propaganda
- My great uncle Ray likes to send me conservative propaganda email. The most recent one listed off some "facts" completely out of context, to try and paint Obama as a radical Muslim who is trying to bring down our good Christian nation. Ugh. I replied to my uncle, asking if he honestly feels threatened as a Christian, and telling him that I don't understand why he sends me this stuff (it's pretty clear that my politics are nowhere near his). He replied to me saying that he has always thought I was very intelligent, and asking if I am a Christian. He said he does not feel threatened, but it bothers him to see Christianity removed from our country.
Uncle Ray,
Thank you for your response. Allow me to explain myself:
Honestly, it doesn't bother me that Christianity is being removed from our schools and government because I figure if someone is strong in their faith, they don't need our schools and the government to reinforce their faith...To me, religion and faith are very personal concepts. I don't want the government to have anything to do with it. I also don't believe that a person necessarily has to be a Christian in order to know right from wrong. The United States has ONLY had Christian presidents...and there's been a lot that other presidents have done that I disagreed with; that I didn't think took the best interest of our nation into consideration. I think that to blame Obama's politics on his race or religion is ignorant. For anyone to claim that he's a Muslim is ignorant of the fact that he is actually a member of the United Church of Christ. Also, the email states that Muslims believe that any Christians who cannot be converted must be annihilated. This is pure misinformation and propaganda. It comes from a very specific interpretation of the Koran. If we looked at the Bible the same way, one could say that Christians believe that it is acceptable for daughters to get their father drunk and rape him in order to provide a male heir (see the story of Lot, in Genesis).
It also bothers me that in this particular email, the author is painting Christians to be victimized. Despite the fact that we have religious freedom protected under the first amendment of the Constitution, Christians have long been the majority in this country. There isn't anyone (not even the "evil liberal media") actively persecuting the American Christians. On the other hand, there are continual crimes committed against Muslims and Jews because of their faiths (which really aren't that different from Christianity). If someone is an atheist, they are painted as evil. I hear Scripture quoted all over the place to justify the negativity toward the president, toward liberals, toward Muslims...toward anyone who thinks, believes, or acts differently. What I don't understand is that Jesus outright taught that it isn't up to us to judge. "Let he who is blameless cast the first stone." , or"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
Jesus commanded that we love one another. That doesn't mean that we have to agree with one another, or even like one another...but I don't see any love in these emails. I don't see anyone stepping up with a definitive plan to make things better. It doesn't seem very Christlike to me.
I don't see anyone saying that Christians can't practice their faith...it just isn't being forced on anyone else. Did you know that prior to the 1950s, the phrase "under God" was not in the Pledge of Allegiance? Many of the founding fathers were Deists, who had very different beliefs than many Christianstoday. The first European settlers came to America in pursuit of religious freedom. It may seem like religion is being removed, but I don't see that as the case. I think it's more that people are given their individual right to choose what they believe and how they want to practice their beliefs. I think most people would be uncomfortable if our schools and government offices had a Muslim call to prayer, or a mandatory time for Buddhist meditation.
As for the Muslim day of prayer, I don't know the specifics of this particular event without doing some research...but I do know that we are currently at war in two largely Muslim nations, and that Muslim Americans have had an EXTREMELY difficult time post-9/11. I'd imagine that the day of prayer was instituted in part to acknowledge those citizens, and to demonstrate a certain level of awareness to the rest of the world. This email makes it sound like its a problem that Obama prayed with the Muslims. Remember, Jesus prayed among the lepers and the harlots.
I believe that everyone is entitled to their own personal beliefs. It just bothers me when something like this is so clearly designed to tear someone else down, and skims over the actual facts in order to do so. (What was the context of the "no longer a Christian nation" remark? Nevermind that the US was never actually a Christian nation...despite the majority, there is no official state religion and never has been. Did Obama decree the Muslim day of prayer, or did he merely participate in a prayer? These details are important!)
I hope this makes some sense.
I'm not really expecting anything, but it will be interesting to see what he has to say to that.