A New Focus

-
I've been knocked out this week with a pretty bad cold, but that didn't keep me from the Colbert Report last night.



Rich Cizik was recently appointed to the office of Vice President for Governmental Affairs with the National Association of Evangelicals. And after doing some reading, I'm excited to see what this guy is going to do to the NAE, an organization that has so much influence it's a little frightening.


As Colbert mentioned above, Cizik has a different focus from the main dominate issues Evangelicals have been so coal about these last 20 years or so. As his shifting focus in the right direction, I think, namely to "green-friendly" living. As an employee of a lighting company, I've been hearing this buzz term for a while. In fact, I just finished the design on a "green-friendly" lighting catalog we are marketing to California customers, who now have stricter state regulations on the type of lighting they can use. (And make sure to pick up the most recent copy of Relevant magazine; it has a quick and simple article on going green in a month. It's a great read.)

Some of the more conservative and outspoken evangelicals have come out against Cizik for not putting issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and abstinence to the forefront. Because the evangelical culture has done such a "bang-up job" bringing about great moral changes in these areas, by all means, let's continue to point fingers in judgment and talk, talk, talk about these issues instead of actually doing something. *removes tongue from cheek*

This is the problem I have with being labeled a Christians. The mouth-pieces we've allowed to become our representative have simply done a very poor job of showing who we are, but they've also failed to represent who we should be. The NEA is taking a step in the right direction in appointing Cizick, whose views on global warming are refreshing and nearly unheard of among the power Christian-Right. He also has some interesting things to say about Christians and political parties here. Here's to hoping this focus stays up front.

Comments

ptg said…
The line, "stop hugging trees and start turning them into Bibles" is pretty funny. Taking care of your environment is as important as cleanliness generally, but scaring folks into church with tales of global warming doom if we don't repent of our CO2 producing ways is dishonest.
11:17 AM
stephanie said…
Scaring anyone into church is wrong, no matter the issue, and I don't see the body of Christ angling the "doom" part as much as I simply see apathy. (In the "green-friendly" area that is. We do plenty with "doom" in many, many other areas. Sadly.)

I think the church has a lot of power and they simply need to use that power in a more effective way. Going green isn't that hard - it just takes a little effort. And scaring someone into it isn't going to make a difference in the long run; they are likely to go back to their old ways once the fear and guilt fade away. I guess I'm just tired of hearing the same old song and dance from mouthpieces like Dobson, and wish he would make an effort to be politically-minded in a more tangible way. A person is more likely to change out their light bulbs to fluorescent than they are to stop having pre-marital sex. That doesn't make one issue more important than the other, but what I do feel it would do is remind the world that we care about those who live in it and not just care about which biblical law they've broken, you know?
12:30 AM
ptg said…
Interesting analysis, but when you said we could "remind the world that we care about those who live in it", I was ambiguified. Did you mean that, as followers of the line of Jesus, we ought to show the other people in the world that we care about them, or that we could somehow remind the planet that we care about its inhabitants?

I get the idea that many in the current "mankind is ruining the planet" crowd are, in fact very close to believing in Mother Earth as a spirit. As do the Wiccans and others of their ilk. It just makes me nervous.

Maybe we should reward kids who abstain from sex before marriage with fluorescent light bulbs! Keep on lighting the way.
1:08 PM
stephanie said…
I am definitely talking about the former, not the latter. I was trying to make the old point: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Evangelical Christianity sometimes comes across as harsh and judgmental, and therefore completely irrelevant to someone who just wants to know that someone cares about them. I think if we care about people, which Jesus says we should, then we should care about everything that affects them. The earth is part of that.

That being said, I'm about as far from being a Wiccan as possible, and I get your nervousness. Traditionally, those who subscribe to a more new age belief system are those who pay more attention to the environment. But I'm trying to buck tradition. However, there is no new "agey-ness" here. Just trying to make a point that the whole "green-friendly" issue isn't just a liberal one anymore.
12:38 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Dichotomy of Country Music

-
Image
I spent Sunday afternoon in our family farm's shop, refinishing a dresser I found at a local antique store. I'm a farmer's daughter, yes, and certainly what some would call a "country girl". But most who know me are surprised when they find this out about me. Maybe it's because my vocabulary doesn't include double negatives, or maybe it's because I don't like country music. Who knows. I need to have music on when I refinish anything. It keeps me in the groove and passes the time a little faster. I realized I'd forgotten the ear buds to my ipod, so I was stuck with the shop radio, where I was only able to get one station to come in. Of course, it was a country music station. (After all, I do live in Nebraska, where throwing a rocks ensures you to hit a country music fan.) I can put up with said music for a time, so I left the dial where it was and kept it low in the background. Then my ears perked a little when this came on: I am weak and he is...
Read more

A Dilemma for Good Friday

-
In my effort to build a Good Friday service with the theme of "by his stripes we are healed", I have hit a dilemma. Here is my order of service: Video “Resurrection” Reading of Isaiah 53 Crimson (Vocal Solo) Reading: John 18: 1-18 #302 Lamb of God 1, 2 Reading John 18: 19-40 #323 Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed 1, 2, 3, 5 Reading: John 19: 1-16 Love Song (Vocal Solo) Reading John 19: 17-42 #324 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross 1, 3, 4 Video “A Better Way” Cross Painting/Communion Prayer All of the readings have music in the background, mostly stuff from "The Passion" to create a mood of sorrow and awe at the same time. Both vocal solos are focused on Jesus very intentionally, as are the videos. For communion, my idea is to have a small bucket of paint sitting at the foot of the cross. As we all come forward for communion, we will have the chance to paint a stripe on the cross, to remind us of the price Jesus paid, the "stripes" if you will. During that ti...
Read more

detachment, part 2 [living life without expectations]

-
Image
As I practice my words here, and work out what I am feeling and experiencing in my life through these words, I'm recognizing the courage of emotionally connecting with myself is different from emotionally connecting with other people.   For those to whom I feel the most emotionally connected, it’s because I've sat next to them on a couch and listened to them bear their soul. It’s because  I've  laughed with them, done more than one face palm with them and I've gently shoved them in the arm when they say something bratty. It’s because I've sat across the table from them over coffee or a meal and looked them in the eye as I've shared my own struggles and pains.  These moments, small and sure, fill in the cracks missing from those who do not enter in to my  space. It was already easy to become emotionally withdrawn from the world in order to protect myself. And technology has not only made ...
Read more