Apologies for following up one post with another similar post, but the newly elected governor of Alabama leaves me no choice.
If the governor wants to get into theology, perhaps he should recognize that God is the father of all - Christian or not. To use the prodigal son example, we are all God's children; many have simply strayed from the Father. Non-belief in Jesus doesn't change who your father is...it just prevents you from being an active part of the family.
Regardless of theology, politicians (of both sides) need to stop using inflammatory rhetoric with such regularity. There is no reason for Gov. Bentley take a shot at non-Christians in the way he did; how can an athiest or Muslim or whomever expect him to govern fairly and without bias if he views Christians as better than non-Christians? How do we know that view won't seep over into his policymaking, in a way such that non-Christians are deprived of rights or attacked by his government? You might say that I'm simply looking at this situation as a slippery slope, and that none of this is worth worrying about. The problem is, such a me-versus-them mentality has permeated both our churches and our political offices, and division never brings reconciliation. It only brings suffering. And correct me if I am wrong, but we have had enough suffering lately for quite a while.
And so on...
I didn't hear his remarks, just read selected portions. But, I suspect that he had good intentions - inviting others to be born again, as Jesus said, which would make them his brothers in that sense. He just wasn't wise in thinking about how it would be viewed by others who don't understand what he meant. Did he say Christians are better than non-Christians? I didn't see that.
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