Saturday, July 29, 2017

Speaking God's Truth to Man's Power

  By Rudy Barnes, Jr.

            What is truth? According to John’s gospel that was Pontius Pilate’s response when Jesus told him, I came into the world to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.  (John 18:37)  Jesus had earlier told his disciples: If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31, 32)  If the teachings of Jesus are indeed God’s truth, then how do we speak that truth to man’s power? 
           
            The teachings of Jesus can be summed up in the greatest commandment to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and that includes our neighbors of other races and religions.  That’s a common word of God’s truth for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, and it requires all of us to make that love command a moral imperative of our faith and politics.

            America has always been a religious nation.  Thomas Jefferson advocated the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as well as the moral teachings of Jesus as ideals of the American civil religion.  But since Jefferson was a slaveholder his legacy as an advocate of political freedom has been sullied.  After all, slavery, the Civil War and their ugly progeny of racism were great exceptions to the American ideal of political freedom.

            The political polarization that characterized the election of Donald Trump last year recalled those dark days of racism, and most white Christians made Trump’s election possible.  It was a reminder that Christians have failed to hold man’s power in politics accountable to God’s truth.  Perhaps that’s because Satan does a convincing imitation of God in the church, mosque and in politics.   

            In today’s globalized world of increasing racial and religious diversity, speaking God’s truth to man’s power should focus on reconciling racial and religious differences that have polarized our politics; but both the church and the mosque have promoted divisiveness with doctrines of religious exclusivity.  With a president who exemplifies the antithesis of Christian morality, it’s time to speak God’s truth to man’s power with a revival in religion and politics.

            If needed reforms don’t begin in the church, they must begin outside the church.  The church was born within Judaism and its Reformation began outside the Church; Likewise, John Wesley’s Methodists were organized outside his Anglican Church.  Those reformations came from outside institutional religious structures as a result of speaking God’s truth to man’s power.

            Institutional religions rely on ancient scriptures that make no mention of human rights or democracy to define God’s truth, and they resist progressive change as a threat to those truths.  There are few progressive churches today that tolerate challenges to exclusivist church doctrines, so that those believers who challenge such doctrines as obstacles to religious and political reconciliation must meet in dialogue groups outside the church to avoid recrimination. 

            Dialogue groups can include those of all faiths who oppose exclusivist church doctrines and share the moral teachings of Jesus as God’s word—Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, was an example.  The eight points of progressive Christianity offer Christians alternatives that transcend inflexible church doctrines and welcome interfaith dialogue.
             
            Speaking God’s truth to man’s power must make the love of neighbor—including those neighbors of other races and religions—a moral imperative of both faith and politics.  If the church can’t lead the effort to promote a politics of reconciliation as a matter of discipleship in democracy, then interfaith dialogue groups should initiate a new Christian reformation to do so.


Notes:

For a discussion of John 8:31,32 and John 18:37, see pages 407-409 and pages 330-331 in The Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad on Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy posted at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3gvZV8mXUp-aTJubVlISnpQc1U/view.  John’s Gospel does not include the greatest commandment, but its new command to love one another (John 13:34) says essentially the same thing (see discussion at pages 325-326 at the above URL).     

Thomas Jefferson embraced the moral teachings of Jesus but considered the church an obstacle to freedom.  He wrote Henry Fry on June 17, 1804: "I consider the doctrines of Jesus as delivered by himself to contain the outlines of the sublimest morality that has ever been taught; but I hold in the utmost profound detestation and execration the corruptions of it which have been invested by priestcraft and kingcraft, constituting a conspiracy of church and state against the civil and religious liberties of man."  Thomas Jefferson, The Jefferson Bible, edited by O. I. A. Roche, Clarkson H. Potter, Inc., New York, 1964, at p 378; see also Jefferson’s letter to John Adams dated October 13, 1813, at pp 825, 826; Jefferson's commentaries are at pp 325-379.  See also, Introduction to The Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad on Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy, at page 10, note 2, posted at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3gvZV8mXUp-aTJubVlISnpQc1U/view

Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf consider Jefferson a prophet of American civil religion:
As a young man, Jefferson embraced the tenets of “natural religion,” or deism, rejecting conventional Christianity and any use of religious dogma as a tool to control people. As he aged, however, Jefferson undertook a spiritual quest that focused his attention intensively on the New Testament.  He…sought to hear Jesus’ original, uncorrupted voice, imagining himself in his teacher’s presence. Jesus preached to the “family of man,” anticipating the humane and cosmopolitan precepts of the enlightened age that Jefferson was convinced would inevitably arrive. He adhered to the “philosophy” of Jesus while rejecting “mystifications” that offended his steadfast belief in science and were, in his view, the chief cause of religious strife.
Jefferson…believed that religion, stripped of the supernatural, should always be an integral part of American society. He even created a guidebook, of sorts.
Far from being an atheist, Jefferson was a precocious advocate of what was later called “civil religion,” the moral foundation of a truly free and united people.

