Church vs. State

Church service today was a celebration to honour a long-serving pastor in the church I am attending. I like him, he seems sincere, driven and honest.

Somewhere in the middle of the ceremony, a member of the congregation was mentioning how much service this man had contributed to his community. To honour that, the church leadership had written to leaders of the community to ask for acknowledgement of his works. It was all very touching, but I raised a skeptical eyebrow when a plaque was presented from the White House, written by Mr.President (or more likely, his PR aides), thanking Pastor Al for his good works, and how Americans are deeply rooted in the Christian faith (?!?!?) and how the Pastor Al needs to continuing spreading 'love and mercy' (how about yourself Mr.President? Creating wars and rejecting the Kyoto Protocol aren't exactly acts of 'love and mercy'). And while the rest of the church stood up to its feet in applause, I suppressed my urge to run up to the pulpit screaming bloody fuck in regards to the blatant political campaign that was going on.

But this [entry] isn't about a politicking. Church has always been for me a place that encompasses heart & humanity, soul & spirituality. It transcends borders & backgrounds. Church has never been about tradition or custom, nor politics and policies, nor ritual and rules.

Enough is enough.

Food for thought: Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock