From the idiocy of Glen Beck’s recommendation for Christians to flee churches involved in “social gospel” to the passionate debate over health care the interplay of Christians and political action certainly strikes a chord within our culture.  Some, both within and without the church, advocate a total separation of faith and policy/practice.  I believe this is nonsense.  As a Christian I understand my profession of faith in Christ to be a public profession and by necessity demonstrated in policies and practices.  The question is how do we constructively engage in a way that benefits our society and honors Christ?  Much more difficult.  J. John has a helpful paper thinking through this very issue.  See what you think:

Why should Christians be involved in politics?

Some Christians argue that it is not our business to be involved in politics. First, because we have other matters on which to concentrate: getting people to heaven is more important than trying to straighten out a fallen world. Second, because politics is so corrupt that we must keep a distance, lest we become contaminated. A third argument is that God is sovereign, so he can be trusted to take care of politics. We have to be very careful that appealing to God’s almighty power is not a convenient excuse for avoiding our own responsibility. The Bible says a great deal about humans being God’s vice-regents in the world and one of God’s first commissions to humanity is for us to rule, subdue, and be fruitful in the earth. This is not only significant for how we live our own lives but for how we engage society as a whole. In fact, much of Britain’s governmental system was developed using Christian principles. There are three significant principles I would like to highlight in regard to government:

continue reading "Why Should A Christian Be Involved In Politics?"

Link to petition

Background:
Judge F.P. “Charlie” Segars Andrews has been a family and juvenile court judge in South Carolina for over 16 years. She has a stellar reputation and judicial record as well as widespread respect in the legal community.

During what was supposed to be routine proceeding to recertify her as a judge, she was ambushed by a disgruntled litigant alleging that she had a conflict of interest in his divorce case that was heard three years ago. The litigant, William Simpson of Manning, subsequently appealed the case, and the South Carolina Court of Appeals upheld Judge Andrews’ ruling and found no evidence of bias. He also filed a complaint with the South Carolina Judicial Conduct Commission. This complaint was also reviewed and it was determined that she followed all ethical rules.

In the recent recertification process, Mr. Simpson raised the same allegations that he raised to the South Carolina Court of Appeals and the Judicial Conduct Commission. This was the only complaint filed against Judge Andrews in her recertification.

Why do we need Judge Andrews to continue serving?

For over 16 years, Judge Andrews has served our community with great integrity and has contributed of her time and energy far beyond the requirements of her position. Not only has she afforded litigants fair and impartial hearings in divorce cases, she has selflessly devoted herself to developing programs that are directed at protecting the welfare of children in our community. The following are various programs initiated by Judge Andrews or programs in which she has been intimately involved:

Juvenile Drug Court- Judge Andrews was the primary force in establishing JDC in Charleston County. The program requires young offenders and their parent or guardian to appear weekly before the judge to demonstrate that they have passed drug screenings, attended counseling sessions and have attended school with no disciplinary action taken. Once all the requirements of JDC have been satisfied, the children go through a formal graduation during which they are honored. The program has been enormously successful. Because of the success of JDC, MUSC has been awarded several federal grants to participate in helping the children who are involved in the program. Judge Andrews is currently the only judge participating in JDC. D. Ashley Pennington, 9th Circuit Public Defender, said of her work, “She (Judge Andrews) has pioneered the development of a Juvenile Drug Court that has singlehandedly made a difference in the lives of many, many young people in our community.” Judge Andrews has received national and international recognition for her work in the program.

Attendance Accountability Court  Judge Andrews worked with the Charleston County School District to create this program for truant students. The premise is similar to Juvenile Drug Court. The students and their parents/guardians must both attend counseling sessions and appear before the judge monthly to assure compliance. Failure to meet the standards results in community service or detention. This program has also been very successful. Judge Andrews is the only participating judge.

Second Chance Program – Judge Andrews worked with a priest from St. Andrews Church to start this program for fathers with addictions who are in jail because of non payment of child support. Volunteers provide life skills programs for the participants while they are incarcerated for 30 days. The offending fathers are then conditionally released under the following conditions: they must begin paying child support, they must attend weekly group sessions, they must contact their mentor weekly, they must submit to random drug screenings, and they must appear in court monthly to demonstrate compliance. Mt. Moriah and Seacoast churches now supervise this volunteer program at no taxpayer cost.

Changing Families Program - Judge Andrews worked with individuals from St. Andrews Church to develop a program that family court judges can use in divorce cases to teach parents how to minimize the negative effects on children of divorce. The program is now used by many judges and is being replicated in other counties.

Mediation Program for Abuse and Neglect Cases – Judge Andrews established this program based on a similar model in Horry County. Through her efforts, 30 trained family court mediators volunteered their time via this program which expedites abuse and neglect cases, saves the state time and money and frees up valuable court time. There are currently between 5 and 9 mediations each week, and the program is considered a phenomenal success. This intervention allows the early resolution of high conflict cases which reunify children with their parents.

