Dear Madame L,
I just read about the results of a poll conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life which claims to have found that white evangelical Christians actually are the people least likely to support policies and politicians that reflect Jesus Christ's actual teachings.
I know you're a Mormon, and you say Mormons are Christians, so I was wondering what you think about this.
Do Mormons consider themselves evangelicals? Do they tend to support Christian policies and politicians?
Sincerely,
Still Confused About American Politics and Religions
Dear Confused,
Thanks for your new questions. This is a complicated issue, and Madame L declines to judge Christians as a group or as individuals, leaving, as she has mentioned before, judgment to the only One who is actually qualified to judge.
Madame L's impression is that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tend not to think of themselves as evangelicals in the modern sense, and evangelical Christians in the U.S. tend not to accept LDS people as members of their organizations.
Madame L is aware that LDS Church leaders ask church members to vote their own consciences and to support political and social groups that they, the individual members, find to be compatible with Christian teachings.
Thus Madame L has LDS acquaintances who are Republicans, Democrats, Tea Party supporters, Independents, and Libertarians; all, Madame L presumes, believing they are reasonable and moral choices.
Madame L has located online the Pew study you've asked about, and hopes you and her other readers will be interested enough to read the study and commentary themselves.
Madame L has also located a commentary on the study, with the provocative title which she has used here, which goes on to point out that evangelicals don't really hate Jesus...but Madame L again invites you to read this article, as it provides food for thought on the current state of politics and religion in the U.S.
Sincerely and with hope for our future as a nation who serves God and loves our neighbors,
Madame L
2 comments:
Dear Madame Elle,
I have a friend who recently became an American citizen. A Canadian by birth, her mother is an American. She and her mother had to collect anything they could--old school records and work recrods--to prove that her mother actually lived in the U.S. for 10 years or more around her 14th birthday, in order for my friend to be able to become a dual citizen. On her first trip with the "proof" to the American Consulate in Canada, she and her mother were rebuffed by the rude employee. But after gathering more information, her second trip was more productive, and she was able to repeat an oath to become a U.S. citizen.
My questoin regards a green card. What is it? She talks about having had one during all these years of living in America, and how grateful she is to get a passport instead. She says, "Even the simple process of renewing my drivers license, setting up my will, or any legal procedure was a source of tension for me. Now, I can relax and my life will not have to be consumed with the protection of my green card." I never thought about her, or anyone else living near me, as needing special permission in the form of a green card in order to be my neighbor. Could you explain, please?
Thanks,
Sheltered Liver. I mean, Sheltered Lifer. I mean, Not a World Traveler.
Your questioners all seem to have observed, in one way or another, an example of a failure of Charity. I suspect that there are several short answers, to whit:
(a) The person was a jerk.
(b) The person had poor potty-training (my Mother's favorite).
(c) The bureaucratic policy guidelines were too long for a normal person to read.
(d) The person's religion was a cultural choice, and had nothing to do with Christian behavior or belief in Jesus Christ.
One day in a Church meeting after we sang The Star Spangled Banner, I asked a Canadian friend if he felt that Canada was also part of the New World prepared for the Restoration of the Gospel. He seemed startled, but said yes, he did. Canadian diplomats risked their very lives in 1979-1980 to rescue and hide six American diplomats caught up in the Khomeini revolution. I have four Canadian grandchildren. Anyone giving a Canadian a hard time in my presence is about to wade into deep chocolate kimshee...
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