The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Meeting Together

10.15.07 @ 12:01AM

RIDE AND DIVIDE
Re: Shawn Macomber's Stretching Freedom:

Mr. Macomber's upbeat account of individual resistance to government bureaucracy is nice. I'm glad the driver found a way to compete in a less-than-free market taxi network. Mr. Macomber's conclusion that this type of action will prevent state secession, regardless of how unlikely secession now seems, is too quick of an answer. The division between conservatives and liberals is no longer an "argument," as it may have been half a century ago. The divide is a chasm that cannot be bridged, will not be reconciled. It is a war and only one side can win. If you think otherwise, then wait until a liberal president joins the liberals in Congress and resumes the appointment of liberal judges. The three branches of government will be unstoppable when they find Mr. Driver, penalize his limo business with "green" taxes, send him into bankruptcy, and then offer to support him with government handouts.

The threat to conservative survival has never been greater. So many of us now understand this threat that only the most radical solutions may be left to save our country. Secession is one solution, albeit a final act of desperation. The alternative to a legal separation from liberal tyranny (for those of us who will never surrender) is even more unthinkable, but not unheard of in this country. Don't dismiss an unlikely solution or you may find the unthinkable to be the only choice that remains.
-- Tom Cook
Raleigh, North Carolina

TIMES THAT TRY MENS' SOULS
Re: Lawrence Henry's Church and Me:

Earlier this year, I agreed with Lawrence Henry's column about repetitive and me-centered modern worship music, and I understand what he is saying in "Church and Me" (October 12, 2007). But Hebrews 10:25 says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
-- K. Simonson

Lawrence Henry seems to misunderstand the purpose of a church. Yes, we are the body of Christ. As a body, we want to help the members of that body that are hurting, sinning, or need encouragement. If Mr. Henry leaves a church every time a member disappoints him, he will not be a member at any church for long. Christians are not perfect. Christians make mistakes. Christians drink, mistreat others, gossip, eat too much, say hateful things, sin. We are all broken by sin, weighed down by it. We all spend our lives fighting our sinful nature in a never-ending effort to live by the Spirit. It is the responsibility of Christians to "speak the truth in love" to a sinning Christian, and to forgive that sin.

Perhaps the next time Mr. Henry sees a fellow Christian caught in a sin, he should approach him, using the guidelines Jesus gave us in Matthew 18. It would certainly be far more useful than retreating into isolation and judging from afar. Church used to be the place that people knew they could turn to when they had nowhere else to go. Unfortunately, we are now thought of as an elite club of hypocrites instead of the body of believers we are, just as crippled by sin as those around us. If Mr. Henry is as repulsed by hypocrisy as everyone else, he will solve nothing by doing nothing. Only when, as Christians, we can admit that we, too, are not perfect, will we be able to shed our hypocritical reputation, and reach out to those who feel that God can never forgive them with the wonderful message that he can and does.
-- Samantha Oconnell

In his article entitled "Church and Me," Mr. Henry asks:

Is a church its people, or is it the body of Christ, or both? When you feel like certain people -- perhaps key people -- have let you down, what do you do?

Bishop Paul Loverde of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Virginia recently spoke to a gathering of parish leaders and noted that the Church has two natures: one human and one divine. He further remarked that the challenge for all of us is not to allow the human nature of the Church to overcome the divine.

It seems to me Mr. Henry -- and the rest of us -- should look past the human failings of our colleagues in the pews and in the clergy, focus on the tenets of our faith, and continue going to church.
-- Brian Veit
Clifton, Virginia

Wow, Lawrence Henry's sagas mirror mine and I'm not a Christian: I'm Jewish. When my marriage was being seriously challenged -- fortunately we're fine now -- I was hoping that my very regular attendance and active participation in congregation affairs would help. I never objected to people saying that religion is a crutch: I wanted and needed that crutch.

But, what did I see surrounding me during my time of need for a spiritual boost? A rabbi who would give sermons about how one of the most serious offenses in Judaism is to embarrass and ridicule someone, but within the same service, make audible comments and childish faces about the Cantor and other congregants. This rabbi wanted to dismiss two elderly, sweet and kind men who would assist in the service (Jewish ritual gives many opportunities to interested people to lead and assist); why? One had a hearing aid that she complained interfered with her concentration; the other, I don't remember exactly, but I have always had a suspicion that she was jealous of how learned and well-versed he was in all facets of Judaism.

Then there was John; a devout man who would bully anyone who would not meet his standards of proper synagogue decorum, but never raise an issue with anyone who would challenge him back.

And oh those board meetings. Yelling, sarcasm (including the rabbi) insults. And this is the environment for which I look to for sustenance?

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