Janet Edwards
Co-Moderator of More Light Presbyterians

Janet Edwards

Rev. Dr. Edwards is a Presbyterian minister living in Pittsburgh. She currently serves as co-Moderator of More Light Presbyterians.

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You cannot serve God and wealth

Delaware GOP Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell this weekend attended the annual conservative Values Voters summit in Washington, DC. There, she emphasized that although she is backed by the Tea Party, she is also a politician who "toiled for years in the values movement," alluding to her longtime work as a Christian activist.

What is the Tea Party? Is it "a recession-era version of the religious right?" Is it something else? And if the Tea Party is not a religious movement, why is it raising up candidates like O'Donnell who has a strong background of religious activism?

"You cannot serve both God and wealth (Luke 16:13)." I fear that the Tea Party may to be trying to do just that.

To be clear, the Tea Party is not a religious movement even though it does have religious elements within it - mainly evangelical Christians who have a heartfelt desire to serve God. What's actually more common than the Christine O'Donnell "values movement" style of activism among Tea Party candidates is a harsh libertarian streak. These conscious or unconscious devotees of Ayn Rand trust that hyper-individualism is the foundation for the American dream and so work toward a world where there is no government that would meddle in anything which might hinder their pursuit of wealth. It's a kind of religious zeal that fuels this kind of Tea Partier.

I see the Tea Party as a strange amalgam of these two elements: those seeking to serve God and those seeking to serve wealth. So the question then is who benefits from these unlikely bedfellows?

Best to apply that wisdom from the political tsunami that still blows chaotically through American politics, Nixon and Watergate: "Follow the money." Sadly, very, very few of these Tea Party candidates would have gotten to the first chicken dinner or the nearest voter database in the general election without masses of money flowing in from people who are neither Christian nor libertarian. Jane Mayer in The New Yorker has served the country best in shedding light upon who these big-money backers are and what they really care about. These men are happy to eviscerate government or turn it to serve them. Either way, they win.

Sadly, this flood of corporate money will no doubt continue until Election Day.

So Jesus turns out to be correct: wealth, not God, will most likely be served in this election. And it's the values voter like me who sees Jesus paying primary attention to the poor and government as a counterweight to human greed that will get swept away by the storm.

By Janet Edwards  |  September 22, 2010; 10:08 AM ET Save & Share:  Send E-mail   Facebook   Twitter   Digg   Yahoo Buzz   Del.icio.us   StumbleUpon   Technorati  
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Secret (opposite REVEALation):

The Reason for "Sodom n Gomorrah" is, ironicaly True (opposite MYTH). WHY?

Because, "Non-Straight"s, aka Gays (Sorry Parents) is that they are an "ARMY"! An Army Of Vile Human(s)! NOt like US straight HUUMATE(s)! Hence Why They Must Be STOPED! Not Destroyed in These AquariUS times, Zero from Pisces-age Times of Lores! How Luck they [non-Straights] have Come. So, Throw Them All out of The Military & Federal, State & Local Systems NOW, NOW! Not Later!

IT is TiME!

If ye/Yo Believe in Scripture, or some of the Truths therein, Then Ye/Yo Will Believe US EKLAH-t-iON's (zero OFF's), whom com'th to Save Ye/Yo's, justly fo a time via Holyi TiME! Behold: The REFRESHING!

Soo, If Ye/Yo con't see what WE[i] See'th or Warn'th, Then Death to yo/YE all [Pre-Apocalyptic-OFFs] MEMETiCs (Posterity)! Not US (Apocalyptic On's) on/of S.pace-S.hip Earth!!

Posted by: woodstock-41 | September 27, 2010 10:32 PM
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TO: Daniel HEiMBACH {Blocker of Posts] ; On; "WHY DADT must Stay" (09.27.10):

Dear Bredren, Brother, Bright.. (Note: Huggs n a Kiss's To all da Sistrens, Sisters, SisStars.. too):

AMAZiNG, NO GRACE! iNteresting!

A little bit of a tangent. "DADT" intent/purpose is fo Non-Straights NOt to Advertise 'openly' their Sexual Preferences or Sexual Orientations [Similar] in Military or else where, aye!?

So, Earlier on On 'onfaith' {the Greatest Blog On Earth, ya ya] that Mr. Gustav Niebuhr wrote, entitled,; "DADT [Gays] & Church [of England], r Ahead of the Politico/a [U.S.] (similar said.Soo

i[WE] Eklaht-i-ON's or Apocalyptic-ON's (not Apocalyptic-Offs), or simply HUUMATE(s) of S.S. Earth argue THAT

WE[i] Huumates (NOt Humans) or APOCALYPTARiANS (Not PRE-Apocalyptarians) If it becomes O.K. to Openly for None-Straights Advertise ones SEXual Desires, on a Same Sex Basis: that, THEN The Military should make a special Rule/Provision for OPENLY ANTi-Xristians, Anti-Ju's, Anyi-Mormons, Anti-Ishlami's, Anti-Hindus/Seiks/Jains & Anti Buddhist folk in da Military! Note: SEX IS NOt LOVE: KLiFE IS! Soo then,

Think of a Don't Ask Don't Speak-out Against Pre-Apocalyptic Human's and their Religio-Preferences or Religious-Orientations question, aye!!??