On The Eight Points of Progressive Christianity, see https://progressivechristianity.org/the-8-points/.

For a model for interfaith dialogue groups, see Interfaith Fellowship: Seeking Reconciliation through a Common Word of Faith at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3gvZV8mXUp-RFhMaTRYOTZIVm8/view.


Related commentary posted at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/:

(12/8/14) Religion and Reason
(12/15/14): Faith and Freedom
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
(2/15/15): Is Religion Good or Evil?
 (4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(5/3/15): A Fundamental Problem with Religion
(8/30/15): What Is Truth?
(9/20/15) Politics and Religious Polarization
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(2/27/16): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in Faith, Freedom and Politics
(5/14/16): The Arrogance of Power, Humility and a Politics of Reconciliation
(6/18/16): A Politics of Reconciliation with Liberty and Justice for All
(8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and Cultural Divide
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and Abroad
(11/19/16): Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation Based on Shared Values
(11/26/16): Irreconcilable Differences and the Demise of Democracy
(12/3/16): Righteous Anger in Religion and Politics
(2/25/17): The Need for a Revolution in Religion and Politics
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance of the Church in Today’s World
(4/29/17): A Wesleyan Alternative for an Irrelevant Church
 (5/27/17): Intrafaith Reconciliation as a Prerequisite for Interfaith Reconciliation
 (6/24/17): The Evolution of Religion, Politics and Law: Back to the Future? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/the-evolution-of-religion-politics-and.html.
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy
 (7/15/17) Religion and Progressive Politics
(7/8/17): Hell No!

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Hell No!

  By Rudy Barnes, Jr.

            The concept of hell is mystical, but belief in hell has moral and political implications.  Christians and Muslims who believe that God condemns those of other religions to eternal damnation in hell cannot love their unbelieving neighbors unless they consider that trying to convert them is an act of love.  But proselytizing other believers implies that their religions are false, and that’s an insult.  Is such proselytizing an act of love?  Hell No!

            The greatest commandment to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves—including neighbors of other religions—is supposedly a common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.  It begs the question of whether God condemns all those who are not believers in the one true faith, whichever it is, to eternal damnation.  That would include most people.  Does a God of love and mercy condemn most people to hell?  Hell No!

            In Love Wins, Rob Bell has convincingly argued that there is no credible scriptural evidence in the Old and New Testaments for a Dante-style hell of eternal suffering.  Hell is a creation of the church and has been a powerful negative incentive to attract converts; but it conflicts with the concept of God as a universal and eternal power of love and mercy.

            In the Hebrew Bible God rewarded or punished his chosen people in this world, not the next, based on their obedience to Mosaic Law.  Jesus was a Jew who spoke of how sin can cause misery and suffering in this world, but not of eternal damnation.  Like the Hebrew Bible, the Qur’an emphasizes that God’s rewards require compliance with holy law, but unlike the Hebrew Bible, God’s rewards and punishments come after death in either an eternal heaven or hell.

            If the greatest commandment is indeed a common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims, then it is God’s will that people of all religions and races are reconciled and redeemed by the transforming power of God’s love and mercy.  Satan opposes the will of God and uses the fear of hell to divide and conquer.  Unfortunately, Satan does a convincing imitation of God, and does some of his most convincing work in the church, mosque and in politics.

            Satan may preside over the dark forces of evil in this world, but there is no Biblical evidence that his dark powers extend into the next world.  Hell is real, but it is of our own making here on earth.  We can be assured that after we take our last breath our eternal spirits will be beyond Satan’s reach.  Dante’s Inferno may well have been inspired by the Qur’an, which, unlike the Bible, repeatedly describes hell as a place of eternal damnation for unbelievers.

            Throughout the history of Christianity and Islam, each of those religions has asserted that God condemns all unbelievers to hell.  It appears that most Christians and Muslims continue to believe that God condemns those of other religions to hell; and if God does it, so can they.  The result is dangerous religious and political polarization in a world of increasing religious diversity.             

