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Graham out of line with theology of Jesus
Q: Did the Pentagon do the right thing by disinviting evangelist Franklin Graham from a National Day of Prayer event next week? Should government officials decide who can or cannot speak at such an event? Should the government proclaim a National Day of Prayer? Was a federal judge right to rule it unconstitutional?
The Pentagon did what it had to do in disinviting the Rev. Franklin Graham as the speaker for its National Day of Prayer event next week. There is no room for bigotry in the armed forces. Like it or not, the military is a microcosm of the United States and its pluralistic population, and those who sign up and serve, no matter their race, religion, sex or ethnicity, should be made to feel unwelcome.
It reeks of insulting arrogance for Frankln Graham to call the Muslim faith "evil." There is no room for such bigotry according to the gospel of Jesus the Christ.
It seems to me that the government put itself in fighting position when the National Day of Prayer was issued. In spite of all the times, ways and places the name of "God" is mentioned, there is always a flurry of protests when it seems that church and state are being mixed.
The protests seem a bit dramatic to me. Praying at a public event does not mean the church is trying to tell the state what to do, or vice versa, a situation which the Founding Fathers were trying to avoid when the Constitution was written.
And it seems a bit overblown when people get uptight about a prayer being uttered at a graduation. On the other hand, given the variety of religions in this country, I can see where the offered prayer always coming from the Christian tradition might be offensive to some.
But the debate about church/state relationship aside, it really does not feel "Christian" or even "American" for one who is going to speak to an ethnically, racially, sexually diverse group to call anyone or any of those entities "evil."
If I were a Muslim-American fighting for my country, I would be offended. If I were the mother of the Muslim American going to war, I would be furious.
Those young people need all the encouragement they can get, religion notwithstanding. They are going to fight because they love this country, because they respect this country, and, truth be told, because they want to prove that they are as "American" as any white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
One of the hardest lessons Jesus taught was that we were to love each other, no matter who we were. As an African American, I was taught by my mother that I was to love white people, even those who didn't seem to care a hoot about anyone who didn't look like them.
Part of loving someone, she would say, is to respect what another person stands for. You don't have to agree with them, she'd say, but you have to respect them...as you would want to be respected.
That is the lesson that it seems too many Christians seem not to have been taught. It is foolhardy and, again, arrogant to believe that God made all the different people in the world that God made, only to send hundreds of millions of them to hell for not being Christian.
There is one God. Different mediators --Jesus, Allah, and so on -- but one God.
There are no religions with a crystal clear history. Christians have done our share of "evil" in the world. So, in my opinion, Graham was out of line and theologically at odds with what Jesus the Christ taught.
The federal judge who ruled National Day of Prayer unconstitutional was probably right, but that statement is based on my very limited understanding of the Constitution and all of its interpretative nuances.
But clearly, the God who taught us that we are to love unconditionally ...would not condone any of us putting down another's religion. There is nothing loving or unconditional about doing that at all.
By
Susan K. Smith
|
April 27, 2010; 4:32 PM ET
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Posted by: nikosd99 | May 1, 2010 11:36 AM
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Susan K. Smith, which parts of the following scriptures don't you understand?
1 Timothy 2:1-5 "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is ONE GOD, and ONE MEDIATOR between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"
1.Galatians 1:8,9 "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."
John 3:16-18 " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
It is so wearisome that so many of these false teachers, who have no understanding whatsoever of the Holy Bible and the gospel of Jesus Christ, fill the pulpits and spread their worldly philosophy.
One final word. All the evil done in the world was not done by true Christians. They were done by those who, like yourself, supposed themselves to be Christians.
Posted by: nikosd99 | April 30, 2010 11:21 PM
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Ms. Smith is mistaken in her interpretation of the scriptures.
There are not multiple mediators to God. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO GOD - through Jesus.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
Any statement to the contrary is taking a stand against Jesus. This article implies her promoting multiple paths to God.
Luke 11:23
" He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters."
Posted by: EastCoastCommentator | April 29, 2010 3:26 PM
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Susan K. Smith stated, "That is the lesson that it seems too many Christians seem not to have been taught. It is foolhardy and, again, arrogant to believe that God made all the different people in the world that God made, only to send hundreds of millions of them to hell for not being Christian.........So, in my opinion, Graham was out of line and theologically at odds with what Jesus the Christ taught."
That's a pretty bold statement for Ms. Smith to make. So, let's see what Jesus has to say about the masses. Bear in mind, God doesn't send anyone to hell; they choose to go there.
Matthew 7:13-15 "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
That strait gate and narrow way is none other than Jesus Christ.
In the same chapter, verses 21-23, Jesus has this to say about all those who supposed themselves to be Christians, but were anything but. These are the ones, I'm sure, that prompted Ms. Smith to lay blame for many of the evils done in the world at the feet of Christianity.
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
I suggest, Ms. Smith, that you get yourself saved and "born again". Then get into The Word to learn Truth.