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Chuck Baldwin
More About: Religion: BelieversIs It Ignorance Or Misplaced Trust?
This column is archived at http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2006/cbarchive_20061212.html
For the life of me, it is difficult, even exasperating, to understand how my fellow Christian ministers can excuse and condone the un-American and un-Christian actions and policies of modern politicians. What in the world is going on? Are they blind to what is happening, or do they just not care? It is truly frustrating!
For example, I received a letter from a trusted friend (whose name I will not divulge) who told me of a private conversation he had with a notable conservative Christian leader (whose name shall also be withheld). During the conversation, my friend asked the esteemed Christian leader what he thought of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). To my friend's dismay, the popular Christian leader said that he knew absolutely nothing about the CFR.
Is it really possible that exalted, preeminent Christian leaders in America today truly know nothing of sinister organizations such as the CFR? If so, what else are they ignorant of?
Have Christian leaders and ministers not read any of Jerome Corsi's investigative reports regarding the North American Union, the NAFTA superhighway, or the soon-coming Amero? Have they never read any of Rep. Ron Paul's or former Congressman Bob Barr's reports regarding the dangers of the USA Patriot Act? Have they never questioned the official explanation of the 9/11 attacks? Have they never wondered what happened to the oil wells in Iraq? Have they not bothered to watch Aaron Russo's film, "America: From Freedom To Fascism"?
Are today's Christian leaders really that ignorant? In this ultramodern, technologically-advanced information age, how can Christian ministers be that uninformed? Or is it something else?
Is it possible that our illustrious Christian leaders have become so trusting, so gullible, that they choose to know only what they are told by the mainstream media or by political campaign offices? If so, will these same Christian leaders be as trusting of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? I doubt it. Furthermore, I cannot imagine my esteemed preacher-brethren glibly swallowing the press releases of President Hillary Clinton.
Yet, when it comes to many of the aforementioned issues, there is virtually no distinction or disagreement between Pelosi and Clinton on the one hand, and George W. Bush and Dick Cheney on the other. When it comes to issues that facilitate a burgeoning One World Order and an emerging federal police state, both sides of the political aisle act as one. And the esteemed leaders of the Religious Right say nary a word. In fact, they act as if they know nothing about any of it. Not only that, if anyone tries to speak with them about these things, they dismiss the thought as totally irrelevant and unimportant.
In addition, virtually every one of our esteemed Christian leaders professes allegiance to historic American principles. They claim loyalty to the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights. They profess knowledge of American history and love to quote the Founding Fathers. They boast appreciation for the men who fought at Bunker Hill and the Alamo.
Beyond that, conservative Christian leaders almost universally laud Biblical stories such as Daniel and the three Hebrew children, men who defied their government for a Godly cause, along with Simon Peter who declared, "We must obey God rather than men." They promote the examples of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist, great men of Biblical history who were willing to defy the powers that be in order to be true to a righteous principle.
Yet, when it comes to the way America's political leaders from both parties are trampling constitutional government, defying Declaration principles, and destroying liberties heretofore protected by the Bill of Rights, our illustrious Christian leaders claim to know nothing about it. Like Sergeant Schultz (from the old Hogan's Heroes TV show), they know nothing!
It is as if our Christian leaders today are unable to compute any issue other than abortion or gay rights. Or could it be that rather than address the hard issues, today's Christian leaders conveniently choose to trust their politicians with these matters?
However, do they not remember the sober warning of Thomas Jefferson, "In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution"? And if they forgot Jefferson, can they not recall how the Apostle Paul said, "Put no confidence in the flesh"?
Our entire system of government is established on distrust. That is, the people's distrust of their political leaders. Why else did America's founders set up three "separate but equal" branches of government, except that each was designed to serve as a check and balance to the others? Why else are congressional elections held every two years? Why else are we guaranteed a free and independent press, the freedom of speech, the freedom to redress government, and the freedom to keep and bear arms?
It is time today's Christian leaders learned an elementary truth: distrust of government is healthy. As our first and greatest President, George Washington, said, "Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." Yet, why should we have to remind our esteemed Christian leaders of this truth? It is they who should be teaching the rest of us this valuable lesson. So, why aren't they?
Again, I ask the question, are our Christian leaders ignorant and blind, or is it a simple matter of lazy, misplaced trust? I honestly do not know. However, what I do know is, for whatever reason, America's conservative Christian leaders today are either wittingly or unwittingly, either through action or inaction, contributing to our nation's demise. And saddest of all, they-America's Christian pastors and preachers-are the ones who truly have it in their power to turn the country around. If only they would!