Why would someone post a political belief (of any kind or nature) on FB and then explicitly outlaw commenting or questions regarding the belief? If you're going to post any opinion, political or otherwise, in a public forum, you should always be able and willing to back up your opinion. Now this is especially true if you're going to be invoking the "will of God" as some form of justification for your personal opinion.
Now, I obviously am not one who tends to shy away from broadcasting my personal political beliefs in public forums (hence half of this blog's content). But I don't believe that I've ever tried to silence dissension or discussion, and I've never backed away from defending my own beliefs.
Any time a person states an opinion, really of any kind, and then outlaws any further discussion of the matter, they come across as one of two things: an ignorant jerk decrying discussion because they literally have no response, or an arrogant asshole who believes that they can just broadcast their opinions as some form of gospel truth too lofty for debate.
Now beyond all of this, it really frustrates me when individuals of either political party use the name or will of God to prove their own personal political opinions. It's all well and good to base your political opinions on your own religious or moral beliefs. But to try and proclaim that the interpretations and conclusions you have come to should be imposed upon the rest of the nation because you are somehow assured that it is the "will of God" is positively ludicrous.
It's just like any other interpretation of Scriptures or religion: there can be dozens or even hundreds of equally valid interpretations. To claim that having one or the other interpretation of some mundane (and I use that word purposefully glibly) passage of the Bible is going against God's will is truthfully quite prideful. We can all make our best, most well-educated guesses and conjectures regarding what the truth is and what God's true path is, but we just can't know for sure. While, as Christians, we can be certain of some things (i.e. the essentials: God's holiness; man's sin; Jesus' birth, death and resurrection, etc.), there are many other things left up to human interpretation. And on these things we may never know what God's will truly is until we meet Him face-to-face in the afterlife.
So I really can't understand how this basic concept of certain Scriptures being open for interpretation doesn't seem to be able to translate over into the American political arena. Individual people or entire political parties seem to perpetually be claiming the right to "God's will." And as I saw a commentor on MaddowBlog remark the other day, the Third Commandment says not to take the Lord's name in vain, so how dare we try and use God's name as a stamp of approval on every political opinion that we spew at the mouth?
So stop trying to bolster your own opinions and make yourselves feel more justified by strapping God's name to something. God is far bigger, far wiser, and far more complex than our American political system could ever grasp. Furthermore, as I've said before, God stopped trying to establish a true theocracy when the Biblical kingdom of Israel asked for its first king, so why on earth would we be so presumptuous as to believe that He suddenly wants us to set up one now? Because only under a true theocracy can an agent of the government claim that they are acting out the will of God (especially if it comes to foreign policy matters).
Well, after all of that rambling, I guess I'll get off my soapbox with one final plea, bearing the risk of being obnoxiously repetitive: stop breaking the Third Commandment by invoking God's name to justify your own political beliefs. Have your opinions. Explain them freely and fully. But don't claim moral and religious superiority over someone regarding a national political issue. It's obnoxious, uncalled-for, and frankly, disrespectful of God's true name and will.
Not everyone wants to argue with people about their point of view. I believe that your point of view is just as important as everyone else's, therefore we are to respect them. I dont think that whoever posted whatever is any worse than you placing nasty, negative judgement on them.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't placing any judgment whatsoever on this person. I was stating my own opinion about how they came across. Furthermore, the entirety of the post was directed at a much larger issue, and not at any one individual. I've seen dozens of comments, on FB or other forums, from people trying to use the "will of God" to try and shut down discussions about their own interpretations of how religion and politics should intersect. And I've always thought that they came across in the aforementioned way. That doesn't mean that I actually think they are arrogant or ignorant. I just think that their wording makes them come across that way. So let me reiterate: this post was NOT directed any one individual in particular. Was there a certain incident that sparked a renewal in my thinking about the whole topic? Possibly. But I'm not gonna devote a blog post to personally attacking an individual. I would just never do that. So please don't presume to think that my comments were made in judgment of any particular person. It's not true and I truly apologize if it came across that way.
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