Putting People Into Easily Recognizable Camps Is Easy, Not Always Best

The following is an excerpt from an email from a friend of mine, one the smartest guys I know. I didn't get his permission to post this for the rest of the world, so I'll leave it anonymous.

Nowadays I notice that the talk from liberals and conservatives is getting bloodier by the day. I see a common trend of both sides…and that is the fact that no one sees any good in the other side. Both camps completely discredit each other, refuse to see anything positive in each other’s efforts and/or ideas, and turn to rhetorical mudslinging. I was talking to a fellow Christian the other day and he brought up several times that ‘those liberal have nothing but hate towards us!’ Are all liberals bad? Do they all hate the conservatives?  Is that what they’re all about? Should we throw them all in one hand-basket and slap a shipping label with “hell” on it? I was re-reading the passage where Abraham negotiates with God over Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham ‘wears’ God down to ‘if there will be ten righteous people in the city, I wont destroy it.’ Should the Christians not have the same attitude towards people? Why throw all liberals in one category?

Another thing I noticed is the polarization within the Evangelicals when it comes to political views. This is something I have been thinking about recently, and have only ‘brainstorm’ level concepts on it. Paul teaches that in Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, no male, nor female, and so on. Should in today’s Christianity be liberals and conservatives…and they all hand so tightly to their views? Why are they unable to agree on some issues? Doesn’t the Bible have statements about most of these issues, so we can all have the same stand on it, regardless of what that is? Or is it that today we fancy the fact that we are ‘free thinkers’ more than our submission to Christ? Is Democracy over-ruling Theocracy within our own hearts? I do not know what the answers to these questions are.

I heard an interesting statement from my atheist friend the other day: ‘true religion is not compatible with democracy.’ 

How about them apples?

How about them apples indeed.

I had an interesting experience the other day. I got an email from this dude, and I can't stand getting emails from this guy. Every time I open them up, they're these fiery rants or links to some other conservative's fiery rant. So I groaned internally. Then I read the email. It was about this guy's friend who has cancer. It was a request to pray for his friend.

That'll cut through the political B.S. pretty quick. In line with this above posting, I better get to praying quick for this guy's friend.