A call for a quiet calm for conservatives
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires. James 1:19-20 (ESV)
I have to admit that I have been struggling over the past week with not getting terribly discouraged by all of the anger that I see expressed by conservative Christians in both Canada and the United States against liberals, Democrats, and anyone else that they see as contrary to conservative values. The diatribe of abuse that I see hurled in 140 characters over Twitter, expressed in press releases or email updates and published on blogs as been enough to make me feel like retreating lately. Not only am I embarrassed by some of the over-the-top accusations and insinuations being spewed forth publicly but I am ashamed. We as conservatives seem to have to abandoned the attempt to express our concerns in a civil, logical manner that says what we know to be true and resists saying what are only rumours, slander, or conspiratorial innuendos that are patched together to fit the agenda we are trying to promote. We seem to think that with our loud noise that we deserve to be heard. No, I say. We only deserve to be listened to if what we say is demonstrably true and free of malice.
We have forgotten the words of James; of being quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. We think that our anger really will accomplish God’s purposes. We are so wrong!
Please, let’s bring back an intelligent conservativism instead of this bombastic, fear mongering anti-intellectualism that seems to be gaining traction in conservative circles.
Posts
6 comments:
I wholeheartedly concur! It makes me sad to see principles that I espouse (okay, some of them) being defended loudly by people who seem to have subscribed to a very worldly, power-hungry mentality that has no humility, no sense of Jesus' call that we love our enemies, and barely any intellectual integrity. So much of it reeks of, "The people are too stupid and evil to appreciate how brilliant our ideas are, and our opponents are too greedy and wicked to give us what we're due."
Keep up the good work Glenn, and I am praying for you and your health today.
Great to hear from you again, Matthew. Isn't it sad that we end up having to apologize for the loutish behaviour of our ideological allies all too often?
Amen! I, frankly, got sick of it years ago and that's why I rarely participate in political conversations.
Yeah, sorry I haven't been around to comment much lately, Glenn-- third of med school is very busy! I have still been reading and praying and have been blessed by the postings here on this blog.
I wondered if that might not have been it. All the best with your studies!
Amen! I am passionate about politics but not when they're frequently being complained about! Things will get better in our countries if we stand up for what's right in a calm and cheerful (though calm and cheerful with a strong spine!) manner.
Post a Comment