Monday, April 10, 2006

I am no fan ...

... of Garry Wills and Christ Among the Partisans reminds me why. "There is no such thing as a 'Christian politics', " Wills opines. "Jesus brought no political message or program." Maybe so - though one could argue that Jesus was the first to propose separation of church and state ("Render unto Caesar ...").
Of course, this whole piece amounts to nothing more than Wills's ex cathedra assertion as to who Jesus was and what he meant. It is one more installment in the Gospel according to Garry Wills.
But if you take what Wills says to its logical conclusion, then the abolitionists were wrong and so was Martin Luther King, because their sociopolitical positions were grounded in their Christian faith.
Like other citizens, people of faith are likely to vote for the party or candidate they feel is most in sympathy with them, not the party that merely claims to sympathize with them.
After all, "faith without works is dead," wrote St. James. And he knew Jesus better than Garry Wills.

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