The religious right keeps telling us that the USA is a Christian nation. That the founders of this nation were Christians and that they had built this nation on Christian values. This is a well-mounted religious propaganda of the religious right to win the cultural war for the control of the soul of America.
The Pilgrims Fathers who landed on Plummet Rock were devoted Christians. The Puritans who later settled in New England were fanatics of Christ is an historical fact. But these were not the only groups of people moving into the new colonies of America. There were non-Christians and even antichrist-ians that also came with them. All these were part of what we can consider as the founders of this nation.
Most important the Founding Fathers of this nation, who signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the 13 original colonies of America, were far less Christians than it has been assumed and wrongly affirmed by the religious right. One thing is sure; these Founding Fathers were most of them religious, since some of them were sincere Christians while the rest were notable freemasons. And the values upon which they built this nation were not Christians. Some vague references to God are not Christian values since everything Christian should refer to the person of Jesus Christ and not to a general idea of God.
Free Mason values always refer to God as a universal principle of good and high power and seek to promote the goodness of mankind in general and its welfare. These are the values upon which this nation had been built by the Founding Fathers. The “In God We Trust” is not a Christian affirmation but freemason formula of universal brotherhood; it is not a Christian conviction, but a religious belief in the freemason God who has little to do with the God of the Bible. Only pure religious hypocrisy could still keep people propagating the public lie about the symbols and writings on the dollar bills as proofs that this nation had been founded on Christian values. Everything on that bill is about freemason principles.
On September 18, 1793, George Washington dressed in his Masonic apron, leveled the cornerstone of the US Capitol with the traditional Masonic ceremony. As Stephen puts it, “At that moment, the occasion of the lying of the new Republic’s foundations, Freemasons assumed the mantles of ‘high priests’ of that ‘first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people.’”
No one could honestly dispute that America is a religious nation. But to continue propagating the false idea that this is a Christian nation built upon Christian values is a public lie that need to be repudiated and confronted by all those who are honest Christians. Such confrontation of the false of pretension of the religious right will be healthy for America since it would lead to an exorcise of the demons that have taken grip upon the soul of this nation that has been bewitched by the religious right.
Rev Alex Tah (BA in Law, MDiv, MST)
Graduate of Dallas Theological Theology
Alextahbi@yahoo.com
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Are we the Green Generation?
Everyone and everything discuses being green. We have termed ourselves the Green Generation. We are proud of Wangari Maathai, 2004 and Al Gore, 2007 Nobel Prizes for their environmental works. There are green holidays, Earth Day, Arbor Day, World Water Day and green celebrities, Robert Redford, Darryl Hannah, Orlando Bloom, among others. Churches have gotten into the green mood, with the Environmental Sabbath. But in general people are green only by mouth not by lifestyle. They talk about green and green issues, but are not green in the way they live and personal conviction. Recently I met someone who is a true green, an environmentalist, not just as a politician, but a green by personal conviction, who is a living example of what it means to be a green person. She does not preach to me about green issues or the danger of global warming, but she is teaching me how to be a green person by being one before my eyes, by living a green lifestyle on a daily basis.
That global warming is a reality few reject or doubt today, the Earth is heating up. Scientific evidence and ecological data are so prevalent that even the most right wing evangelical Christian can no longer speaks against it. We have come as a nation and a global community to realize at last the reality and probability of global warming and its impending consequences in form of ecological disasters resulting from irreversible climatic changes. Hollywood could not stay indifferent to this issue. Several movies have been released that deal with this particular issue. There is Al Gore’s "An Inconvenient Truth", the most famous movie, being, "The Day After Tomorrow" and recently released, "2012" which is loosely based on an ancient Mayan Prophecy about the end of the world.
But beyond the prevalent green mood and the rhetoric on global warming, how can we be a real green generation? One that will contribute to a better ecological future for the coming generations? The issue is not who is going to speak loudly about green issues but how, as a community, we can leave a world less exposed to the dangers of global warming. A world where our children and grandchildren breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a less polluted environment.
