Friday, October 30, 2009
Religion has accomplished much good
From the RoundTable blog
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Daniel Esau
Esau, of Roanoke, is a retired postal inspector.
I always read with interest the opinions and comments contributed by my friend Jerry Schleifer. His latest ("America needs to get real," Oct. 20 commentary) demands some comment.
He is right that many things done in the name of religion have done great harm to the world. However, he again paints with far too broad a brush, inferring that much, if not all, evil done in the world can be laid on the doorstep of religion.
To begin with, there is true religion and false religion, and he fails to distinguish between the two.
For example, Islam has been labeled as a religion of peace with little evidence to substantiate. Most of the fighting going on now was initiated by Muslims. And they do not hide their goal of pursuing by force the submission of the world to their erroneous view of God.
Schleifer also failed to mention some of the activities of those we would certainly describe as nonreligious.
Chairman Mao is responsible for the deaths of millions. Hitler's atrocities are not far behind. Stalin attended a church school and also a theological seminary. He was obviously not influenced by Christian principles.
As leader of Russian communism, his purges resulted in the deaths of millions. He was, reportedly, preparing another purge when he died.
Consider, on the other hand, some of the activities pursued by Christians. While Christianity is not specifically mentioned, it is obviously included as a co-conspirator of all the wrong in our country and elsewhere.
A study of American history will reveal that the first hospitals in our country were begun by Christians. And there are still many hospitals, especially in Africa, that are operated by Christian missions.
A member of my church, Dr. Sam Williams, has devoted many months of surgery service in a missionary hospital in Togo and in other places.
Or consider the ministries of World Vision, Samaritan's Purse and other religious groups in distributing food and medicine to millions of refugees driven from their homes by tribal and Muslim fighting in Africa.
Samaritan's Purse is now preparing shoe boxes of toys, school supplies, etc. to be delivered before Christmas to millions of poor children throughout the world.
Or consider the Angel Tree ministry of Prison Fellowship, an organization founded by Charles Colson, one of the participants of the Watergate affair, who became a Christian in prison. This will provide Christmas cheer to countless families of prisoners. The PF ministry to prisoners had greatly reduced the recidivism of prisoners who have been in the program.
It may not be well known that many of the best known universities of New England were founded by Christians, primarily to train men for Christian ministry.
Jonathan Edwards studied theology at Yale and later became a president of Princeton. Unfortunately, these centers of higher learning have extricated themselves from their Christian connections and have become extremely secular.
They, along with their West Coast allies, are producing men and women who profess admiration for the likes of Mao, the Castro brothers and Chavez.
It is not a little unsettling to realize that this is the generation who are now running our country. And many on both sides of the aisle in Congress are evidently grown-up spoiled brats whose parents sheltered them from the consequences of their irresponsible behavior. They refuse to take responsibility to deal with the many problems we face (Social Security, Medicare, etc.).
Their expertise seems to be limited to spending our money.
Forgive me if I have tread on one's sensitivity, but entering the world of reality requires that one recognize a pumpkin for what it is.
