So, today saw the news that Franklin Graham, son and heir of the late Billy Graham's evangelical empire, has give up on Republicans, Democrats, and Tea Party-ers alike. Instead he's calling for Xians to run for local office. The goal seems to be to urge "godly men and women" to seek secular power in order to impose a kind of Xian sharia law (or, in his phrase, "uphold biblical values").
To put it another way, his goal is to unseparate church and state. To subordinate the political to the religious. Which, to my way of thinking, wd be disastrous for the church side of the equation. Trying to channel faith into the pursuit of political power hasn't worked out too well in the past. History has shown pretty clearly that Xianity shows its best side under adversity and has been at its worst when it held temporal power. Do we really want to go down that dark road again?
Here's the link:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/franklin-graham-quits-republican-party-217077
--JDR
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2 comments:
I agree strongly with your distaste. Politicized religion tends to turn against its deepest principles time and again. I should add, though, that Billy Graham is still alive, albeit not well.
Dear Eric
Quote right. I thought I'd read of his death a year or two ago, but obviously I was mistaken. Thanks for the corrective.
--John R
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