Religious odds and ends

There have been four stories that I have followed for a while. I have not drawn attention to them before, I guess, because I was hoping they would fade into obscurity. I may have been overly optimistic.

First is the "praying at the gas pumps" action. A member of an Assemblies of God church has convinced some folks that gathering at a local gas station, circling a bank of pumps, holding hands, and praying for God to lower the gas prices is the right and proper Christian thing to do. He started this effort when gas was still under $4 a gallon. The fact that gas prices have continued to increase has not hindered the campaign. I know some Christian folks who do sincerely believe that God is concerned about every thing we face and every choice we make, but I am not certain that the God of the universe does care about the price Americans pay at the pump.

Second is the story about Barack Obama being the anti-Christ. For those not aware of what this means, here is a simplified explanation: Many Christians believe that, before the second coming of Christ and the end of the world as we know it, a secular world leader will arise who will unite all the countries of the world under his rule and eventually cause all people to worship him, instead of God. Barack Obama's meteoric rise in politics and his charismatic speaking style have fueled the speculation. A Google search lists 650,000 web hits dealing with this possibility. I don't know whether to be glad or not that one of the people who discounts this story is John Hagee (remember him?), who believes the anti-Christ will be a homosexual male with Jewish ancestry. I can envision some whispering campaigns as the political season grinds on: "Vote Republican or vote for the Anti-Christ."

Third, Bruce Ware, a professor of theology at Southern Seminary, which is my alma mater [though I was long gone before he arrived and the seminary was much different then than now], claims that the reason men abuse their wives is because of her desire to 'have her own way.' In conjunction with this, Ware said the only two responses for a man to have to a woman who seeks her own path is to abuse her or to become a passive husband who is acquiesent to his wife.

In case you want to know what Ware thinks is the proper role for a 'real' Christian woman in this way. "It means that a woman will demonstrate that she is in fact a Christian, that she has submitted to God's ways by affirming and embracing her God-designed identity as - for the most part, generally this is true - as wife and mother, rather than chafing against it, rather than bucking against it, rather than wanting to be a man, wanting to be in a man's position, wanting to teach and exercise authority over men. Rather than wanting that, she accepts and embraces who she is as woman, because she knows God and she knows his ways are right and good, so she is marked as a Christian by her submission to God and in that her acceptance of God's design for her as a woman."

So, we have definitive Biblical proof, a la Ware, that the only reason women are abused is their own sinfulness.

Finally, from Oklahoma City, the Windsor Hills Baptist Church planned to give away an $800 semi-automatic assault rifle to an attendee at a weekend Youth Conference that was expected to draw teenagers from hundreds of miles away. The church did not do so because their Pastor Emeritus, who was to make the presentation, could not attend. Never fear, though, the church did give away such a weapon last year and plans to keep the gun as a 'door prize' for next year's conference. Gee, whenever I was involved in Christian Youth events, the only thing they gave away was Bibles and stuff like that.

I wish I could say that I am making up each of these stories, but I am not. You can chase the links yourself, or respond to this posting and I will give you the links.