:Reasonable Force

I neglected to mention that Arthur Chrenkoff has released a sixth installment in his series of updates on the unreported good news from Afghanistan. If you haven’t been reading these and you have some time (as they are quite long!), you can access all of the articles on Iraq and Afghanistan from a special section in my sidebar.

All the furor over Iraq and our political tug-of-war has caused many of us, I think, to miss what a truly remarkable thing it is for the Afghan people to have their first democratically elected leader and to be emerging from under the oppressive rule of the Taliban.

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(hat tip: Antioch Road)

Christianity Today reports that the Episcopal Church USA, already embroiled in controversy over their uncritical acceptance of an actively homosexual bishop, has now incorporated rituals for women that are represented as recognizing a feminine aspect of God, but in actuality can only be compared Scripturally to worship practices specifically condemned by God in the Old Testament.

There are so many things in this to object to from a standpoint of Biblical Christianity, but I’ll start with one of CT‘s observations:

“Our ancient sisters called you Queen of Heaven,” says the Episcopal liturgy. That’s a reference to Jeremiah. And not a happy one. In Jeremiah 7, God complains, “The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.” The liturgy’s reference to defiant women worshipping the Queen of Heaven with cakes comes directly from Jeremiah 44:

Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you. But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” And the women said, “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

In other words, it wasn’t their brothers and husbands that the women were defying: It was God.

when I started writing this post, I went to the Women’s Ministries website of the Episcopal Church USA and read the Women’s Eucharist for myself. Apparently in response to the publicity from the article referenced above, however, the page has been removed and the following statement has been posted:

We have been astounded and grateful for the number of people who have taken an interest in The Office of Women’s Ministries of the Episcopal Church through Christianity Today’s recent weblog, “Episcopal Church Officially Promotes Idol Worship,” as posted by Ted Olsen on October 26, 2004.

The material questioned in Olsen’s article, “A Women’s Eucharist: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine” was sent to us in good faith in response to our recent call for resources. We regret we did not realize that the material was copyright protected. Proper notifications were not included by mistake and so the page has been withdrawn from our website.

We profoundly regret that Christianity Today did not contact us before making claims such as, “…leaders of the Episcopal Church USA are promoting pagan rites to pagan deities.” The resources listed on our website are not approved liturgies of the Episcopal Church. These liturgies are intended to spark dialogue, study, conversation and ponderings around women and our liturgical tradition. There is quite a difference in presenting resources for people’s interest and enlightenment and promoting resources as official claims of the Episcopal Church. Only General Convention has this authority.

The current liturgy project – A Call for Resources: The Women’s Liturgy Project – and the Women’s Worship Resources section on our website is a grassroots, organic, interactive process. It is an offering to open the awareness of the many voices and needs that exist among people in the church as we all strive to find expressions of our life, love and faith in God.

Amazingly, the only ‘regret’ expressed is that a copyright was unknowingly violated; not, as one might expect, that pagan idolatry was promoted as “an offering to open the awareness of the many voices and needs that exist among people in the church as we all strive to find expressions of our life, love and faith in God.”

One is hardly likely to find expression of love and faith in God by offering up raisin cakes to the Queen of Heaven, clearly associated in Jeremiah with the pagan practices of the peoples conquered by the Hebrews. Of course, it may be that the ECUSA isn’t aware of the reference since they don’t seem to have much use for the Bible when hammering out doctrine.

The objection that the liturgies on the Women’s Ministries page do not constitute approved liturgies of the Episcopal Church is noted, but not convincing given that viewers are encouraged to make use of the proffered resources. Whether those posting such items have the authority or approval of the General Convention or not, there is an implicit stamp of approval on them.

Unmentioned in the Women’s Ministries statement by the Reverend Margaret Rose, but also removed from the page of women’s worship resources is the Liturgy of Divorce, cited in the Christianity Today article as follows:

While the couple have promised in good faith to love until parted by death, in some marriages the love between a wife and a husband comes to an end sooner. Love dies, and when that happens we recognize that the bonds of marriage, based on love, also may be ended . God calls us to right relationships based on love, compassion, mutuality, and justice. Whenever any of these elements is absent from a marital relationship, then that partnership no longer reflects the intentionality of God.

While well in keeping with modern sensibilities, this reflects a profoundly un-Biblical view of marriage. Doubtless, it was removed due to another “copyright” issue and its appearance in the same Christianity Today article is merely coincidence.