            A caveat to the above is that any assertion about the existence and nature of hell is informed speculation that should be based on scripture interpreted by tradition, experience and reason.   Christians have more flexibility than Muslims on belief in hell due to the ambiguity of Biblical language on the subject, compared to the specificity of language in the Qur’an on hell.              
  
            Experience and reason dictate that people of faith say Hell No! to religious exclusivism and the condemnation of unbelievers to eternal damnation since that contradicts God’s greatest commandment to love our neighbors of other religions as we love ourselves.  That love command is a common word of faith and a shared religious value that can reconcile and redeem all people of faith in the family of God, and defeat Satan’s will to divide and conquer.     

           
Notes:


The Theological Task for United Methodists requires interpreting scripture based on tradition, experience and reason.  See pages 80-91 in The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2016 (The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville Tennessee), posted at https://www.cokesbury.com/forms/DynamicContent.aspx?id=87&pageid=920.


Related commentary posted at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/:

(12/8/14): Religion and Reason
(1/4/15) Religion and New Beginnings: Salvation and Reconciliation in the Family of God            http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/religion-and-new-beginnings-salvation.html
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(2/8/15) Promoting Religion Through Evangelism: Bringing Light or Darkness?
(4/19/15): Jesus: A Prophet, God’s Only Son, or the Logos?  http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/04/jesus-prophet-god-only-son-or-logos.html
(5/3/15): A Fundamental Problem with Religion
(7/5/15): Reconciliation as a Remedy for Racism and Religious Exclusivism
(7/26/15): Fear and Fundamentalism
(8/30/15): What Is Truth?
(9/20/15) Politics and Religious Polarization
(10/4/15): Faith and Religion: The Same but Different
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/10/faith-and-religion-same-but-different.html
(11/22/15): Dualism: Satan’s Evil Versus God’s Goodness
(1/2/16): God in Three Concepts
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and Cultural Divide http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/08/how-religion-can-bridge-our-political.html
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and Abroad
(11/26/16): Irreconcilable Differences and the Demise of Democracy
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(5/13/17): Voices of Reason and Hope in the Cacophony over Religion, Human Rights and Politics  http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/05/voices-of-reason-and-hope-in-cacophony.html

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Religion and Progressive Politics

  By Rudy Barnes, Jr.

            Religion and progressive politics have long been considered incompatible.  Secular politics consider that “man has a changeable nature and is thus able to achieve perfection.”  Religion considers “man flawed and incapable of perfecting himself without the help of God.”  The two views polarize our politics. The former supports the idea that government can perfect humanity, while the latter is skeptical of big government and more congenial to religious values.  

            To further complicate matters, religions resist progressive change to preserve the sanctity of their ancient scriptures, none of which mention democracy or individual rights.  Even so, the Enlightenment of the 18th century transformed politics and religion in the Western world with advances in knowledge, reason and the libertarian values of democracy and human rights.  Since then the American civil religion has provided common political values for religions in America.

            Robert N Bellah has described the American civil religion as “a collection of beliefs, symbols, and rituals,” drawn from American history that expresses national values and standards of political legitimacy.  It is grounded in the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and loyalty to the U.S. Constitution, and includes those values expressed in the Pledge of Allegiance and in the lyrics of America the Beautiful.  

            Thomas Jefferson is a major prophet of the American civil religion.  He had little use for the church, but considered the moral teachings of Jesus as “the sublimest morality that has ever been taught.”  Those teachings are summarized in the greatest commandment to love God and to love our neighbors—including neighbors of other races and religions—as we love ourselves; and that love command is a common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

            The increasing diversity of religion and race in America requires the altruistic values of the American religion and the greatest commandment to sustain progressive politics.  The greatest challenge of democracy is to balance individual rights with providing for the common good, and that requires an American civil religion that is grounded in the altruistic values of the greatest commandment—and Donald Trump represents the antithesis of altruistic values.

            The election of Donald Trump was the most regressive political event in America since the Civil War.  It was made possible by white evangelical Christians who were motivated by Trump’s Make America Great Again campaign theme—one that recalled a mythical past that was perhaps a utopia for many older white Americans, but not for most black Americans.  The Trump campaign was rude and crude, and had distinctly racial overtones

            Trump’s election will likely be a historical anomaly.  White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPS) have long been a dominant force in American politics, but the election of Donald Trump was likely their last Hurrah.  Demographic projections show WASPS becoming a political minority within 20 years, with white births already a minority of births in America.  But even without a white majority, political polarization will continue to plague American politics.

