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Cheers and Jeers
LETTERS

Socialism replaced religion
I totally agree with Katarina Beck’s letter to the editor (“European disbelief,” March/April 2007). But I see one other dimension.

I came from Germany to the United States in 1957 at the age of 25. I vividly experienced WW 2, the aftermath and the beginning of what is called “The Economic Miracle.” From 1949 to 1957 I worked for the largest automobile manufacturer and came in contact with many people.

The malaise of Germany and of Europe can be described in one word, Socialism. It has replaced religion. Germany lost two wars with devastating results, World War II accounting for about six million dead.

There now prevails a general feeling that God has left the continent and it’s up to the people to control their lives. Socialism has pervaded every aspect of life, nearly every person depends to some degree on the state and that gives the people the feeling that they don’t need God, the state is there for me; regardless what happens, I am taken care of. As a result, regular church attendance is between five and ten percent in all countries including the Catholic countries with the exception of Poland.

Karl Marx stated that “religion is the opium of the masses.” This became the credo of the Socialists. A 1911 manifest of the British Socialist Party declared: “It is a profound truth that Socialism is the natural enemy of religion.” Successive governments in nearly all European countries weaved socialism into every part of the life of all its citizens and, in a perverse reversal. Socialism is now the opium of the masses. That is so sad.

H. K. Rahlfs
Fredericksburg,Texas

 

Christianity and our
very lives are being challenged today by the radical elements of the Islamic faith. All Christians must recognize the challenge, set aside our differences, and come together with emphasis on the time-tested fundamentals of our faith. If we don’t do this, our children and grandchildren will almost surely face a world foreign to all we hold dear.

Challenges ahead
Christian churches as a whole must recognize that we are in a world wide battle over our comprehension of our Creator’ s directions to his creation. Through Holy Scripture God has given us an instruction manual as to how we can best live our lives that has been proven authentic by results over the past several millennia. Man’s understanding has at times been diverted by believing that he knows more than God, leading him to do things against God’s will. At the most important of these times he sent his Son to correct the Jew’s misunderstanding of his full purpose. Later the Roman Emperor Constantine decided that he could use the Christians to strengthen his Empire by making Christianity the state religion. After a few centuries of the “Dark Ages,” God brought the world the reformation leaders and the Renaissance with its emphasis on the power and beauty of God’s Word and the dignity of each individual life. This eventually led in turn to the growth of freedom over all the Western world and new lives for many of the people as they moved to America and found true freedom of religion and manifold opportunity.

These precepts of liberty and equality, with God as our guide, have met many challenges through the years since. But now, in a new century, we have had our senses dulled by prosperity, government aid programs, and success. Our understanding of the words of our Lord is missing even among many church members. For the members of any denomination to quibble in any substantive way with our traditional Christian values is the road to disaster for us all. If we don’t know and accept the wisdom of the Bible, we are not prepared for the problems that lie ahead for our families, our churches and our country. God is always ready to lead us but we must know his word and have the humility to recognize that his Lordship is the way to ultimate fulfillment for each of us.

Christianity and our very lives are being challenged today by the radical elements of the Islamic faith. Our Western world has brought some of this on ourselves with our growing acceptance of pornography, filthy television, x-rated movies, abortion, and apparent approval of homosexual lifestyles. The Muslim world sees this and assumes that we all approve of this trash, leading them to think that the elimination of America is necessary. A leader of Iran has publicly stated several times that when they have their nuclear weapons on line their first order of business will be to wipe Israel off the map and that America will be next. At first we paid little attention, but now it appears they will soon have the capability to do so. We know that there is a more immediate risk of more terrorist attacks like those on 911, made ever more probable by the inroads of radical Islam into Western society. Europe is close to becoming Muslim. And America is not immune. We have just elected our first Muslim member to the House of Representatives, who insisted on giving his oath of office on the Koran rather than the Bible.

All Christians must recognize the challenge, set aside our differences, and come together with emphasis on the time-tested fundamentals of our faith. If we don’t do this our children and grandchildren will surely face a world foreign to all we hold dear.

George Meacham
Clinton, Oklahoma

 

Bush library
I was appalled by Kathy Gilbert’s article, “Bush Controversy at SMU” (March/April 2007). She states that several United Methodist bishops have signed a petition to pressure Southern Methodist University to drop its bid for the George W. Bush Presidential Library. The reason is that President Bush does not uphold United Methodist principles in his policies. Having followed President Bush’s actions through the news media for the past six years, I believe that he has attempted to follow God’s principles to the best of his ability. Being human, he has made mistakes—as we all do.

Although I have been a member of the United Methodist Church for my entire life, I confess that I am not familiar with every detail in the UM Book of Discipline. I suspect that neither is President Bush. I would say that God’s principles trump anything in this book.

Gilbert quotes the Rev. Andrew J. Weaver, one of the organizers of the “Protect SMU” petition drive, as saying that, because SMU is owned by the United Methodist Church, UM members should be able to express their opinion on this matter. I agree wholeheartedly. Every member should have their opinion heard. Sadly, this is

seldom, if ever, the case. I would not have known about the controversy without GOOD NEWS. Often ordinary members of the UM Church are misrepresented by the hierarchy of the church. I believe this to be true here. And we wonder why people are leaving the church at an alarming rate?

Thank God there are still many UM members that have not been “evangelized” by some of our bishops in the thinking being taught by some of our seminaries and universities. Our roots run deep!

Glenn Pickering
Vicksburg, Mississippi

 

Gospel of radical inclusion
I agree that the current mainline “theology” is radical in its separation from Christianity. When I attempted to have my Presbyterian Church (USA) session take steps to protest the actions of the General Assembly, on two occasions, I was rejected. In subsequent conversations with individual

members I got comments like “Oh, you’re old school” and “I see, you’re a literalist.” The last was amusing in that my knowledge of the Bible is less than salutory. I gave up and terminated my membership so that no money would go to the denomination in my name. Of course, the PCUSA handles reduction in funds by reducing missionary support: but continues to support the National Council of Churches and World Council of Churches and other left wing political causes. It’s clear to me that the mainline denominations will continue on their course in large measure because the majority of their members don’t know what’s happening and don’t want to know.

Fred Edwards
Via email



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