Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, VA
The disciples were first called Christians
at Antioch.
Acts 11:26b
Mr. Jillette’s main concern with the word “Christian” appears to be when it is mixed with politics. The current overtly Christian candidates in national politics are Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. Sarah Palin, who is not running for president, would be in this grouping, and Mitt Romney as well (although there are questions everywhere regarding calling him a Christian because he is Mormon). There are other would-be presidential candidates who are Christians, but they do not trumpet their faith with their politics, preferring to quietly live it.
Jillette has great difficulty with a statement recently attributed to Bachmann that the human suffering and casualties of the latest natural disasters (hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, etc.) was God’s message to wayward politicians to shape up. If she did indeed state that, I have great difficulty with that concept as well. God calls us to live our lives in service to mankind, loving Him and our fellow human beings, but He leaves the decision up to us. Religion cannot be dictated from the bully pulpit of public politics. It is a personal choice. Mr. Jillette has as much right to choose not to believe as I have to choose to believe.
In my book, true Christians are those who live like Christ. Political ambition is not humble service. Mother Theresa lived her faith quietly, in ways that most of us would never dream of serving. She did so, not as a stepping stone to her next political objective, but because of her love for God - and she allowed that love to flow through her in extraordinary ways.
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