The Christian blog the big daddy weave out of Waco, seized on Fred Thompson's odd talk show announcement that he will run for president to criticize his lack of proper Christian street credentials. It is not good enough for a presidential candidate to simply claim they are Christians, they must also prove it to the high minded legalistic set who judges the true worth of a Christian by how much time the spend in the pews.
Which is it? Is Freddy T a Church of Christ guy or a mainline Presbyterian?
Or just more of a Bedside Baptist?
I recall another prominent conservative who is friendly with the Christian Right and has a poor track record regarding church attendance. Any guesses?
Many of the reasons I detest the fervently religious can be summed up in the last three sentences. Does it really matter how much time a man spends in the pews? Character should be judged by how you life your life, how you treat people, and the quality of your word. Can I trust Fred Thompson? - I don't really know. There is enough of a slime factor surrounding his Nixon escapades to make me doubt the quality of his Character. I need more time before I cast him aside.
Do I care what church he attends? No - because it does not give me any insight to how he lives his life. I want to know how he lived his life before I decide to cast a vote for him, not how many hours he spent in the pews.
3 comments:
If anything, I'm more skeptical of someone that attends church, just my opinion.
"Does it really matter how much time a man spends in the pews?"
Nope. Absolutely not.
If an atheist like yourself were to run for office, I'd be more than willling to cast my vote for you if I agreed with your positions and platform....
However, I think you left out the most important quote from my post:
"Christian voters especially deserve straight-talk if Thompson is going to use God-talk in his campaign...If Thompson doesn't walk the talk, then he misuses faith for wrongful political ends and discloses a deep moral flaw."
As a Christian, I am bothered whenever a politician or a pastor "misues faith for wrongful political ends."
An atheist was taking a walk through the woods "What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself. As he continued walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes. Turning to look, he saw a 7 foot grizzly charging towards him.
He ran as fast as he could up the path. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the bear was closing in on him. His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster.
He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear raising his paw to take a swipe at him. At that instant the atheist cried out: " Oh my God..."
Time stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
It was then that a bright light shone down upon the man and a voice came out of the sky saying: "You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don't exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"
The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps, could you make the bear a Christian?"
"Very well," said the voice.
The light went out.
And the sounds of the forest resumed.
Then the bear lowered his paw, bowed his head and spoke: "Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful. Amen."
*****
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