When God sent Jeremiah to call them to renounce their idolatrous practices and return in repentance to the One, True God (Jer. 44:7-9), their answer was that they would fulfill their vows to the Queen of Heaven. This despite God’s reminder that it was these very practices that brought about the destruction of Judah in the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. God’s response to the recalcitrant idolaters who had already been driven into Egypt by the destruction of Judah, is very instructive:

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have shown by your actions what you promised when you said, ‘We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.’ Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! But hear the word of the LORD, all Jews living in Egypt: ‘I swear by my great name,’ says the LORD, ‘that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, “As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives.” For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand – mine or theirs. (Jer. 44:25-28)

The emphasis is mine, and that is exactly what the Episcopal Church USA has forgotten: His word will stand, whether they acknowledge its authority or not. Let’s be much in prayer for these folks and their leaders as the entire Anglican Communion deals with the fallout of their decisions. At the same time, let us take heed to hold fast on the authority of Scripture in our own churches and denominations. When you begin to cast it aside in favor of more enlightened wisdom you heed the whispers of the serpent in the garden of Eden, echoing down through the ages, “Did God really say…?“

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My sister, who has only recently begun blogging under the moniker blestwithsons, dropped a pearl of wisdom in this post on contentment.

Here’s a snippet:

Contentment is an elusive virtue. After all, we live in a country where contentment would be very bad for the economy and every commercial crusades against it. We are fast approaching Thanksgiving and I have to remind myself not to wait until that certain Thursday to count my blessings through a turkey-induced haze.

One of the great enemies of contentment is a false array of expectations of what life is supposed to be like and how I am supposed to get to spend “My Time”.

I have four little boys, the oldest is six, and with them the hits just keep on coming. Laundry never stops, my floor looks like a very successful breeding program for endangered breakfast cereals, and someone is always hungry. (especially me!) Proverbs 31 says someday my children will rise up and call me blessed – right now they just rise up and call me.

By all means, go read the rest. The girl has a gift with words though, with her four boys (my fine nephews) to my one, I don’t know how she finds time to blog at all. When she does it’s worth reading. You can find her blog, packed head in my sidebar under Friends & Family, as well as her motherhood-oriented blog, blest with sons.

I can’t take credit for her talent, but I can take the blame for unleashing her on the blogosphere!

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Chuck Colson is a highly respected voice in the evangelical community. In this op-ed he wrote for TownHall.com he takes those of us to task who suggest that the strong turnout of Christian conservatives in last Tuesday’s election entitles us to expect a more values-conscious government.

The reason evangelicals and conservative Catholics voted for Bush, I believe, is because they know he shares many the values of middle America . Thomas Friedman bemoaned in the New York Times Thursday morning when he said, “I woke up and realized that these people want a different kind of America.” Well, he’s right. We want an America that respects moral truth and moral values, and we reject the social chaos that results from postmodern relativism.

But I am tired of reading articles about evangelicals voting for Bush because they want to “get something” from him, and I disassociate myself from anyone who says, “Now we voted for you, it’s payback time. Give us our due.” That’s what special interest groups do, and we’re not a special interest group. We vote our conscience and what we believe is in the best general interest: That’s called common grace. We are looking for the godliest leader we can find, who also is able—as Jethro advised Moses.

I don’t disagree with Mr. Colson on his assessment of the President. I believe that he is genuinely a man of faith and conviction who does his best to govern all Americans without compromising his Biblical values. The government as a whole, however, can’t be characterized the same way. All we have to do is observe the trend toward liberal values, even with so-called conservatives in the majority, and it should be understandable why some of us view the exit polls showing values as a prime mover as having given us some political capital that we should use while we have the opportunity.

It may be, however, that I haven’t fully understood Mr. Colson’s thrust, particularly since his organization, Prison Fellowship Ministries, through its Wilberforce Forum, has always been an advocate for Christian involvement in the shaping of public policy.

Contrary to the popular atheist opinion, I don’t want a theocracy and roll my eyes every time someone suggests that is the aim of evangelicals. To be completely honest, I haven’t fully worked out my view of what a Christian’s right relationship to the State ought to be, though I’m studying up. All I know at this point is that we have been blessed with citizenship in a representative republic, giving us a responsibility for letting those who represent us know where we stand on the issues of the day. The voices of liberalism and secularism have exerted tremendous influence in our country; if Washington is, for a season at least, more inclined to give ear to evangelical Christians as voters and constituents I feel like that’s a good thing.

I fully recognize, however, that legislation, while it may restrain some of the evil that men and women do, will not change hearts. That is what God desires to do through us as His witnesses. If we falter at that task, any seeming victories we claim at the government level will likely have a backlash.

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Australian blogger, Arthur Chrenkoff continues to shed light on the unreported positives from the “quagmire.”

There’s so much here that I usually don’t quote from these installments, but I really liked the sound of this last part about security and the growing proficiency of Iraqi forces, trained and equipped by the coalition (yes, I said coalition.)

