As a citizen of Alabama, I’m always on the lookout for news from my state that would interest a national audience enough to highlight in a column. Thus, the other day I was at first excited to see that our new governor had made broad headlines.
Disappointingly, the story turned out to be another one of those nonissues that only get attention because the media knows the effective additives to leaven them with.
After his inauguration on January 17th, Governor Robert Bentley (R-AL) spoke to a large crowd at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church (once pastored by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.). David White of The Birmingham News reported the incident as follows:
“‘There may be some people here today who do not have living within them the Holy Spirit,’ Bentley said. ‘But if you have been adopted in God’s family like I have, and like you have if you’re a Christian and if you’re saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you just like the Holy Spirit lives within me, then you know what that makes? It makes you and me brothers. And it makes you and me brother and sister.’
Bentley added, ‘Now I will have to say that, if we don’t have the same daddy, we’re not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I’m telling you, you’re not my brother and you’re not my sister, and I want to be your brother.'”
In summary, Bentley reiterated Jesus Christ’s message of spiritual brotherhood and sisterhood (Matthew 12:50, Mark 3:35, Luke 8:21) to a bunch of churchgoers, and extended a hand to any in the audience who might not yet be followers of Christ…
Click here to continue reading at The Washington Times Communities.
Miss Read,
Nice article. I’m glad you put his comment in the right perspective. I wanted to read the rest of the article, but when I clicked where it said click here, it brought me to an advertising site for financial aid, not to the rest of the article.
I’ve put your blog on my blogroll and check back often.
Mike
Mike,
Thanks for the comment. The rest of the article can be read here: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/not-your-average-read/2011/jan/21/alabama-governor-bentley-christians-religion/
~ Amanda
Amanda,
I would like to thank you for the complete view that you offered on this event. As you can imagine, the first thing that I heard about it had a bit of a liberal twist to them. (He hates all non Christians if you ask my other source) It was nice to hear the full story, especially told in a way that recognizes the Governor’s faith and does not ridicule him for it. I especially appreciated the comments on how a Christian who doesn’t evangelize is the one that hates unbelievers. This statement is so true and yet not recognized by most people.
Sincerely,
Peter Last
“a Christian who doesn’t evangelize is the one that hates unbelievers”
The same can be said of every idea. If I don’t evangelize my deaism to Christians or atheists, I must hate them, for I should do everything in my power to show them that they’re wasting their lives and the lives of the people they preach to.
Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? What would the world be like if we all preached our ideas at each other?
Your statement, Adam, was nothing more than self-serving platitude.
“a Christian who doesn’t evangelize is the one that hates unbelievers”
The same can be said of every idea. If I don’t evangelize my deaism to Christians or atheists, I must hate them, for I should do everything in my power to show them that they’re wasting their lives and the lives of the people they preach to.
Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? What would the world be like if we all preached our ideas at each other?
Your statement, Peter, was nothing more than self-serving platitude.
Whateverman,
As a deist, you don’t believe in hell. If your beliefs are accurate, and God is impersonal and doesn’t care one way or the other, the concept of wasting one’s life is fairly relative. If someone feels fulfilled by Christianity, then it isn’t really incumbent upon you to change their life…because there is nothing to really save them from.
If there is no heaven and no hell, nobody is ever going to find out for certain anyway – if there is no life after death, then as soon as a person dies they have no consciousness to realize, “Oh wow, I’m just dead, there’s no spiritual dimension of the universe!”
If that’s the case, who cares?
(Contrast this with the Biblical belief that not only is there a heaven and a hell, but one day everybody will find out.)
But I don’t really know the details of your personal worldview. Do you believe that the impersonal Supreme Being initiated a moral law along with the natural laws of the universe?
I’m also curious, if you don’t mind me asking – do you have a set of reasons for not believing in the God of the Bible? Do you find Christianity repugnant?
~ Amanda