Carter decries the exclusiveness in today's fundamentalist churches. Christ, he says, was inclusive. He dined with sinners. The only people He ever really railed against were the, self-righteous, the hypocrites, and those who loved money more than they did their fellow man. He gave us the parable of the Good Samaritan.
To make his point, Carter quotes Pat Robertson who said on the 700 Club, "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense, I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist." Not an example of either tolerance or inclusion.
And though Paul was something of a chauvinist, Jesus, himself, was a great liberator of women. Women were definitely leaders in the early church, and who can deny that women do most of the work in a church?
Unlike many past presidents, Jimmy Carter has not concentrated on piling up money for himself and his family since he left office, he has "gone about doing good." He decries the greed that is a linchpin of the current administration as well as the Congress. He writes: "Narrowly defined theological beliefs have been adopted as the rigid agenda of a political party. Powerful lobbyists" have distorted an admirable belief in the free enterprise system into the right of extremely rich citizens to accumulate and retain more and more wealth and pass it on to descendants. Profits from stock trading and income from dividends are being given privileged tax status compared to the wages earned by schoolteachers and firemen" The new economic philosophy in Washington is that a rising tide raises all yachts." He believes government exists now not to help those who cannot help themselves but to subsidize the rich. Not what I would consider a Christian concept. Neither does Carter consider such greed Christian.
Concerning taxes, Jesus said "Render on to Caesar what is Caesar's." As Carter notes one in ten of the verses in three of the gospels and one in seven in Luke refer to money or the poor. But the highest god of those running this nation now appears to be money, greed, and a lust for power. Jimmy Carter has proven by his good works that greed is not his god.
Carter's foundation has accomplished amazing work in fighting Guinea worm, river blindness, and trachoma in millions of people in Africa with modest sums of money. His work with Habitat for Humanity is well-known.
The entire Bush family, on the other hand, has proven that it will do anything to make a buck. There does not appear to be anyone they will not shill for. They have made millions of dollars traveling with and shilling for (Bush, Sr., Barbara, and now Neil) Sun Myung Moon who claims to be the "true Messiah," and who bought 12 submarines and gave them to North Korean Dictator Kim Jung Il.
Words matter not at all. "By their works shall ye know them." Christ said it. Jimmy Carter has lived up to it. He is truly one of the great among the "Greatest Generation."
To make his point, Carter quotes Pat Robertson who said on the 700 Club, "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense, I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist." Not an example of either tolerance or inclusion.
And though Paul was something of a chauvinist, Jesus, himself, was a great liberator of women. Women were definitely leaders in the early church, and who can deny that women do most of the work in a church?
Unlike many past presidents, Jimmy Carter has not concentrated on piling up money for himself and his family since he left office, he has "gone about doing good." He decries the greed that is a linchpin of the current administration as well as the Congress. He writes: "Narrowly defined theological beliefs have been adopted as the rigid agenda of a political party. Powerful lobbyists" have distorted an admirable belief in the free enterprise system into the right of extremely rich citizens to accumulate and retain more and more wealth and pass it on to descendants. Profits from stock trading and income from dividends are being given privileged tax status compared to the wages earned by schoolteachers and firemen" The new economic philosophy in Washington is that a rising tide raises all yachts." He believes government exists now not to help those who cannot help themselves but to subsidize the rich. Not what I would consider a Christian concept. Neither does Carter consider such greed Christian.
Carter's foundation has accomplished amazing work in fighting Guinea worm, river blindness, and trachoma in millions of people in Africa with modest sums of money. His work with Habitat for Humanity is well-known.
The entire Bush family, on the other hand, has proven that it will do anything to make a buck. There does not appear to be anyone they will not shill for. They have made millions of dollars traveling with and shilling for (Bush, Sr., Barbara, and now Neil) Sun Myung Moon who claims to be the "true Messiah," and who bought 12 submarines and gave them to North Korean Dictator Kim Jung Il.
Words matter not at all. "By their works shall ye know them." Christ said it. Jimmy Carter has lived up to it. He is truly one of the great among the "Greatest Generation."
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