Auxiliary Probation Officer Program – Due to the overwhelming work load of Charleston County Juvenile Probation officers, Judge Andrews worked with the department of Juvenile Justice to start this volunteer program in which qualified individuals were trained to supervise and mentor young offenders. Community leaders and successful professional were assigned cases that might have otherwise received minimal attention in the traditional probation system. The program was very successful for many years, but was eventually eliminated due to changes in funding requirements.

The two most important issues of this petition

1. One vocal and disgruntled individual should not have the power to wipe out an honorable and distinguished 16 year career on the bench.
2. Judge Andrews is a fair and compassionate judge who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to improve the lives on the young people who appear before her in court.

The Honorable William L. Howard Sr., retired South Carolina Court of Appeals Judge said, “Judge Segars-Andrews has had a distinguished career with a solid reputation as an honest, fair and impartial jurist, and it is now threatened by a single disgruntled litigant.”

Patricia A. Kennedy, Chief Public Defender of Berkley County said, “It would be a disservice to the families of this community and to the judicial system itself if she were not allowed to serve on the family court bench.”

There are hundreds of attorneys, judges and child health workers who all have made similar remarks. The committee to decide Judge Andrews qualifications needs to hear from us, the citizens of the Lowcountry. Please support Judge F. P. Segars-Andrews to remain as a family court judge in the position she has held for the last 16 years.

Link to petition

Religion and the media – rarely a good mix.  Sadly, with the well documented irreligiosity of the MSM, the “gotcha” mentality of too many 60 Minutes wanna-bes mixed together with a dose of Jon Stewart humor as news and Bill Maher cynicism and the pastor is generally out-gunned and ill-prepared to engage the reporter in a way that communicates anything close to their heart and intention.

Terry Mattingly in this GetReligion.org article addresses these very issues.  A must read for clergy – and for those who love their clergy.   Mattingly writes:

What would you do if you were the pastor of an ordinary evangelical church and a member of your flock suddenly became the most controversial person on this planet?

That is what happened to the Rev. Larry Kroon of Wasilla Bible Church when Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska became the GOP nominee to be vice president. To say that all heckfire broke loose would be an understatement. Kroon’s church was, quite literally, invaded by reporters from sea to shining sea and from, literally, all corners of the world.

Read the rest.

Tip of the hat to Greg Shore who, thankfully, loves his clergy.  Why?  I don’t know.

From this past week’s Saturday Night Live:

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Having posted a video clip of the man and his comments this past week, here’s an update:

President Barack Obama’s adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday.

Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly “green jobs” with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.

Read the rest.

Here’s a very interesting read from the UK’s Telegraph about the realities of government run health care.  Just a wee bit sobering as our Administration, whose proposed plan already includes “end of life counseling,” looks to European models:

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.
Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.
But this approach can also mask the signs that their condition is improving, the experts warn.
As a result the scheme is causing a “national crisis” in patient care, the letter states. It has been signed palliative care experts including Professor Peter Millard, Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics, University of London, Dr Peter Hargreaves, a consultant in Palliative Medicine at St Luke’s cancer centre in Guildford, and four others.
“Forecasting death is an inexact science,” they say. Patients are being diagnosed as being close to death “without regard to the fact that the diagnosis could be wrong.  “As a result a national wave of discontent is building up, as family and friends witness the denial of fluids and food to patients.”
The warning comes just a week after a report by the Patients Association estimated that up to one million patients had received poor or cruel care on the NHS.

Read the rest.

Ahhh, yes, Barack the consensus builder sending out his men to reach across the aisle.

Van Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs, the White House Council on Environmental Quality. February 11, 2009, Berkeley, CA. From a lecture Jones gave at the 2nd Annual Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative (BERC) event.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, a self-described libertarian with very progressive policies within his Whole Food chain (50,000+ employees – here’s a list of their benefits), draws fire and internet calls for a boycott of Whole Foods (hurting whom?  Mr. Mackey?) because he had the audacity to say ObamaCare would be a disaster?  Honestly, one of the amusements of a Democratic majority is sitting back and watch them cannibalize dissenters – oh, the liberality of the liberal and the tolerance of the tolerant.  

Here’s the article that sparked the outrage.  Make sure you read it all.

By-the-way, make sure to shop at Whole Foods tomorrow.

If you don’t know Peggy Noonan, she was one of the prominent speech writers in the Reagan White House.  I love her: her vocabulary, her style and her insight.

The president seemed like a man long celebrated as being very good at politics—the swift rise, the astute reading of a varied electorate—who is finding out day by day that he isn’t actually all that good at it. In this sense he does seem reminiscent of Jimmy Carter, who was brilliant at becoming president but not being president.

Also, something odd. When Mr. Obama stays above the fray, above the nitty-gritty of specifics, when he confines his comments on health care to broad terms, he more and more seems . . . pretty slippery. In the town hall he seemed aware of this, and he tried to be very specific about the need for this aspect of a plan, and the history behind that proposal. And yet he seemed even more slippery. When he took refuge in the small pieces of his argument, he lost the major threads; when he addressed the major threads, he seemed almost to be conceding that the specifics don’t hold.

When you seem slippery both in the abstract and the particular, you are in trouble.

Read the rest.