Posters in Lompoc
On Sunday I'll have published, in the Lompoc Record, a response to the recent furor in Lompoc, CA (where I pastor) over the decision to remove a poster. The poster was a non-authorized (by the Postal Service) poster that had a flag and the words God Bless America. A local advocate of church-state separation requested its removal, first from the supervisor and then from the post master. It appears that the post master justified its removal on the basis that any poster in the P.O. must be authorized by the Postal Service, and this wasn't. Well it has caused a nation-wide uproar, with Christian activists and conservative ones as well, calling for it to be restored.
What is interesting about this whole affair is that it has such long legs. Daily letters to the editor write overwhelmingly against the person who started this thing. What is scary about this is the venomous nature of many of the letters. I plan to throw some Jesus at them, but I'm not sure it'll take. Jesus has become our savior, but not our guide. So what that Jesus didn't "stand up for his rights."
I was reading a sermon by the late Scottish preacher James S. Stewart in a recently re-published collection of sermons. He reminds us that the world is watching the church, and too often the way the church has acted has not provided a good witness. He tells stories of how Karl Marx and Mahatma Gandhi were treated by churches/church members -- one because his parents were of Jewish ancestry and the other because he was Asian. What would the world look like if they had been treated differently? This is a good question to ponder.
What is interesting about this whole affair is that it has such long legs. Daily letters to the editor write overwhelmingly against the person who started this thing. What is scary about this is the venomous nature of many of the letters. I plan to throw some Jesus at them, but I'm not sure it'll take. Jesus has become our savior, but not our guide. So what that Jesus didn't "stand up for his rights."
I was reading a sermon by the late Scottish preacher James S. Stewart in a recently re-published collection of sermons. He reminds us that the world is watching the church, and too often the way the church has acted has not provided a good witness. He tells stories of how Karl Marx and Mahatma Gandhi were treated by churches/church members -- one because his parents were of Jewish ancestry and the other because he was Asian. What would the world look like if they had been treated differently? This is a good question to ponder.
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