Cobb

Damn! Did I just hear a Republican say that markets are amoral? I'm marking this day down on the calendar!

No...on a more serious note, schisms and heresies have been happening in Christianity since it moved from the Eastern Mediterranean across the globe. It only stands to reason that this trend would be amplified in present day America, with its polyglot of cultures and subcultures, its tendency to be market-driven, and its fast-paced, change-oriented life.

Who punishes the bad churches? Well, I hope you're not advocating a return to the Inquisition! Is this another way of asking, "how do the Christian churches (or we as Christians) who intend to do the work of Christ as laid out in the Gospels separate themselves visibly from the charlatans who are out to make a fast buck using Christianity as their medium?"

I am a practicing Catholic (who could probably use a lot more practice!). There are times when I have felt, and feel, at odds with my Church. In all honesty, there are times when I've considered other religions. But still I stay...for better or worse, it's "home". A cultural as well as a spiritual home. I suspect that many members of the non-denominational churches do not feel the same way...maybe some of them are looking for that "home", and some (like some of my co-workers) have settled there as a compromise in their marriage (they being of one denomination and their spouse being another). Some are no doubt there for the plethora of activities; church-as-a-social-club.

Where does the sense of entitlement come from? Who "owns" Christianity, anyway? Is it in need of defense, or will the cream rise to the top? Or should we worry more, and be more vocal about, what is done in our name?

My sense of entitlement comes from the same kind of ethical activity involved in political criticism. I don't understand how anyone with enough nerve to criticize the President of the US vis a vis his fidelity to the Constitution (or some interpretation thereof) cannot or does not understand religious criticism.

But what I'm also saying is that Fundamentalists are aiming their guns at the wrong targets. Sure there is a lot to be said about the moral conduct of politics and culture but the Christian church itself (certainly Catholics are learning the hard way) have to be prepared to open their practices to public scrutiny.

I am suggesting that a unified Christian church would not have to revert to wacky extremism in order to influence American society if its house were in order, and I think the recusal of Ralph Reed speaks very loudly about what the Christian Right might have tried but can no longer do. In that Christianity is more suited (if Jesus life is any example) to a kind of grass roots pluralism than Islam or Judaism there are indeed natural affinities with American life that could be extended as a counter to the excesses of modern market life.

I would think that there are a lot of socialists floating out there and creating static which would be better served by integrating their activism with the liberal aspects of Christian charity. Instead, they hang out with anarchist losers like International ANSWER. I don't find it difficult to answer to Christian pacifism, because I expect that Christian pacifists are pacifist themselves. However I am a great deal more reluctant to respect anarchists - they end up justifying the kinds of reactionary measures which erode civil liberties.

Since I hung around too many Jesuits growing up, I expect a more theological debate than I hear. But, I'm figuring out ways to deal with such expectations.