The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Fears and Loathings

12.6.06 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 5)

Legal work should be performed by lawyers, doctors should practice medicine, pilots should fly planes, barbers should barber, candlestick makers should make candlesticks, and preachers should preach from the scriptures.
-- R. Trotter
Arlington, Virginia

Thank you, Mr. Homnick, for your most excellent column. As the Pastor of a Southern Baptist Church, I understand how difficult it is to walk the line between espousing legitimate moral opinion and overt personal advocacy from the pulpit. I have long admired Rick Warren and his success at Saddleback in bringing people to the Lord. I do not, however, agree with his recent posturing on the issue of global climate change, primarily because I believe that much, if not most, of what masquerades as environmental activism has less to do with the environment than with controlling the behavior of others for social purposes.

The purpose of the church of Jesus Christ is to proclaim the Gospel. When people accept the salvation of Jesus Christ then their actions are to be changed in accordance with their new nature. I remember environmental activist Jeremy Rifkin, who is not to my knowledge a follower of Jesus Christ, suggesting a few years ago that if the world is to survive, it will be because people have begun to adopt the standards of self-denial and concern for others such as those manifest in the church of first century Christianity.

On the issue of whether Rick Warren should give a forum to Senator Obama, I will suggest that if God is not in it, it will soon become apparent. I remember when the Clintons visited with Pope John Paul II a decade or so ago, after the meeting they were queried about their conversation with the Pope on the issue of abortion. President Clinton made a comment the gist of which was that their discussion had helped bring about a better understanding of each other's views which had helped to bring them closer together. A few short moments later a spokesman for the Pope interrupted the press conference to issue a statement to the effect that if the Clinton's and the Pope had come closer together on the issue of abortion it was not because the Pope's pro-life, anti-abortion position had changed one little bit.

The people in Rick Warren's church always have the option of voting with their feet if they do not like what they hear from Senator Obama, or believe that he has acted inappropriately.

The bedrock foundation of our Constitutional Republic is that there is a level playing field for all points of view to be heard but that government does not take and active role in the promotion of one religion over the other. Having said that I also believe strongly that a government such as ours was founded on Christian principles and cannot survive without our recognizing that the phrase "One Nation Under God" establishes an irrefutable and irreplaceable moral foundation for all that we do. We will have a Christian nation in truth, when those who profess to know Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives begin to live that truth, and demand adherence to that standard both at the ballot box and in the Halls of Congress.
-- Reverend Joseph Phillips
Red River, New Mexico

I agree with Mr. Homnick completely. However, I think the issue goes even deeper. Mr. Obama's main solution to curtail new AIDS cases is to distribute more condemns!! To allow this brilliant and revolutionary (heavy sarcasm here) idea to be put forth from his pulpit, this is also an endorsement for "safe sex." I have yet to find in the Bible a passage or verse that allows for safe sex! God makes it so simple: if you are not married, don't have sex. And if you are married, only have sex with your spouse. The guarantee for stopping the spread of AIDS!

In other regions that have put abstinence into practice, the drop in new AIDS cases has been dramatic. God knew what He was talking about. Imagine that!
-- Margee

Thanks to Jay Homnick for a discouraging word -- finally -- about the pasta driven pastor, Rick Warren. Given his avoirdupois, Warren could hardly have chosen Starvation as his gig -- so it was AIDS.

God does move in mysterious ways. A couple of months back, "Pastor Rick" went to some little African country to spread the Word. As he left, secure in the knowledge of doing the work of the Lord, his helicopter blew the roof off their only school. The article did not say who replaced it -- or if it was replaced.
-- Diane Smith
South San Francisco, California

Sorry, Rick Warren's church is not in Florida. You'll probably receive hundreds of these.

Enjoyed your article and concur with your comments.
-- Kathryn

IDENTITY POLITICS
Re: Quin Hillyer's Please Torture Me:

Current interrogation techniques are less tough than the methods the U.S. military uses to train its own personnel. No interrogator wants a long stay in Fort Leavenworth and an interview by Larry King. If I had to chose, I would take the former.

BTW, I have been unimpressed by Sen. Lindsey Graham ever since the Clinton impeachment hearings in 1998, when then Representative Graham played it just a bit too cool.
-- Name Withheld
Former U.S. Army interrogator in Iraq

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