I’m part of an Evangelical Christian email list. Long story. Anyway, I receive from time to time email newsletters from various church-goers, often providing me and others on the mailing list with their own perspective on Canadian and world events. The following is one I found in my in-box this morning. I have removed the name of the its author.
Please keep in mind, I did not post this for the sake of ridicule. The voice of the writer, I believe evokes best of intentions. Whether these intentions have been properly placed or not I leave up to you to decide. Though I am trying to keep this preface short, I will state however, that if there is any doubt that religious groups like this are organized and active in Canadian politics as much as they are in that of the US, letters like this should put that doubt to rest. (Also, see Charles McVety )
I can’t state more without tarnishing the reader’s perspective on this letter. So I will save my second point until afterwards.
Dear Friends.
(sorry about the bold—I can’t fix it.) Just finished 25 hours of fasting, soaking, praying, repenting—-following is an account from Christians from Jerusalem re Yom Kippur.
These High Holy Days –from the Jewish New Year, to Yom Kippur to Succot or Tabernacles corresponds to a time which G-d, not the Jews, declared as Holy. Just cuz some emperor in Rome changed the months, date, Sabbath, etc in the 3rd Century does not mean that G-d has forgotten HIS calendar. It is no co-incidence that various Christian fasts and prayers times are going on now.
This New Year/ Rosh Hashana, is 7 years after Sept 11, it ends the season of 60th birthday for Israel and Jerusalem’s 40th. I knew change had to come—wow—look at the banks, stock markets, mortgages—Bankers in Paris are praying in their lunch times!
With 2 upcoming elections, Christians must pray and research and vote. This vote is critical. Since Sept 11 2001, (7 years ago) there has been a surge in anti-Semitism and backlashes against Jews. I used to walk through Thornhill Festival and see lots of Stars of David around necks. For some years now, I haven’t seen any (but there are lots of Muslim headscarves).
With the panic on the stock markets, and Jews heading the banking sector, we need to pray that a horrible backlash doesn’t occur. We MUST vote on Tuesday, and choose the only man who has the know how to protect our economy, and the only one with the courage to stand with Israel.
Stephen Harper saw this economic crisis coming and put in measures to protect Canada, a year ago! Wow. The US banks are approaching Canadian banks and asking for our help, cuz we are in good shape!
The National Post endorsed him as the only capable one.
Yesterday the Globe reluctantly endorsed him as the only capable leader—unheard of!
And I just read an enlightening article in the Sun about his high school reunion in Etobicoke last week. The reporter went looking for even one bad story about Stephen Harper in High School could find nothing bad about Stephen Harper—he was brilliant, shy, honest and well liked.
We MUST bring Stephen Harper back—make sure all your friends vote.
Just want to acknowledge all our Christian friends who are in Israel now, or en route, to celebrate Tabernacles. [section removed for privacy of names mentioned]
They are obedient to G-d’s word where it says in Zachariah that all the Nations/Goyim will go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Lord during Succot.
Pray that they have a wonderful time, that they fall even more in love with their G-d and understand HaShem’s heart for His Beloved Jerusalem and Israel. Pray that HaShem, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, will protect Israel, as His Word promises.
Blessings,
Ahem, now to the second and final point about this letter. I mentioned in a previous article, that reality has kindly removed most of my faith in a supreme being. But, if there is providence of any kind, it gave me a little nudge today – the same day I received the above newsletter – when I chose to listen to a podcast of Karen Armstrong. She is a British scholar in comparative religions. I only mention her because, more than the topic of the upcoming election, that of Israel dominates the letter. And one cannot mention Israel without mentioning something about Islam, as the writer does. Perhaps it was providence that also made one particular part of Karen Armstrong’s speech stick in my mind. It is as follows: People seem to equate religious faith with believing things. We call religious people often “believers”, as though that was the main thing they do. And very often secondary goals get pushed into the first place, in place of compassion and the Golden Rule, because the Golden Rule is difficult…because a lot of religious people prefer to be right rather than compassionate.
In 2008 Armstrong called for a council of Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders create a Charter of Compassion, and agreement that would help push the current world ethos beyond mere tolerance. Upon listening to her speech, some have find her tone towards a multi-religion world quite balanced. Others do not. The following is a comment copied form the TED Talks website, and if it doesn’t peek your interest about Karen Armstrong, I don’t know what will:
I simply can’t believe what I read, if anybody here is impress in the slighest way by what this lady says, then they should bowing down 24 hours a day at the feet of Jesus. What kind of evil is this, they worship the saying of this lady, but Jesus was ok, I mean, you have got to give Jesus some credit after all, he is just the most famous person on earth, I mean just a little respect for Jesus, people.
Jesus is the only hero, everyone else pales in comparison, his teachings have no parallels. You God dammed people, I don’t believe in hell, but if there was such a place, I wish you would all end up there. The bible is right, you worship the creature, more than the creator. You don’t deserve to have a brain, let alone a mind.
You come here to listen to this lady and to listen to Richard Dawkins rant and rave about God, and you worship this people, and you expect me to think highly of you, you are trash of the lowest kind. Your compassion is an abomination to God and if there is no God, then your compassion is hypocrisy, it’s what you do in public so that others can say how compassionate you are. But then you turn around and commit adultery, or lie, or deciet others in business. Who the hell told you that you were good and holy, God dammed you people.
We have much work to do. The first step is to get out and vote.
Now, I don’t mean to mix politics with religion on my own site. But in my own defense, I’ll just take from my religious background and state that the lord moves in mysterious ways.
But for the Lord’s sake, VOTE!!
its amazing what faith can do – it can make you believe stephen harper saw the crisis coming, or even cares. Faith can make you believe, I guess, that socialism is evil for everyone, but wall street…
anyway, this is well worth posting – many Canadian are going to vote again for what they think is a moderate conservative government. People who are kind of liberal and very secular and if or when the cons get a majority, they will be full of regret.
Chris Hedges a scholar on the rise of Christian Right in the U.S. wrote about the Canadian Christian Right in The Nation magazine a couple of years ago. Check out http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061127/hedges
– Jacob
Here’s a more recent one:
http://www.macleans.ca/culture/lifestyle/article.jsp?content=20060220_121848_121848