IRONY’:
The founding fathers of this great Republic (America), many of whom were slave owners, called for “a separation of church and state,” in their founding documents because they understood that “power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
It cannot be overstated that people (citizens), must take all necessary steps to ensure that the persons whom they elevate to positions of authority or leadership, should not be exalted within the mind of the citizen nor that of the person or persons chosen for those leadership positions. Because such positions are created -generally- to serve the general welfare of the citizens, constant oversight is required. When due diligence is neglected, it allows for mischief making.
Note:
For example, one may find and ultimately conclude, that – often – what a politician, religious leader, or other leaders tell you they believe and the policies they will implement does not often correlate after they secure the office which they seek. More often than not, you are left to conclude – from prevailing policies, that the message is: do as I say not as I do.
Recent media revelation of world leaders hiding wealth in foreign bank accounts to avoid paying taxes and other methods for accountability tend to highlight this point: The release of a vast trove of documents and other data on offshore financial dealings of wealthy, famous and powerful people around the world is raising questions over the widespread use of such tactics to avoid taxes and skirt financial oversight.[23]
Thomas Jefferson observed that very point when he wrote, "In questions of power, then, let not more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution."
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4moIS WAR THE GREATEST EVIL? Did you know that in the First World War, only 5% of the human victims were civilians? Shockingly, in the Second World War, this number increased to 50%, and in the Vietnam War, it ranged between 50 - 90%. Astoundingly, in Lebanon, it is estimated that 97% of the victims were civilians. Even more staggering is the projection that in a conventional war in Europe, up to 99% of the victims would be civilians. Learn more about this thought-provoking topic in "IRONY" by Theophilus Nicholson: https://lnkd.in/eaR5PAdB