Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
@#$%
Labeling is
notoriously imprecise; though my daddy is pretty good when it comes to labeling
liberals and conservatives.
He says, "A
conservative is somebody who hates to see anything happen for the first
time."
"A
liberal," according to his dictionary, "is somebody with two feet
planted firmly in the air; and when you look into her/his eyes, you can't
tell if she/he is having a vision of God or didn't get to the toilet
in time."
But even my
daddy, when he looks at church and state politics today, admits labeling is
notoriously imprecise.
@#$%
Republicans, by
conventional definition, want less government, more individual freedom, and
don't want to share their money with the poor.
Democrats,
generalizing again, want more government because they don't think people are
smart enough to be free and don't like people who have become rich by
inheriting or working for it which is why they're not shy about stealing it
from them in the name of taxation with decreasing representation.
Independents are
double-minded.
Libertarians want
to be left alone.
Socialists are
naked Democrats.
Non-partisans who
actually think for themselves are rare.
@#$%
Not so surprising
anymore, it's
hard to distinguish church from state politics by SOPs and praxis.
Content may
differ but intent/form is the same.
Substantial
divergence yet stylistic similarity.
Ideological
fascism has replaced possibilities for conciliation; and forget reconciliation.
Most of today's
civil and ecclesiastical politicians are the same.
They're cut from
the same cloth.
My-way-or-the-highway.
Control freaks.
Convert or
destroy.
If they
can't take over, they'll pick up their marbles and play somewhere
else.
Really, it's
getting sooooooo hard
to distinguish church from state politics.
@#$%
The last real liberal
that I met was while working on my last worthless degree.
He was Cobb and
Griffin's mentor; and if you don't know what I'm talking about, consider
yourself blessed.
Well, I had to
write this qualifying paper on "my" theology of ministry.
He gave me an A
with this note under the grade: 'It would be nice if you moved out of the 16th
century."
Now that's a real
liberal!
Real liberals
don't really stand for anything while entertaining and enabling
everything/everyone.
@#$%
The last real
conservative that I met was...
That's a hard one
because conservatives come in all ideological flavors; preserving and promoting
what they know
is right for them and
everybody else and purifying aka inquisitioning (Yep!) anyone who won't
conform to whatever they're being conservative about.
That's how real
conservatives, uh, operate to dominate.
Real
conservatives stand firmly for whatever they stand firmly about while
excluding/exterminating everything/everyone disagreeing with 'em.
@#$%
O.K., all of the
preceding is notoriously imprecise.
I told you that
labeling was notoriously imprecise in the first clause of the first sentence up
top.
The problem is we
keep trying to fit into those labels and ideologies and...
It's dividing and
destroying us.
@#$%
There's got to be
a better way.
There is.
He is.
Jesus by the book.
@#$%
Jesus by the book - just read
the red letters for a quick summary - invites, welcomes, includes, and loves
everybody with a distinctive agape
that really, really, really wants and works for the highest good of
everybody regardless of class, color, or culture with no need or expectation
for response, regard, or reward.
Unlike the
ideological fascisms of our day so notoriously promoted by politics and
religion, only Jesus can/wants to reconcile everybody.
Only Jesus loves
everybody.
Yeah, read John
3:16-17 again.
According to
Luther, and I think he's right or I wouldn't mention this, those two verses are
"the gospel in a nutshell."
Only Jesus saves.
Only Jesus wants to save everybody.
Anyone remotely
literate knows that...comparatively.
@#$%
Thinking about
today's plague of ideological fascisms, I thought of one of America's most
honest theologians, Kurt Vonnegut, who said to conclude a sermon at NYC's St.
Clement's Episcopal Church on Palm Sunday in 1980: "People don't
come to church for preachments, of course, but to daydream about God. I
thank you for your sweetly faked attention."
Well, it's time
to pay attention to Jesus first, foremost, always, and only.
If we don't we'll
fall for the imprecise labels and the rise of ideological fascism.
@#$%
Blessings and Love!
@#$%
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