Tag: state

Requiring ANY Religious Instruction in Public Schools is Wrong

/ CD Hamman / Leave a comment

Recently, Louisiana passed legislation requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in public schools. Shortly after, Oklahoma decided to require the Bible and the Ten Commandments be taught in public schools. And Christians across the country celebrated. I have no doubt that the governors of Louisiana and Oklahoma mean well. However, I must strongly disagree, even as a Christian.

Let me be clear, this nation WAS founded as a Christian nation. Even a casual reading of US history supports this conclusion. However, neither the state nor the federal government has the right nor the duty to favor one religion over another.

As Christians, we can not complain when any other religion is forced to be taught in public schools, then turn around and demand that Christianity or the Bible be taught in public schools. That’s hypocrisy.  We are the first to be outraged if any other religion is even offered as an elective in public schools. What are we going to say if a state with a large Muslim population forces the Koran to be taught in public schools?

I’m all for everyone having access to the Bible. I will even advocate it being freely available in the school library. But I have some questions: Who will be teaching the Bible curriculum? What qualifications will they have? What denominational or religious affiliation will these teachers have? Will they be teaching the Bible as literature? If so, will they also be teaching the Koran or the Torah as literature? Will the teachers be pushing one religious view over the other? These are just a few of my questions, and the answers may lead to even more questions.

One problem I see with forcing the Bible to be taught in public schools is, in my opinion, it shows how lazy we as Christians have become. We have become comfortable with leaving it to others to share God’s Word, even to our own children and grandchildren. Too many of us don’t even actually read and study the Bible ourselves. We’re content to go to church, send our children to Sunday school and children’s church, while we sit and listen to a sermon, allowing ourselves to be spoon-fed, without even reading what the Bible says for ourselves.

I am all for introducing children, and everyone else, to the Bible. But the more I have studied, and the more I have observed, even many pastors struggle to really understand the Bible in context. Again, this is partly because we have become complacent and are content to just read words on a page. We don’t have to learn Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. But we do need to learn to use the available language tools. In addition, we need to learn to dig in and research the culture and people of the day when each book was written, as well as who each book was written to.

The Bible has too often been twisted to justify, and excuse, some of the worst offenses in society by too many so-called Christians, and pastors. Based on that reason alone, I simply cannot believe that we have the right to force the Bible, or our faith on anyone. And the government definitely does not have that right. All these actions will do its lead to a waste of resources by the government attempting to defend what I believe to be a losing position.

It’s not up to any government to force the Bible on anyone or any group. We don’t have to hide our faith. It’s up to each of us who professes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ to be a witness to the power and love of God. We start by living a life that is consistent with a loving God who has made a way for us to have a personal relationship with Him, through Jesus. Then, when the opportunity arises, we might need to use words to help.

Stop the Memes, Shut Up, and Actually DO SOMETHING

/ CD Hamman / Leave a comment

It’s nothing new or unusual to be scrolling through Facebook, or any other social media platform, and come across a meme. Most of these are funny, and harmless. Some may be sarcastic. And still others are just plain ridiculous. But it’s mostly in good fun. Until we see the political ones. Even worse are the political ones which someone has been kind enough to manipulate scripture in an attempt to back up their position.

Here are some examples:

“God is in favor of walls.” “God welcomes immigrants.” “There are walls in Heaven.” “You can’t be a Christian and be against immigrants.” or something similar to “Heaven has an immigration policy too.” “God says your suppose to be kind to immigrants.”Of course these are just a few examples, and they almost always have a Bible verse listed somewhere.

Please, do us all a favor and just stop. First, most people refuse to acknowledge any legitimacy to the arguments on the other side. And there truly is a middle ground. But also, you all are just showing ignorance. And yes, I believe it is ignorant, as well as disingenuous, to simply pick a position then try to use Scripture to justify it. Especially when you’re twisting it, and completely ignoring the rest of it. Finally, posting memes does absolutely nothing to provide possible solutions.

Are you still with me? Good. But I must warn you, I’m not letting you off the hook. Because now I want to know if you are actually even trying to do something. Well, are you?

Have you done anything besides post a meme, or tell others that their position is wrong? First, have you at least taken the time to try to understand the other sides position? Any of it? Have you tried to understand the issue or the people? Or do you just post your memes, and your thoughts and prayers, and think that’s enough?

When was the last time you wrote to your United States senator, representative, or president? Heck, if it’s an issue at the state level when was the last time you contacted your state senator, representative, or governor?

But don’t simply contact them and tell them how you feel. Think through the issue, as many sides as you can, and present a possible solution. No, you’re not going come up with the whole solution to every possible scenario, but stop just posting memes, shut up about your feelings, and actually try to present a possible solution to the issue.

Finally, to our senators, representatives, and our President: with all due respect; Stop with all the political posturing. Stop pointing fingers at each other. Shut up, sit down, and actually work toward solutions. Heck, turn to us, your constituents and actually encourage us to get involved. Oh, and stop being so concerned with the media. Do your job right and your constituents will respect you. We are more important than the media.