I had hoped (and posted) that Obama’s middle-of-the-road rhetoric on school reform options meant that he would support school choice. Instead he has acquiesced to the powerful teachers unions. The second paragraph of the article is particularly indicting:
Let’s call them Sidwell Liberals, after the famous Washington, D.C., school where President and Mrs. Obama send their daughters. Despite this personal experience, Mr. Obama signed into law a provision passed by Congress that shuts down Washington D.C.’s voucher program, depriving 1,700 disadvantaged kids of the chance to escape failing public schools through the use of scholarships that let them attend private schools. Two of them attend Sidwell Friends School with the Obama girls.
It saddens me that a man who seems to sincerely desire to help the underprivileged cannot (or will not) see such hypocrisy.
[Add. 9/10/o9] : I must revise my opinion of the President downwards. The more I ruminate on this issue the less willing I am to give Obama the benefit of the doubt. His is the “sin” of commission rather than just ommission.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, religion and politics wonks made much ado about very little over the emergence of the Evangelical Left. Certainly the white evangelical left exists (ie Tony Campolo), but despite all the hype over evangelical enchantment with Obama, the evangelical left did not have a break out year in 2008.
Yet the Evangelical Left should be heartened. (more…)
At the end of June, financier and swindler Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in federal prison. He had defrauded thousands of people of over $65 billion. Although many of his victims were relatively well-heeled, plenty of poor-to-middling investors lost their life savings. These bare facts reveal a tragedy, but one that is not particularly unique except for its record-breaking scale. A quick google news search shows that another dozen ponzi schemes have popped up in the news in just the past 24 hours.
But Madoff’s sentencing took on a special significance. (more…)
Slate just published this article on the prosperity gospel. (Another from the NYT). The article is of uneven quality (postmillenialism tied to prosperity gospel?), but his central point, that the prosperity gospel continues to attract followers in the midst of economic recession, is significant.
The prosperity gospel is self-validating and non-falsifiable. Consider the case of the fictional (though realistic) Mr. Kilpatrick. Mr. Kilpatrick has been struggling to break through into management at his office. He happens to attend a service at Lakewood Church where he hears Joel Osteen declare that “those same winds that are trying to defeat you, God can cause to change direction and be the very winds that propel you into the destiny He has in store for you!” Mr. Kilpatrick realizes that he just needs to “sow into God’s kingdom” (tithe and purchase materials from Joel Osteen ministries) and God will fulfill His covenant by financially blessing him. Mr. Kilpatrick digs into his pocket and gives. Lo and behold, several months later Mr. Kilpatrick gets a promotion! Clearly God had rewarded Mr. Kilpatrick for giving. Now Mr. Kilpatrick can buy a new home (with an adjustable rate mortgage), get a nice, new car, and give even more generously to Joel Osteen’s ministry.
Mr. Kilpatrick’s financial success validated Osteen’s ministry. But if the opposite had happened to Mr. Kilpatrick, if his financial situation had worsened, it would not have invalidated the prosperity gospel. Mr. Kilpatrick’s financial failures were a result of his lack of faith or his insufficient giving. If only Mr. Kilpatrick had trusted God a little more or given more than he would have been rewarded. The prosperity gospel is unfalsifiable since circumstances are always interpreted as proof of its validity.
The unfalsifiable and self-validating nature of the prosperity gospel, at best, undermines its followers pursuit of sanctification. A believer in the prosperity gospel who is financially prosperous will be tempted to ignore personal sin since the prosperity gospel replaces holiness with wealth as the standard of God’s pleasure. Alternatively, a prosperity-follower who is fiscally impoverished may spiritually castrate themselves as they seek for the sin in their lives that has caused God to frown upon them.
Ultimately, as John Piper has eloquently noted, the prosperity gospel runs counter to the true gospel.
If you’re interested in the history of religion in America you should check out mine and Lincoln Mullen’s new collaborative blog Religion in America. We hope to use the blog to post book reviews, historiographical essays, and photo tours of historical sites. We’d value your input!
Both Lincoln and I have graduated from Bob Jones University and gone on to pursue religious history in graduate school (he at Brandeis and myself at Temple). Lincoln specializes in colonial religious history (ie Puritans) while I focus on fundamentalism and evangelicalism in twentieth century America.
I just noticed two articles on Drudge about the situation in the Honduras. The first is from the opinion section of the Wall Street Journal and appears to give the lie to claims that it is an undemocratic coup. (more…)