            History has shown that humankind can be improved through enlightened democratic governance, even if it cannot produce perfection.  And there is no evidence that humankind can achieve perfection through the Christian religion.  For religion and progressive politics to be compatible and promote political reconciliation, the altruistic values of the American civil religion and the greatest commandment must prevail over narrow religious and political values.


Notes:

In 1967 Robert N. Bellah defined [American] civil religion as “a collection of beliefs, symbols, and rituals,” drawn from American history and “institutionalized in a collectivity” that function “not as a form of national self-worship but as the subordination of the nation to ethical principles that transcend it in terms of which it should be judged.”  On how Trump is reshaping American civil religion, see https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2017/07/11/trump-reshaping-american-civil-religion/.

Thomas Jefferson wrote Henry Fry on June 17, 1804: "I consider the doctrines of Jesus as delivered by himself to contain the outlines of the sublimest morality that has ever been taught; but I hold in the utmost profound detestation and execration the corruptions of it which have been invested by priestcraft and kingcraft, constituting a conspiracy of church and state against the civil and religious liberties of man."  Thomas Jefferson, The Jefferson Bible, edited by O. I. A. Roche, Clarkson H. Potter, Inc., New York, 1964, at p 378; see also Jefferson’s letter to John Adams dated October 13, 1813, at pp 825, 826; Jefferson's commentaries are at pp 325-379.  See also, Introduction to The Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad on Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy, at page 10, note 2, posted at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3gvZV8mXUp-aTJubVlISnpQc1U/view

Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf consider Jefferson a prophet of American civil religion:
As a young man, Jefferson embraced the tenets of “natural religion,” or deism, rejecting conventional Christianity and any use of religious dogma as a tool to control people. As he aged, however, Jefferson undertook a spiritual quest that focused his attention intensively on the New Testament.
Through Bible study this self-professed “primitive Christian” sought to hear Jesus’ original, uncorrupted voice, imagining himself in his teacher’s presence. Jesus preached to the “family of man,” anticipating the humane and cosmopolitan precepts of the enlightened age that Jefferson was convinced would inevitably arrive. He adhered to the “philosophy” of Jesus while rejecting “mystifications” that offended his steadfast belief in science and were, in his view, the chief cause of religious strife.
Jefferson…insisted that his religious faith was nobody’s business but his own. But he believed that religion, stripped of the supernatural, should always be an integral part of American society. He even created a guidebook, of sorts.
In 1804, Jefferson took a razor to English, French, Latin and Greek versions of the New Testament to construct a clear account of Jesus’ original, uncorrupted teachings. Pressed by public business, he didn’t complete his painstakingly executed “Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” until retirement. Even then, Jefferson did not want to publicize his project — or even share it with his family. But he was confident that enlightened republicans and conscientious Christians could, and must, agree on the fundamental ethical precepts he gleaned from the Bible.
Far from being an atheist, Jefferson was a precocious advocate of what was later called “civil religion,” the moral foundation of a truly free and united people.

Progressive Christianity provides an example of religious belief compatible with the American civil religion and progressive politics.  See The Eight Points of Progressive Christianity at https://progressivechristianity.org/the-8-points/.


On American Civil Religion is Dead, Long Live American Civil Religion, see https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/american-civil-religion-is-dead-long-live-american-civil-religion/.
  
On why Trump can’t reverse the decline of white Christian America, see https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/robert-jones-white-christian-america/532587/.

 
Related commentary posted at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/:

(12/8/14) Religion and Reason
(12/15/14): Faith and Freedom
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
(2/15/15): Is Religion Good or Evil?
 (4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(5/3/15): A Fundamental Problem with Religion
 (9/20/15) Politics and Religious Polarization
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(2/27/16): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in Faith, Freedom and Politics
(5/14/16): The Arrogance of Power, Humility and a Politics of Reconciliation
(6/18/16): A Politics of Reconciliation with Liberty and Justice for All
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/06/a-politics-of-reconciliation-with.html (8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and Cultural Divide
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and Abroad
(11/19/16): Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation Based on Shared Values
(11/26/16): Irreconcilable Differences and the Demise of Democracy
(12/3/16): Righteous Anger in Religion and Politics
(2/25/17): The Need for a Revolution in Religion and Politics
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(5/6/17): Loyalty and Duty in Politics, the Military and Religion
(6/24/17): The Evolution of Religion, Politics and Law: Back to the Future? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/the-evolution-of-religion-politics-and.html.
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy

Saturday, July 8, 2017

July 4, 2017: A Sad Day in the U.S.A.

