The Thirst for Freedom

A friend just wrote a comment over at my Blogcatalog Group called “Christian Worldview.”

I thought it was interesting so I’d like to summarize his thoughts and then write my response.

Essentially he said that we need to “toss out the Religious Right and the Moral Majority” and be “authentic and radical” Christians like in the first century church.

Here is my response:

Hello!

Thanks for participating in the discussion.

These are the questions that come into my mind when I read your thoughts:

1) What does it mean practically to be out “in the streets?” What does that look like? And what does one do when they get there?

2) Why would you “toss out” the “religious right” and the “moral majority?” I’m not sure what you mean by that. These groups of people primarily consist of ordinary Christian Americans. To “toss” them sounds more like the language of the Anti-Christian Secularist Humanist Left. I reviewed your blog a bit, and I don’t think you are a part of the Secular Humanist Left.

Remember, it is the “religious right” that brings us World Vision, Huge Missions Movements, Tons of Money for relief work and Mission work around the world, Restoration Work in the area of Family, Marriage, and Child Rearing, etc. There is also a great educational movement, especially through homeschooling.

There are a lot of people that are often labeled “religious right” who are out there “in the streets” making a very real and significant difference. I wonder how many homeless shelters are run by the “religious right.” Then there are ministries like Teen Challenge, etc.

Be careful not to “throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

I find myself to be a bit of an “anti-pharisaical” and “anti-religious” person myself. I certainly don’t fit in with the main stream of American Christian Culture. (How many times have I scanned right past the Christian Radio Stations?) But I want to recognize what is good as well, and not join the Crazy Nero types that are currently standing against the Church with hate and vitriol.

Well… There’s my thoughts on that.

Hello Friends!

One of Freedomthirst’s readers posted a comment on the post “The Day Socialism Comes to America” that I decided to respond to with a full post instead of just a reply.

Casper said:

To be a conservative, you must believe that every person who works for government is lazy, foolish, shiftless and corrupt, and that the result of any efforts these people make will be a tragedy and a farce.

My Response:

Hello Casper!

I don’t believe every person working for the government fits your description and yet some have called me a conservative.

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” — John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton

“Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it” — William Pitt the Younger

I want to research the word “liberalism.” I don’t consider the word an insult or a “name”, but a description of a way of thinking. My observation is that liberalism almost always equals secular humanism. Some who label themselves “liberal” have embraced a secular humanist world view. Others simply call themselves liberal because they prefer some of the list of beliefs that liberalism espouses.

As a general rule, it appears to me that “liberals” and “secular humanists” believe in pursuing some degree of a Socialist Economy.

I recently re-read the Communist Manifesto. The Manifesto mentions a number of goals such as, for example, “A heavy progressive or graduated income tax” that seem to me to be very similar to liberal beliefs.

These observations are what led me to be quite interested in Joseph Farah’s article!

It is interesting to me that you responded the way you did. I think one of the essential viewpoints of Conservative belief is that power entrusted to government tends to corrupt, yet freedom entrusted to individuals tends to reproduce more and more freedom.

As always, thanks for your participation!

ThirstyJon