Example: If I told Me Captain, Adjadent, Seargant, Generla etc.. that "i Dislike JU's, or Dislike Xrstians, or Hate Muslims. or any raggggg-hheads..lala O-P-E-N-L-Y, then what will ye yo Do to i[WE] US????

So, under the "EQUAL PROTECTiON" of our Holyi U.S. CONSTITUTION (born/made via Miracle: a Holy Holy Truth) that if Ye Yo's allow da Gay to Be OPEN about SEX (prefrences/Orientation) THEN WE[i] Eklahtions, aka Apocalyptarian Nationals sahould be Able to Be Open about OUR "Religious" Prefrences/ or Orientaions. aye Boss!????

Bottom Line: VOTE: Do-Not, i[WE[ repeat, NO-Repeal DADT et al!!!!!

Secret (opposite Revealation): Foreign Agents can Compromise and infiltrate the Pentagon et al institutions;

2nd Secret: Fact: Those folks behind Exposing The Classified Military Documents/pages recently of the U.S. War Effort (a great Embarrassment & Danger to our Coalitions straught-Guys & straight Gals [Bless them] was and is spread'd via GAYS! GAYS! within da Military!!!! via Non-Straights!@ aka Commy Finkle Fagarino's!! O' QUEEEERS! TROUBLE MAKERS! Pleazza, Better Suckk on Lolli-Poppis! Oye! Oye!

So: GAY to GAY "HONEY-TRAPS" {for Espionage Activities etc.. via none-Straights is a THREAT To U.S. (includes Other Nations) NATIiONAL SECURITY+!}

VOTE: NO Repeal "DADT". DO Not Fix What is NOt-Broken Generals, Congress, Mr. Prez et al!!! Else

Shoot oneself w/out shooting a Shot" [Similar].! So, Gay-Scare + Ishlami-Scare Spread is REAL! And GAY-PHOBIA & ISHLAMi PHOBIA; is O.K. to Experience. aka Right Thinking!! Never let any one Fool Ye, or make ye/yo as if Guilty Mind! O' Satanic VersUS QUUEER CHURCH & CO.!

Posted by: woodstock-41 | September 27, 2010 9:15 PM
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Also, let's not forget Martin Luther on the peasants. Here's the first lines:

Against the rioting peasants, Martin Luther.

In my earlier book on this matter,1 I did not venture to judge the peasants, since they had offered to be corrected and to be in structed;2 and Christ in Matthew 7 [:1] commands us not to judge. But before I could even inspect the situation,3 they forgot their promise and violently took matters into their own hands and are robbing and raging like mad dogs. All this now makes it clear that they were trying to deceive us and that the assertions they made in their Twelve Articles4 were nothing but lies presented under the name of the gospel. To put it briefly, they are doing the devil’s work. This is particularly the work of that archdevil who rules at Mühlhausen,5 and does nothing except stir up rob bery, murder, and bloodshed; as Christ describes him in John 8 [:44], “He was a murderer from the beginning.” Since these peas ants and wretched people have now let themselves be misled and are acting differently than they promised, I, too, must write differ ently of them than I have written, and begin by setting their sin before them, as God commands Isaiah [58:1] and Ezekiel [2:7], on the chance that some of them may see themselves for what they are. Then I must instruct the rulers how they are to conduct themselves in these circumstances.

Posted by: Martial | September 23, 2010 12:00 AM
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That camel through the eye of needle stuff was an admonition to build bigger needles.


Posted by: Martial | September 22, 2010 11:55 PM
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The Tea Party is not attempting to serve wealth, it is seeking responsibility isn government. I pray the registering of the small tax exempt entities will mean soon that all entities will face a flat tax and the income tax era in the United States will end. How it is rolled out is not my concern, as long as it is across the board. A consumption tax has it's advantages just as a flat tax on all revenue. That would include revenue generated from any source in the United States, by any entity based in the United States, or any entity doing business with anyone in the United States. There would be no more tax exempt entities, they would pay taxes no matter what their self serving project was whether it promoted, religion, soberity, abortion, civil rights, due process, health care, insurance, community developement, and or human resources.

Posted by: phjesuswarrior7 | September 22, 2010 4:50 PM
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