  By Rudy Barnes, Jr.

            July 4, 2017, should have been a day of celebration, remembering the origins of our freedom and democracy and giving thanks to those who risked their lives to protect them.  But for me July 4, 2017 was a sad day of mourning the degradation of American values.  I felt out of touch with the America I thought I knew.

            The election of November 2016 was an ugly watershed in U.S. politics.  Christians, long a bulwark in American politics, elected a “bizarre, absurd, ridiculous and embarrassing” man as president of the U.S.  Ironically, that was made possible by white Christians whose values are shaped by their faith.  Despite Trump’s political victory—or perhaps because of it—Robert P. Jones has asserted that white Christian America is in a decline that cannot be reversed.
           
            Trump’s degradation of American values was evident when he spoke in Poland on July 6:   “The fundamental question of today is whether the West has the will to survive and defend its values,” and then he asked, “Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at all costs?”  Beware when Trump speaks of defending our values.  America’s values should not be those exemplified by Donald Trump, and it’s a sad day to think they could be.

            Trump’s degenerate values are not just a partisan political issue.  Religion is the source of our values and our moral standards of legitimacy, so they are as much an issue of faith as of politics.  The Christian religion was in decline well before Trump’s election, and it has since lost its legitimacy among those whose faith is based on following the teachings of Jesus.  It’s time for a religious and political reformation to reestablish the priority of American values.

            The problem for American democracy is not so much Trump as it is those who support him.  Those Christians who support Trump are apparently motivated by a distorted form of Christianity that is closer to the objectivist teachings of Ayn Rand than to the altruistic teachings of Jesus.  Their “prosperity gospel” reflects materialistic and hedonistic values that have made America the Beautiful ripe for a fall from the grace that God supposedly shed on her.

            Faith, freedom and democracy are interwoven in our culture, but that has been ignored in many churches.  Mainline denominations have avoided political issues and allowed fundamentalist evangelical churches to control the “Christian” political agenda.  Apparently things have to get really bad before respectable Christians recognize the relevance of their faith to their politics.  Well, hello!  In case you haven’t noticed, things have gotten really bad.

            Freedom and democracy are subject to shifting tides in the cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil.  When the church subordinates the teachings of Jesus to church doctrines conducive to the worldly objectives of prosperity and power, it throws Jesus under the bus and puts Satan in the driver’s seat.  Those who supported Donald Trump subordinated God’s will to reconcile and redeem people of all races and religions to Satan’s will to divide and conquer.

            How do we put Jesus back into the driver’s seat of the church bus and restore the values that made America great?  We need to put the greatest commandment to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves—and that includes our neighbors of other races and religions—at the heart of our faith.  That love command provides the moral imperative needed for political issues ranging from health care to immigration and national defense.   

            If Americans lose their freedom it won’t likely be at the hands of an outside enemy, but forfeited from within.  Edmund Burke warned Americans before the Revolution: In a democracy you will forge your own shackles.  Pogo the Possum echoed that warning when he said: We have met the enemy and it is us.  Americans must rejuvenate their religious and political values by next July 4, or it will be another sad day to mourn their loss.  


Notes:


On Robert Jones’ assertion that Trump can’t reverse the decline of white Christian America, see https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/robert-jones-white-christian-america/532587/.


 
Related commentary posted at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/:

(12/15/14): Faith and Freedom
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
(2/15/15): Is Religion Good or Evil?
(3/22/15): The Power of Humility and the Arrogance of Power
(4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(5/3/15): A Fundamental Problem with Religion
(8/30/15): What Is Truth?
(9/20/15) Politics and Religious Polarization
(11/22/15): Dualism: Satan’s Evil Versus God’s Goodness
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(2/27/16): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in Faith, Freedom and Politics
(5/14/16): The Arrogance of Power, Humility and a Politics of Reconciliation
(6/18/16): A Politics of Reconciliation with Liberty and Justice for All
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/06/a-politics-of-reconciliation-with.html (8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and Cultural Divide
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and Abroad
(11/19/16): Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation Based on Shared Values
(11/26/16): Irreconcilable Differences and the Demise of Democracy
(12/3/16): Righteous Anger in Religion and Politics
(2/25/17): The Need for a Revolution in Religion and Politics
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(5/6/17): Loyalty and Duty in Politics, the Military and Religion
(6/24/17): The Evolution of Religion, Politics and Law: Back to the Future? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/the-evolution-of-religion-politics-and.html.
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy