Posted on 07/01/2008 12:58:14 PM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
CNN) -- Democrats have usually conceded the evangelical vote during presidential elections, but Sen. Barack Obama is trying to change that by mobilizing what some call the "Christian left."
As part of his outreach to evangelical voters, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Tuesday will tour the Eastside Community Ministry in Zanesville, Ohio, and give an address on how he plans to build what he calls a "real" partnership between faith-based organizations and the White House if he becomes president.
Obama's outreach to evangelical voters has also included private summits with pastors, an effort to reach out to young evangelicals and a fundraiser with the Matthew 25 political action committee, which describes itself as a group of moderate evangelicals, Catholics and Protestants committed to electing the Illinois Democrat president.
Matthew 25's name is inspired by a biblical passage, in the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus says, "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink." The name is meant to signal the group's focus on social justice concerns about hot-button cultural issues.
Brian McLaren, a former pastor who spent 24 years in the pulpit and is now an informal adviser to the Obama campaign, believes a significant portion of evangelical voters are ready to break from their traditional home in the the Republican Party and take a new leap of faith with Obama.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Aren’t they called Secular Progressives or Secular Humanists?
“Christian left” = no such thing.
A contradiction in terms.
Well there are some religious left people. They quote the Bible verse “blessed are the peacemakers” and say that we shouldn’t fight wars. And they lecture people about how Jesus preached to the poor and said the poor will always be with us, and based on that, they want expanded government social programs.
Those who support the killing of God’s babies may be Left, but they are not “Christian.” True Christians know the difference.
See my post # 1 above.
That the media even acknowledge such a group exists is a surprise in itself.
Here’s a term that describes exactly what these Obama-supporting Christians ought to be called:
‘Moderate Christians’
See the post below yours (#6) for my response.
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.Just a note to those on the "Christian Left" - your support of socialism is not YOU giving water, food, clothing, or comfort to the Lord.34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
It is simply you passing the buck to the government, and authorizing others to use force at your behest to steal property from its rightful owners.
It counts for NOTHING.
Being a "true Christian" is having faith in Christ, not being free from sin. None of us are.
The issue of murder of the unborn alone should preclude any true Christian from voting Democrat.
The proper term should be PAGAN left.
I have a friend who is definitely Christian left; she believes in the entire left-wing platform *except* she is pro-life.
“Being a “true Christian” is having faith in Christ, not being free from sin. None of us are.”
Agreed, however, actively supporting those who propogate evil in the world, knowingly supporting them. That, IMHO will leave one subject to judgement when that day comes. Ergo, voting for candidates that espouse and support those positions makes you just as guilty.
My leftist niece, who recently confessed to me that she’s an agnostic, once asked me if I didn’t agree that socialism is a more “Christian” form of government than capitalism.
I didn’t have an answer for her then, but after much thought I concluded that socialism actually discourages Christian practice precisely for the reasons you state. It allows people to divert the responsibility of caring for the poor and needy from themselves, which is what Christ intended, to an overweening yet impersonal government that writes checks instead of offering real compassion.
Worse, it gives unscrupulous politicians a mechanism for manipulating and exploiting people based on the largesse they have the power to distribute to select ‘victim’ groups.
There’s a reason Jesus said “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
Christian Communism is a form of religious communism centered around Christianity. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ compel Christians to support communism as the ideal social system. Although there is no universal agreement on the exact date when Christian communism was founded, many Christian communists assert that evidence from the Bible suggests that the first Christians, including the Apostles, created their own small communist society in the years following Jesus' death and resurrection. As such, many advocates of Christian communism argue that it was taught by Jesus and practiced by the Apostles themselves.
Christian communism can be seen as a radical form of Christian socialism. Also, due to the fact that many Christian communists have formed independent stateless communes in the past, there is also a link between Christian communism and Christian anarchism. Christian communists may or may not agree with various parts of Marxism. They certainly do not agree with the atheist views of most Marxists, but they do agree with some of the economic aspects of Marxist theory, such as the idea that capitalism exploits the working class by extracting surplus value from the workers in the form of profits. Christian communists also share some of the political goals of Marxists, for example replacing capitalism with socialism, which should in turn be followed by communism at a later point in the future. However, Christian communists sometimes disagree with Marxists (and particularly with Leninists) on the way a socialist or communist society should be organized. In general, Christian communism evolved independently of Marxism, and most Christian communists share the conclusions but not the underlying premises of Marxist communists.
Here’s something to provoke thought (I hope) in your friend.
“Matthew 25’s name is inspired by a biblical passage, in the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.””
Isn’t Jesus speaking on a personal level here? He’s talking about individual VOLUNTARY actions. What the Left espouses is confiscation of property (taxes) with the threat of jail. That is completely not Christian. On top of that, the Left uses those resources to fund very non-Christian activities.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.