At the end of the day it is not just about great discourses on green issues or large worldwide conferences on global warming like the one that is going to take place at the end of this year, The Copenhagen Climate Conference. What really matters are simple daily acts like having containers for recycling in your bedroom, in your office and in your living room so that anything that can be recycled is collected for proper disposal. Packaging, cleaning supplies, transportation choices. It is living a simple lifestyle of a green person built on true personal green conviction. The more people, families and communities, adopt a green lifestyle and make a green commitment, the greener this generation will really become and the certainty of leaving a green legacy for the next generation will be insured.
Rev Alexander TahBi
240-701-4436; alextahbi@yahoo.com
That global warming is a reality few reject or doubt today, the Earth is heating up. Scientific evidence and ecological data are so prevalent that even the most right wing evangelical Christian can no longer speaks against it. We have come as a nation and a global community to realize at last the reality and probability of global warming and its impending consequences in form of ecological disasters resulting from irreversible climatic changes. Hollywood could not stay indifferent to this issue. Several movies have been released that deal with this particular issue. There is Al Gore’s "An Inconvenient Truth", the most famous movie, being, "The Day After Tomorrow" and recently released, "2012" which is loosely based on an ancient Mayan Prophecy about the end of the world.
But beyond the prevalent green mood and the rhetoric on global warming, how can we be a real green generation? One that will contribute to a better ecological future for the coming generations? The issue is not who is going to speak loudly about green issues but how, as a community, we can leave a world less exposed to the dangers of global warming. A world where our children and grandchildren breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a less polluted environment.
At the end of the day it is not just about great discourses on green issues or large worldwide conferences on global warming like the one that is going to take place at the end of this year, The Copenhagen Climate Conference. What really matters are simple daily acts like having containers for recycling in your bedroom, in your office and in your living room so that anything that can be recycled is collected for proper disposal. Packaging, cleaning supplies, transportation choices. It is living a simple lifestyle of a green person built on true personal green conviction. The more people, families and communities, adopt a green lifestyle and make a green commitment, the greener this generation will really become and the certainty of leaving a green legacy for the next generation will be insured.
Rev Alexander TahBi
240-701-4436; alextahbi@yahoo.com
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Are We the Green Generation?
Are we the Green Generation?
Everyone and everything discuses being green. We have termed ourselves the Green Generation. We are proud of Wangari Maathai, 2004 and Al Gore, 2007 Nobel Prizes for their environmental works. There are green holidays, Earth Day, Arbor Day, World Water Day and green celebrities, Robert Redford, Darryl Hannah, Orlando Bloom, among others. Churches have gotten into the green mood, with the Environmental Sabbath. But in general people are green only by mouth not by lifestyle. They talk about green and green issues, but are not green in the way they live and personal conviction. Recently I met someone who is a true green, an environmentalist, not just as a politician, but a green by personal conviction, who is a living example of what it means to be a green person. She does not preach to me about green issues or the danger of global warming, but she is teaching me how to be a green person by being one before my eyes, by living a green lifestyle on a daily basis.
That global warming is a reality few reject or doubt today, the Earth is heating up. Scientific evidence and ecological data are so prevalent that even the most right wing evangelical Christian can no longer speaks against it. We have come as a nation and a global community to realize at last the reality and probability of global warming and its impending consequences in form of ecological disasters resulting from irreversible climatic changes. Hollywood could not stay indifferent to this issue. Several movies have been released that deal with this particular issue. There is Al Gore’s "An Inconvenient Truth", the most famous movie, being, "The Day After Tomorrow" and recently released, "2012" which is loosely based on an ancient Mayan Prophecy about the end of the world.
But beyond the prevalent green mood and the rhetoric on global warming, how can we be a real green generation? One that will contribute to a better ecological future for the coming generations? The issue is not who is going to speak loudly about green issues but how, as a community, we can leave a world less exposed to the dangers of global warming. A world where our children and grandchildren breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a less polluted environment.
