Thank you for your patience while I completed the second part of my rebuttal to this debate. I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving.

I welcome any feedback.

This part of Mike’s e-mail takes a series of very interesting turns. On one turn, he asks various questions such as the following:

This leaves me with the impression that he is legitimately looking for a better understanding on how the Bible relates to the everyday issues that he talks about in this piece. Then he begins on a very long rampage in essence accusing Conservatives of being hypocrites. Here is an example:

One of the biggest mistakes that he makes in his whole presentation is that he equates conservatism with Christianity. There are many conservatives out there that do not consider themselves Christian. After reading this part of his e-mail, you would think that all who are Christians and vote a Republican ticket are hypocrites. This is like the same ideology that blacks have towards other blacks who vote Republican (Uncle Toms).

Questions for Mike:

-Please provide a definition of what a conservative is.

-Please explain the differences between a conservative, ultra-conservative and the religious right. (These are all terms that I have heard liberals use and I am having a hard time figuring out the difference)

-Please explain why racial name calling targeted towards blacks who consider themselves conservatives has been give a free pass by liberals…and most black liberals remain quiet.

He then accuses past Republican administrations for not taking care of certain issues while at the same time giving a pass to the Democratic administrations when faced with the very same issues:

And then finally, after spending his whole e-mail basically calling Christians who vote a Republican ticket “hypocritesâ€ÂÂ, he closes with the following statement:

So Democrats are on the right side of the issues and God is pleased with them? Hmmmmmmmm. Mike has COMPLETELY contradicted his initial statement:

God is on all of our sides. I believe it is ridiculous for any individual or group of people to assume that God is only on their side.

Another thing before I continue. Mike, can you provide for me the names along with exact quotes of people who said that God is only on the side of conservative Republicans? Thank you.

Before I continue, I must add that I do not consider myself a Republican nor am I registered as one. I have a history of voting both sides of the political spectrum. If you are interested in the label-thing, I consider myself a moderate-conservative.

Even though I disagree with Mike on most of his points, he does represent something that I strongly sympathize with: The inability of the church of today to attract and keep people who tend to think logically. In a future piece, I will go into great detail into this topic, but for now I will just try to summarize what I mean.

Since Mike and I are both men, I want to use the man’s perspective on this issue.

It is very true that much of the Bible is based on faith; however, the Bible tells us in James 2:14-26 that “faith without works is dead.” Here is the rest of that passage:

The church has done a good job teaching us the importance of having faith in God in spite of what is going on around us; however, much the church has dropped the ball when it comes to teaching people how faith and works go together. When men (as well as women) go to a church, they are looking to find out how to apply the Bible to their everyday lives. Sure, the stories of old are always very inspiring; however, most people have not had the experience on staying in the belly of a whale for three days, or being in a lion’s den. What a man needs to see is how Christianianity PRACTICALLY applies to finding a job, raising a family, being an asset to society, and just how to be a better person, period. Telling someone that “God will take care of it” when their rent is due tomorrow is not good enough for most people. Church should be a place where when someone is in a situation such as eviction, the people within that church gather around that individual to help them. This does not mean that money is the only thing that is given. What it could mean is just helping the person to better steward the resources that are already around them. I have found that I was most effective in helping people by just offering to walk them through a situation more than just handing them money.

I think that deep inside most people when they read the news, they want to know what God has to say on the various issues of the day. I know I do.

When a man walks into a typical church, the only opportunities that he is usually presented with are singing in the choir, being a usher/greeter, or being an understudy to the pastor. Men need to know that they can be just as effective in their Christian faith by working as a bus driver, school teacher, engineer, etc. Not all men want to be like the pastor. People in general want to know that it is OK to be the person God created them to be. We may all not have a huge following of people in our lives, but we sure can make a huge difference. We can talk all day about changing our cities, but if we do not have a practical plan on how to accomplish this, most people who are logical in nature will move on to something else. So again, the church needs to show us the balance between using our logic and activating our faith. They both go hand in hand.

The last thing that I would say is that I would advise all people who are not Christians to not judge the Bible based on those who profess to follow it. If you profess to be a Christian, then you must believe this scripture:

(2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Based on this scripture, Christians base their belief on this scripture that suggests to us that the Bible is absolute truth. Being the imperfect human beings that we are, many times we may get it wrong. But that still does not change the absolute-ness of the Bible. I personally use the Bible as a guide on how I view the issues of the day and how they affect me. Being a Republican, Democrat, or whatever is not absolute. So please be careful equating Christianity with a political ideology. To put it simply, a Christian strictly has the Bible as the foundation of what they believe. A Republican’s ideology is a mixture of their personal belief system (which could be shaped by a combination of many things–not just the Bible). Politics will change with every issue. God’s word will not:

“…LET GOD BE TRUE, BUT EVERY MAN A LIAR…” -Romans 3:4

“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” -Titus 1:2

As you can see, I am not short on words. I could very easily go point to point with you on some of the other issues that you raised such as 9/11, the war in Iraq, etc. After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that I did not want to get into some contest with you on subjects like that. We are both somewhat savvy when it comes to finding out information on the Internet. Just as you very easily found information that proved going to war in Iraq was wrong, I could find just as many sites that would justify it. Do I think that there is a bottom line truth behind such topics? Yes. However, I do not think that either you, me or anybody that may be reading this can ultimately get to the bottom of it. The only people that are ultimately privy to that type of information are those who are directly involved. You are going to gravitate towards information that fits your ideology and I will do the same. None of us are unbiased.

As I mentioned earlier, I am not convinced that your real motive is to get further explanation on how the Bible relates to the issues that you have raised. Instead, I feel that you wanted to use what you have seen other Christians not do as an indictment against Christianity itself. I hope that I am wrong in my assessment. If I am, please give me a call at the phone number that I have included. If anything else, I can at least be a friend, because truthfully that is what it is going to take if you really want the answer to your questions.