from The Philadelphia Weekly
Among the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who turned out last Tuesday to vote their opposition to George W. Bush's and his "moral" agenda, Tony Campolo is a uniquely credible voice. Like most of those blamed for putting the White House in Republican hands for another four years, Campolo is an evangelical Christian."[Bush proposed cutting] 500,000 after-school slots for tutoring children in the city in order to nurture this tax relief for the rich. This is a moral issue. If we're gonna be concerned about biblical issues, we have to ask ourselves the question: Is it right to give money to the rich at the expense of services to the poor? And I'm dealing with the question of healthcare for the elderly. The Bible says we're supposed to take care of the elderly, and I find that in today's world we have people who are trying to choose between buying medicine and buying food. And this is no exaggeration. It's a moral issue. When the president of the United States promises to deliver, as he has, complete medical coverage for every man, woman and child in Iraq, I have to ask the question: Can't you provide complete medical coverage for every man, woman and child here in the States?"
3 comments:
Amen Brother Campolo!
Funny. I was just arguing these same things in my friend Ken's blog.
[At the bottom of these comments]I only tried to read the Bible once, and I didn't get very far. I remember liking this quote in Matthews and thinking that a lot of so called "christians" fall into this trap:
"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." (Matthew 5:13)
The way I interpretted this passage to mean that it's one thing to call yourself moral virtuous or even religious, but just because you describe yourself as such or attach fishies to your car doesn't mean anything if you ignore the basic tenets of treating other people with respect and kindness and empathy.
That's sort of how I see many modern day "christians" though-- as salt that's lost it's savour. They speak the words, but they don't hear the meaning. Or as the saying goes--they talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk.
Another section from Matthews that hit the mark was Matthew 7:15-16:
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?"
I take this to mean that a person can preach religion and pretend to represent beauty and peace, but underneath be a bully. And you will know he's a bully from his behavior. That's how I see President Bush-a false prophet, a wolf in sheep's clothing. And the give away is his aggressive tendencies.
Actually Matthew 7:21-23 is pretty clear about that as well:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'"
And the fishies on the expensive cars have always annoyed me. That's what I thought of when I read Matthew 6:19:
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal."
It's funny I remember all this well enough to find the quotes. It's been years since I read anything from the Bible. I guess I was just surprised that I agreed with these things, because I had always seen religion used to justify things whixh struck me as obnoxious.
Speaking of such things, did you hear that Yassar Arafat died. I bet he was poisoned. Man, this world is turning upside down. :(
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