At the end of the day it is not just about great discourses on green issues or large worldwide conferences on global warming like the one that is going to take place at the end of this year, The Copenhagen Climate Conference. What really matters are simple daily acts like having containers for recycling in your bedroom, in your office and in your living room so that anything that can be recycled is collected for proper disposal. Packaging, cleaning supplies, transportation choices. It is living a simple lifestyle of a green person built on true personal green conviction. The more people, families and communities, adopt a green lifestyle and make a green commitment, the greener this generation will really become and the certainty of leaving a green legacy for the next generation will be insured.
Rev Alexander TahBi240-701-4436; alextahbi@yahoo.com
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Church "In the World" But Not "of the World"
Blessing to you!
Today I will like to introduce a discussion on the place of the Church in society.
There are always been a split position among Christian believers about the place of the Church in society. For some the Church is a total different and separate divine institution that has nothing to do with its surrounding environment, except to preach to Gospel and save the maximum of the lost and bring them into the Kingdom of God. According to this view, once a person become a believer in Jesus Christ, he should remove himself from all his past relations and become an exclusive member of a new community, namely the Church. The Church in this context is an isolate community where believer is confined and totally separated from his surrounding environment, spending his time only in things that are totally spiritual such as prayer, bible reading, worship services, evangelism, waiting on the return of Christ. He cannot be involved in things such as watching TVs, going to movies, reading of secular books or newspaper, visiting with former friends, or even unconverted relatives. Some missionaries who advocated this view in the past, went even so far to forbid Christians to send their children to school which is consider as a powerhouse of the devil. In recent years, advocates of this view will not send their children in public or secular schools and will prefer to have home schools for their children or send them in expensive private Christian schools.
The opposite view sees the Church as both a divine and human institution with a double connection. As a divine institution the Church is a separate institution whose main goal is to preach the Gospel and help in the expansion of the Kingdom of God. But the church in this view is also a human or social institution which deeply rooted in its social context and must acts decisively to impact its surrounding environment with the values of the Kingdom such as justice, love, and peace. In this view the one who become a believer in Christ, should not remove himself from his social context and relationship, but a beacon of light in the darkness of this world, impacting in society with the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church in this context is the salt of the world, improving and giving taste to a decaying world that otherwise will be the exclusive domain of the evil one. Here the Kingdom of God become a countering force that is struggling with the forces of evil to take back this world under the authority and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we envision the Church as struggling relentlessly so that the Lord's prayer that ask for the Kingdom of God to come down and His will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven will be become a reality.
As you can see the two positions are quite divergent. While the first position has led the Church in the past to withdraw itself from the dirty realty of this world through practice such as monastic life, complete separation of state and Church, the second position call upon the Church to remain closely involved in the daily struggle of social commitment and transformation. The first is an easy and safe position. The second is difficult and unsafe since it requires the Church to come down and get itself in human struggle, share in the pains and suffering of a fallen world, and sometimes receive blows from a world that does not always understand its mission and appreciate its actions. Now let me ask you, it is not what the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ is all about? God could have stayed in heaven and send from there a magic potion to solve all our human problems. He has the power to do so. But instead He decided to become one of us, live among us, go trough all our human struggles and limitations, and even suffer and die like us, in order to save us and make us His children! What mission did Jesus Christ left to His disciples? Did he asked them to remove themselves from the world and live seclusive holy life in a Christian cocoon? Of course not. He sent back them into the world, to spread His world of salvation into the world, to remain in the midst of the world and be a model of the message of love, justice and reconciliation they will be preaching. That is why in the prayer for His church in John 17, He said to His Father, "I am not asking You to remove them from the world, but to protect them from the world." What the Church need is not a removal from the world but a protection from the world so that as it keeps struggling in the world for the salvation and the control of this world, it will not be affected and infected by the evil that is prevalent in this fallen world. The nature of our divine mission requires us to remain involved in this world and be light that lighten the darkness of this world, and the salt that prevent a complete decay of the human society and make it a sustainable of our fellow humans till the glorious return of Lord Jesus Christ who will return all creation to intended divine purpose. This is why Romans 8 says that creation itself is groaning for the revelation of the sons of God since it has been submitted to vanity since the fall of the human race into sin.
