Groupthink

Read this post - Monkey See, Monkey Do, by Steve McVey, on a study done on monkeys, on indoctrination.

In any system that is enslaved to groupthink, people who begin to question the unquestioned answers, will be viewed through the lens of suspicion, and labeled.

And since we hate the idea of being ostracized, often times, we resort to sticking our heads in the sand. 

It's a bit hard initially, but in the process of being true to ourselves, it is important that we stop expecting that everyone around us will nod in agreement with us. 

I thoroughly enjoy the company of people who are not afraid of questions (whether we agree with our answers we have at the moment, or not), than pretend-friendships that are based solely on social, political and/or doctrinal agreements.

Imagine That!

"If Evangelical Christianity spent 1/4 as much time focusing on changing hearts through manifesting the unconditional love of God as it does trying to change laws, and infiltrate Government, we might just have a revolution on our hands! 

If we spent even 1% of the energy that we spend debating evolution and trying to defend young earth science on healing wounded hearts, and repenting to the world for treating them like garbage, we might just have a revolution on our hands! 

If we would focus even a fraction of the energy that we spend on fighting the "culture war", on simply preaching Jesus Christ, the earth would shake! 

For far too long we've been propping up this patriotic "gospel" or moralism mated with Americanism. I'm all for morals and godliness, but Christianity is not about fighting culture wars, picketing certain establishments, or seeking to set a man in an oval office. It is about filling the earth with the knowledge of God's glory by selflessly manifesting His love to all we come in contact with! It's time that we saw people instead of political issues again! It's time that we saw human beings with feelings, emotions, and histories, instead of just opponents in a moral showdown. It's time to get the crud out of our eyes so that we can once more see that the Kingdom of God is not about imposing human rules on an unbelieving society, but showing the earth a King who loves them unconditionally, and welcomes them into His arms. 

The Kingdom of God is not about cold, sterile courtrooms, but a warm, and welcoming family room."

- Jeff Turner

7 Things Christians Need to Remember About Politics

I think this is a great reminder for the American Christians this election season:

7 Things Christians Need to Remember About Politics, by Byron Roberts.

A Collective Confession of those who have moved beyond Evangelicalism

Click here to read the "collective confession of sorts reflecting the thoughts and feelings of those of us who have moved beyond evangelicalism", by Frank Viola

The Disciples, Then and Now

During the time of Jesus, his disciples wanted to crown Jesus as the physical king of a physical kingdom, when the Kingdom of God that Jesus was talking about was spiritual in nature. We do not see Jesus trying to politically influence the Roman government.

Things haven't changed much. The disciples are in the same boat today - wanting to control the physical kingdom, instead of being the yielded and the effective conduits of the invisible Kingdom that is within and among us.

Chariots and Political Parties

Some trust in chariots and horses, some Christians, in political parties. 

The 2012 US Presidential Election is around the corner and all of us have our reasons on why we think one party is better than the other party.

Regardless of our preferences, the most ignorant thing that we could do is gather information and form our conclusions based on hate-filled chain emails or chatter from clearly biased sources. FOX leans to the right just like MSNBC leans to the left.

Politifact.com, a Pulitzer Prize winning site, dissects the statements made by our good politicians. Here is a link on how they work. 

Another popular site is FactCheck.org. 

I'd encourage you to bookmark and frequent these sites depending on your fascination with the political parties.

If you know of more links like these, please do share it in the comments below.

A quote on Pro-Life and Pro-War

Only in America can you be pro-death penalty, pro-war, pro-unmanned drone bombs, pro-nuclear weapons, pro-guns, pro-torture, pro-land mines, and still call yourself ‘pro-life’.

- John Fugelsang







Enough said.


Editing to add another perspective:

“And only in the mind of a progressive liberal can you be anti-death penalty, anti-war, anti-unmanned drone bomb, anti-nuclear weapons, anti-guns, anti-land mines (all in the name of loving your fellow human being) and still think it’s your right to be able to murder an unborn child.” - talkstraight.tumblr.com

February 03, 2012: Editing to add: 

I can be mindless at times. I posted the second quote without thinking that some readers (or someone they know) may have had to go through an abortion, which I know is not a black and white scenario. I deeply apologize if the quotation caused anyone pain.

I am for preserving the life of the mother and the child, just like I am against nations invading other sovereign nations, but when the woman is a victim of rape or incest and/or if there are potential health risks involved (which, by the way, is merely 7% of the total abortions taking place, as per one statistics I just read), in my opinion, the government should stay out of her choice to go with the decision she feels comfortable with.

Related post:
Pro-Life and Pro-War?

Christians and Politics

Two recent articles on Christianity and politics:

Should Glenn Beck speak for Christians? - by Dr. Russell D. Moore

Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally and the Birth of a New National Religion - by Jonathan D. Fitzgerald


PS: I'm least concerned about Glenn Beck's Mormon background.