The increased presence and professionalism of the Iraqi security forces are bringing results on the battlefield with insurgents. Around 160 Arab fighters have recently appeared in Iraqi courts on terrorist charges. The Egyptian, Iranian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Syrian, Yemenite and Moroccan nationals face death penalty if convicted under the Iraqi law. “The Arabs have been referred to Iraqi courts and the verdicts against these foreigners are due to be pronounced soon for acts of terror they carried out in Iraq,” said Iraqi Justice Minister Malik Dohan al-Hassan said. The 160 are a part of a larger group of some 3,000 suspected insurgents arrested in recent security operations across Iraq, according to the Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Among those arrested are said to be one of Izzat al-Duri’s deputy and his assistant (al-Duri, a former vice-president, is the suspected leader of Baathist insurgents). (emphasis mine. -SCP)

Gee, I wonder why fanatics from all of these other Arab nations are flocking to Iraq to blow up Iraqis? Because they realize that a successful Democracy in their midst stands to change everything. Call it the birth pains of a new Arab civilization.

One last bit on the continued doom-and-gloom reporting on Iraq:

James S Robbins writes about the dearth of good story reporting from Iraq:

“You can glean scores of interesting stories from the web if you search enough, from service-member blogs, public-affairs websites, and some local papers, especially in military towns. Most of the reporting comes from the units in the field, the people close to the scene who live it daily and know the facts. Nevertheless, it seems as though you cannot give away a good news story about our military in Iraq. The mainstream press is not interested. However, I am betting that most Americans are.”

Judging by the response to this now almost regular column, they certainly are. I would venture a guess that part of the explanation why the American involvement in Iraq continues to enjoy a majority popular support is that a significant number of people throughout the country have stopped relying on the mainstream media for all the news from Iraq. To paraphrase the Spanish journalist, people are no longer satisfied just with “blood, blood, blood” from their newspapers and TV channels. Increasingly, they are looking for “context” and “politics” too, and finding them elsewhere.

The funeral dirge for the mainstream press just gets louder and louder. And ya’know… it’s got a beat and you can dance to it.

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Pastor Mark Roberts weighed in prior to the outcome of the election with a thoughtful consideration of how Christians should respond to the election, regardless of whether the candidate we voted for won. I note, as he does, that he released this before the results were known because it could easily be charged that one’s approach to this subject might vary depending on one’s satisfaction with the outcome.

In a nice dovetail with what I posted (below) in the immediate aftermath of Kerry’s concession and Bush’s acceptance, Pastor Mark says this:

In [re-emphasizing our mission spread the Gospel] I’m not minimizing the importance of secular government and politics. Far from it. But I am aware that such matters, as significant as they may be on one level, can easily distract us from our primary calling as Christians. Given how much attention has been focused upon the presidential election in the last year – for better or for worse – it may be time for each of us to refocus our sights on what matters most in life. And it may also be an opportune time for our churches to do the same.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I know for a fact that I have been too consumed by this election and far too anxious about the outcome. My action items for the next four years are based on a belief that we have an opportunity that may not soon come again. They are based on a view of civil responsibility within a representative form of government. They can’t, however, take precedence over the commission that Christ issued to His apostles and, by extension, us.

As the defeated liberals issue duplicitous calls for President Bush to unite a bitterly divided nation (more on that later), Pastor Mark calls for Christians of differing political views to unite under these five responses to the conclusion of the election:

1. Receiving the Call of Jesus to Peacemaking
2. Reaffirming Our Dual Citizenship
3. Refocusing Upon Our Fundamental Mission
4. Renewing Our Trust in the Sovereignty of God
5. Recommitting Ourselves to Praying for the President

He elaborates on each of these and I recommend you read what he has to say. Again, note that he wrote and released this before we knew who won. Obviously, I’m posting it with the knowledge that my candidate was the winner. Hopefully, that won’t call my sincerity into doubt when I say that while I strongly doubt that the country as a whole can be united on the issues about which we hold such diametrically opposed views, we in the Church are bound by something eternal that transcends our beliefs on the issues of the day; the blood of Jesus Christ makes us brothers and sisters for eternity.

To any such that read this who supported John Kerry, while I don’t understand your reasons for doing so, I am sorry that my victory had to be your loss, and that what was a cause for jubilation to me was, to you, distressful. I pray that my estimation of President Bush’s merits will not prove unfounded even as I pray that your fears for the harm he might do will go unrealized. May God give us all greater wisdom when we consider the many issues that confront us in this convulsive age.

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I am exceedingly thankful, both that President Bush has won re-election and that he has done so by a margin that made endless court challenges an exercise in futility. I was also thrilled at the defeat of Chief Obstructionist, Tom Daschle in South Dakota. That should go a long way toward helping the President get his judicial appointments through.

Now, however, is not the time for evangelical Christians to rest on their laurels and assume that everything is okay for another four years.

Everything is most assuredly not okay, nor will it be while we sit on the sidelines and let the GOP benefit from our numbers at the polls without holding their feet to the fire on the issues that move us.

The issues are many, and I won’t bother to try and prioritize them right now:

• Sanctity of life – We can be thankful, I think, that we have a strong advocate for this position in President Bush. Overturning Roe v. Wade is essential, as is holding the line on federally funded embryonic stem-cell research and cloning (if not pursuing outright bans on these abhorrent practices), and, dare I say it? pushing for restrictions on IVF techniques that result in embryos that will never be born and must therefore either be disposed of or stored indefinitely.
• Defense of marriage – The President has waffled on this issue. He is resolute regarding the definition of marriage, but has said that he would support civil unions. Either constitutes federal legitimization of, and I say this with absolutely no malice, deviant sexual practices that ought not be encouraged. Arguments about the government “in our bedrooms” carry no weight on this issue. The crux of the matter is that we have been bombarded with media and educational efforts to convince us that homosexuality is natural, normal and acceptable. It is none of these, and going along with that lie, albeit one that is fervently believed by many well-meaning people, does the homosexual no good and does society a great deal of harm. Is a Constitutional amendment the best way to address this? That question leads me to…
• Reining in Judicial Supremacists – Increasingly, federal judges are overstepping their constitutional bounds to not merely adjudicate, but to legislate, effectively denying the citizens of the United States their right to a representative government. It is because of these activist judges that we even find it necessary to consider an amendment to the Constitution over something like the definition of marriage. While many Christians are uncomfortable with this proposed resolution to the efforts to legitimize homosexuality, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts and other judiciaries have illustrated that, while we may be content to allow the issue to be decided at the state level, activist judges will not hesitate to impose their will over that of the public or their elected representatives.
• Defense of 2nd Amendment Rights – Why does an evangelical Christian care about the right to keep and bear arms? Because that’s the right that preserves all of the others. You don’t have to own a gun, but you had better insist on having the right to, or you will find yourself at the mercy first, of the criminals who ignore gun laws that you obey, and second, of your government when they decide that there are other freedoms they find it inconvenient for you to possess. Say, oh… I don’t know… freedom of worship, perhaps? We’re not there yet, and God willing never will be, but the more power governments appropriate for themselves, the less tolerant they tend to be of religions that believe in moral absolutes irrespective of the mandates of the State. And in the interest of avoiding such a state of affairs…
• Reversing the proliferation of entitlements – Our system is corrupted, but not by the billionaires or special interest groups. Our own greed is the hook that Washington has used to extend their tendrils ever increasingly into our lives. It’s a big and complex problem. For instance, pastors find themselves constrained by IRS regulations as to what they can and cannot say from their pulpits, but in reality, if we church members were willing to do without the exemption for the money we give to our churches there would be no constraints (barring absurd applications of wrongheaded hate-crimes legislation, but that’s a whole ‘nother story!). Then again, presumably the government is willing to exempt such giving in order to encourage what it recognizes as a benefit for society as a whole. Rather than trying to manipulate us, however, by taxing us, then giving us back some if we engage in behavior of which they approve, should they not simply do away with such social engineering and reduce everyone’s tax rates accordingly? But I digress… The point is that we should create, or find and support, educational programs that restore the value of doing for yourself rather than waiting for the government to do it for you. At the same time, we need to look around our own churches for opportunities to step in and provide some of the kind of assistance that people are increasingly looking to the government to provide, always keeping the “teach a man to fish” principle in mind. And starting right now we need to do everything we can to hold the spending line on existing government programs and fight the creation of new ones. It’s not feasible to cut everyone off cold, but the weaning process has got to start. We have seen some of that with attempts to reform Welfare. We need to see much more.
• Immigration reform – President Bush has done some good things, but not much of it has changed the fact that our borders are a sieve and remain our biggest point of vulnerability with regard to our terrorist enemies. I’ll let Michelle Malkin talk for me on this one.

I could go on, and each of the points above can be expanded on to the n^th degree, but hopefully you see my point. Admittedly, sometimes… often, in fact, I feel that the expansion of government and the trend toward globalism is as inexorable as the tide. I also frequently need to force myself to remember that the Church in America has more important priorities than the preservation of this representative republic. Nevertheless, I think it is inarguable that, while the Church may traditionally flourish and grow strong under persecution, we who live in a largely free and relatively open society have far more opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our neighbors and with the world than our brothers and sisters who must meet in secret for fear of government reprisals. (A fact that convicts me even as I write it, and for which I fear I will be held accountable. “Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.” -Luke 12:48b; Holman Christian Standard Bible)

To that end, it behooves us to be active citizens, involved in the process of government. We have every bit as much right to have our voices heard regarding public policy as those who have sought to tear down our foundations and guiding principles. Let us exercise it.

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