God bless you!
Feel free to share your feedback's and opinion about this article.
With love
Rev Alex Tah-Bi Makarios,
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
Today I will like to introduce a discussion on the place of the Church in society.
There are always been a split position among Christian believers about the place of the Church in society. For some the Church is a total different and separate divine institution that has nothing to do with its surrounding environment, except to preach to Gospel and save the maximum of the lost and bring them into the Kingdom of God. According to this view, once a person become a believer in Jesus Christ, he should remove himself from all his past relations and become an exclusive member of a new community, namely the Church. The Church in this context is an isolate community where believer is confined and totally separated from his surrounding environment, spending his time only in things that are totally spiritual such as prayer, bible reading, worship services, evangelism, waiting on the return of Christ. He cannot be involved in things such as watching TVs, going to movies, reading of secular books or newspaper, visiting with former friends, or even unconverted relatives. Some missionaries who advocated this view in the past, went even so far to forbid Christians to send their children to school which is consider as a powerhouse of the devil. In recent years, advocates of this view will not send their children in public or secular schools and will prefer to have home schools for their children or send them in expensive private Christian schools.
The opposite view sees the Church as both a divine and human institution with a double connection. As a divine institution the Church is a separate institution whose main goal is to preach the Gospel and help in the expansion of the Kingdom of God. But the church in this view is also a human or social institution which deeply rooted in its social context and must acts decisively to impact its surrounding environment with the values of the Kingdom such as justice, love, and peace. In this view the one who become a believer in Christ, should not remove himself from his social context and relationship, but a beacon of light in the darkness of this world, impacting in society with the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church in this context is the salt of the world, improving and giving taste to a decaying world that otherwise will be the exclusive domain of the evil one. Here the Kingdom of God become a countering force that is struggling with the forces of evil to take back this world under the authority and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we envision the Church as struggling relentlessly so that the Lord's prayer that ask for the Kingdom of God to come down and His will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven will be become a reality.
As you can see the two positions are quite divergent. While the first position has led the Church in the past to withdraw itself from the dirty realty of this world through practice such as monastic life, complete separation of state and Church, the second position call upon the Church to remain closely involved in the daily struggle of social commitment and transformation. The first is an easy and safe position. The second is difficult and unsafe since it requires the Church to come down and get itself in human struggle, share in the pains and suffering of a fallen world, and sometimes receive blows from a world that does not always understand its mission and appreciate its actions. Now let me ask you, it is not what the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ is all about? God could have stayed in heaven and send from there a magic potion to solve all our human problems. He has the power to do so. But instead He decided to become one of us, live among us, go trough all our human struggles and limitations, and even suffer and die like us, in order to save us and make us His children! What mission did Jesus Christ left to His disciples? Did he asked them to remove themselves from the world and live seclusive holy life in a Christian cocoon? Of course not. He sent back them into the world, to spread His world of salvation into the world, to remain in the midst of the world and be a model of the message of love, justice and reconciliation they will be preaching. That is why in the prayer for His church in John 17, He said to His Father, "I am not asking You to remove them from the world, but to protect them from the world." What the Church need is not a removal from the world but a protection from the world so that as it keeps struggling in the world for the salvation and the control of this world, it will not be affected and infected by the evil that is prevalent in this fallen world. The nature of our divine mission requires us to remain involved in this world and be light that lighten the darkness of this world, and the salt that prevent a complete decay of the human society and make it a sustainable of our fellow humans till the glorious return of Lord Jesus Christ who will return all creation to intended divine purpose. This is why Romans 8 says that creation itself is groaning for the revelation of the sons of God since it has been submitted to vanity since the fall of the human race into sin.
God bless you!
Feel free to share your feedback's and opinion about this article.
With love
Rev Alex Tah-Bi Makarios,
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
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