Christian Tug-of-War

Through Tsykoduk's blog, The Roost, I was sent over to read an article that was published in The New York Times called, “Onward, Moderate Christian Soldiers”. This article was written by John C. Danforth, "an Episcopal minister and former Republican senator from Missouri.” and is an interesting read. Not for what it says, but for what it only hints at.

Mr. Danforth attempts to shine the light on the Republicans for their stance of being the consummate Christian party in the political battle to run the United States of America. It's obvious that his goal in doing so is to try and take the Republican party down a notch or two by pointing out that Democrats are Christian as well, and even feel they are the more Christian of the two political parties.

The problem I have with this article is that John C. Danforth illuminates a point that I try to make on a constant basis. This country is not about having the more true Christian lead us, but to have someone in power that will defend and protect all of us from the government becoming too religious oriented.

I don't want to hear that Republicans are pushing Christian beliefs in their running of this country, nor do I want to hear Democrats doing the same from their perspective. They just don't get it do they? The United States of America is the foundation of freedom, and as such, should have a government that is neutral when it comes to religion.

When I vote I want a candidate who says that they will fight for the freedom of all the people, not just for the Christian people. I want a government who will protect the Buddhist as well as the Atheist and the Wiccan believers. If a candidate or party starts spewing how they are the true Christians, and will run this country in a Christian manner, I start to cringe.

Some of you will now switch into defensive mode and think I am anti-Christian. That's OK, it happens a lot in my articles. There is nothing further from the truth. Christianity is a wonderful religion filled with loving and caring folks who are doing fantastic things around the world. I would not dream of talking bad about Christians or their faith.

Many Christians, however, do not attempt to force themselves and their beliefs on everyone they meet. This, to me, is a good Christian. The example of a Christians life is what should drive their method for showing Christianity in a positive light.

If you want people to follow your belief, then show them how great your life is because of that belief, don't attempt to ram it down their throat or to control the country with your religion. This is not a Christian act, this is the act of people who want to dominate others.

The path of freedom to everyone includes the freedom for all Christians of every version of Christianity that are among us. By protecting the freedom for Earth-based religions, Asian-based religions, and even the people without a religious bone in their body, we are protecting the right for all Christians everywhere as well. Once one religion steps up and attempts to conquer everyone else, the time has come for a slapping of the folks that are attempting to hijack our country for their belief system.

You can be a great leader with a strong Christian background, but you can also be a great leader with a background in other religious beliefs too. If it scares you to think that a Buddhist or Atheist may one day lead this country, then you need to examine why this terrifies you so much.

Regardless of what you hear, or what you think you know, many of the founding fathers of the United States were not hard-core Christians. In fact, in that moment in history, religion was a huge reason why the settlers came to North America, and why we eventually broke from England. This infiltration of religion into the government is why America was not founded on any specific religious belief, and why in our Constitution our religious rights and freedoms are protected.

The founding fathers did not want religion controlling the government in any way. All of this discussion and claims that this country was founded on Christianity is misinformation spewed forth from the shear large quantities of Christians because they want so bad to believe that it is so. Many of you have heard these lies for so long that you honestly believe this is the truth as well.

If you wander through my articles on this website you can find things out about the pledge of allegiance that you did not know, or how the founding fathers felt about religion, or maybe even how some religious organizations are striving to impose their will on you.

As this New York Times article points out, one Christian group is not like the other, so backing the move for a strong religious presence to rule this country can be a bad move even if you're a Christian.

If you fight for our right to have the freedom to choose whatever religious belief we want, as the founding fathers intended, then we all win in the end.