[WideRight05]

There was a time in my life when one could usually believe what was said on the nightly news. The crime rate was invisible, politicians did not play to the camera the way they do now. And, there was genuine respect between the two parties. The congressional differences, gridlock and slander we see in this day, are born of contempt and would have been unthinkable during the Reagan era. And, though there are plenty enough philosophical divides to go around, the contempt and slander seen as common place in this day are the results of clashes that occur along spiritual lines. Some want to continue to honor God by legislating as our fathers did, and some see that as passe and simple minded. Words cannot adequately express the sense of well being we all felt in those days. Jobs were plentiful, great paying and sure. The future was something looked forward to with great enthusiasm.

When society got to the point that some rapper felt proud to come on media outlets and post pictures of 8 women with whom he has fathered children, was about the same time I realized something. A big part of America's problem with welfare and hungry children is due to all these absentee fathers. Fathers used to get married if they got their girlfriend pregnant. Now they post their pictures online and laugh about it while my government forces me to pay for their sexual misdeeds. Trust me Wide, America is on it's head. What was once wrong is now right, and vice versa.

Oh, TRT, if only I would have ever got to seen the days where society was actually good. I grew up in the 90's, right during the Clinton era. I vaguely remember seeing the media as a young child during Bush I, and the president back then seemed like such an honorable figure. The media probably had their share of bias, but there was nowhere near the emotion and lack of competence that appeared toward the later part of the 90's.

Society has really liberalized in a lot of ways. For example, I was with a friend and his grandmother a while back at my previous church. We went to a local restaurant that served alcohol. We didn't think anything of it, and his grandmother (who is now approaching her 90's), refused to eat anywhere that served alcohol. We considered it uncommon in this time, but it was probably common years ago. I wonder if, scary to think, the same attitudes will develop toward gays and abortions years from now. In fact, I know somebody that is from Canada who says that gay rights isn't even an issue there and marriage is allowed. Nobody fights it. I hope our society don't come to that day.

A better question would be, "Can you be politically involved in any way and be a Christian?"

The political government in this country is the most mischevious, conniving, backstabbing, Godless entity this world has ever seen. All to often we even find conservatives who sway away from there beliefs to satisfy certain people.

Stay away and vote for the best you can. Ive done it the last two elections and was defeated both times, however, to know i didnt try to help defeat one of the worst would have made me as a person feel worse.

RIUTG, you make a good point with that post. You can be politically involved and be a Christian. Mitt Romney certainly wasn't the person I would have liked to put forth in this election. However, he was the most polished of the two turds.

I could probably name a few "Christian conservatives" whose actions were different from their words from the moment they took office. Picture it like this. If a politician starts waving his Bible around, says he is going to make an effort to stop abortion, gay marriage, and represent Christ in every way and he lies to the people, that will be between him and God and he will suffer for it. However, if we choose somebody like Barack Obama knowing what he represents, then that makes it between us and God.

There's a lot more tools used than apathy.....more assertive ones! My grand daughter was very disillusioned, and learned a lot of things her first semester. She was recruited to work in the election (local election for a Republican). Even some of her professors publicly commented on her decision. I hope your son is solid, too; she was, but this was an eye opening experience for her.

College professors...ugh! I remember the days of dreading going to class because of some douche that used class time to try to humiliate students because of their political beliefs. I'm so glad to be out of college - and it's still fun coming back some time and rubbing it in some of my professors' faces.

Coming from a freewill baptist background I have seen moments like this. and i think it's all in how you take the message.. Arguing with my wife is impossible.. She hangs on one this I said instead of listening to the point of the message.. Then she keeps on arguing..
When people hear that something they enjoy doing is wrong it offends them and they go about the rest of their day trying to justify what they enjoy. I understand that.

I like Harry Potter and the Percy Jackson series. I love a good read.. It doesn't make me any less christian, but I can see where people will want to believe that this can be the truth.

As far as a christian being a liberal, I'm not sure about that. I think a Christian can have an open mind about other people's beliefs, while standing firm in theirs..
The problem I see is that most "christians" try to convert everyone they meet. That offends the "non-believers" Then everyone trys to say that all christians just want to preach AT them.. .

I have friends that are gay though.. and they know how I feel about it. but that doesn't mean i'm going to stop talking to them just because they don't believe like me. I'm not the best christian either so I know that i have no room to just a single soul in this world. I know my life and i know my thoughts. That's all i know for fact.

You hit it CTD, especially in that last paragraph. It was Jesus himself who said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Although I would certainly put myself in the "sick" category 95% of the time, I would think that Jesus would have been at places like bars trying to work with people. In fact, I'm sure you're familiar with the band Korn, one of their lead singers is a Christian and he has witnessed to people in places like bars. It is amazing to think of the great work that people could do, if we could get some of the Christian to quit acting like they are too high and mighty to help others.

I believe many of the present day Christian churches are more interested in social events (ski trips and theme parties- like the Super Bowl- for the youth, shopping trips for the elderly, luncheons for the ladies, sporting event trips for the gentlemen, etc.) than they are in carrying out the dictates of the scriptures. Many churches seem to be moving toward being social clubs of sorts.

Good post Harry, and this response will be directed at all of us.

Since we have seen and agreed to a problem that exists in churches today, what are ways we can be great examples to impacting others and potentially leading them to God?