| To Rebuke or Not: A Debate The following is the email transcript of a debate between me and a Christian friend referred to as James, although that is not his real name. The debate was sparked by an email I distributed on May 3, 2005 about Laura Bush's lewd and unbecoming comments made during a Press Dinner several days before. Although I received several comments about the email and responded to each comment, I decided to post the debate with James because I believe it to be the most fruitful, and admittedly, the most fun. I posted the original email below for context. Warning: Deep, theological discussion - that which is rarely discussed by the wimps in the pulpits - is present. Of course, the wimps declare theology, the study of God, worthless. Enjoy! ----- Original Message ----- From: Curtis Kekoa III To: James Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2005 9:21 PM Subject: Fw: [God, Family, Republic] Mrs. Bush's Remarks Embarrassing, Lacking in Discernment Comment: Once again, BushCo displayed prima facie its anti-Christianity. This time, Laura Bush succeeded also in severely embarrassing herself, her husband and Americans in what amounts to a show of "white trash" worthy of a Kid-Rock concert during a Press Dinner Saturday night. And of course, one should never underestimate the BushCo political machine in its exploitation of the plagues of our society - this time the destruction of marriage relationships - by recounting, in jest one assumes, the First Lady's jaunt to a Chippendale's strip-club after her husband, "Mr. Excitement [...] George went to bed." What better way to get a few laughs than at the expense of America's broken marriages and families? "All right, that is good. That is damn good. That is exceptionally good. No wonder she owned the house," reacted so-called conservative Rush Limbaugh to Laura Bush's publicly godless comments (1). Rush continued his talk directly to genuine Christians who despised Laura Bush's destructive banter: "Chill, back out, take a breath, and relax. This is nothing but good. There's nothing offensive in this. People that watch Desperate Housewives, so what? It's just entertainment. And it's this kind of reaction that causes all of the so-called Christian right to get a bad name." What Rush is saying, then, is that the deplorable, despicable comments made by Laura Bush are not what give Christians a bad name; the Christians who call Laura Bush's comments deplorable and despicable give the Christian right a bad name. Rush, then, is just as depraved as self-proclaimed "desperate housewife," Laura Bush. And I don't watch Desperate Housewives; neither does my wife. We don't find it entertaining, just evil and ugly. We also don't think sacrificing Christians to lions in an arena was entertaining either, but those who bought tickets to such an event thought it was great entertainment. Maybe the Bush's would cheer at a Christian slaughter? They obviously appreciate Desperate Housewives. Well, I guess I should start breathing and just "chill"? I wouldn't want to give the Christian right a bad name when BushCo has done such a wonderful job of it already by enlivening the perverse auras of Desperate Housewives and Chippendale's and further debasing broken marriages. God, is there any shame even for the first of families anymore? Laura Bush's so-called comedic strive is no isolated incident; it is just a link in a concatenation of others which demonstrate BushCo's destructiveness to not only its own political party, the platform of which Mr. Bush opposes (2), but also to any strains of civility which remain in American society. Read on, please, and quit supporting BushCo (if you do) just because of the "R." Repent, basically. -Curtis ----- Original Message ----- From: James To: Curtis Kekoa III Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 2:13 PM Subject: Re: [God, Family, Republic] Mrs. Bush's Remarks Embarrassing, Lacking in Discernment Not that I would excuse these actions, but I might question the methods of "helping" them. See... Ex. 22:28 Acts 23:5 ----- Original Message ----- From: Curtis Kekoa III To: James Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 3:50 PM Subject: Re: [God, Family, Republic] Mrs. Bush's Remarks Embarrassing, Lacking in Discernment Do you think John the Baptist remembered (assuming he forgot) these verses right before his head was chopped off? What's your question? To: Curtis Kekoa III Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 5:04 PM Subject: Re: [God, Family, Republic] Mrs. Bush's Remarks Embarrassing, Lacking in Discernment Theology based upon John the Baptist? I recommend Acts 18:24-26 ----- Original Message ----- From: Curtis Kekoa III To: James Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 6:22 PM Subject: Re: [God, Family, Republic] Mrs. Bush's Remarks Embarrassing, Lacking in Discernment ????? What did John the Baptist do to lose his head? Hint: Matthew 14:4 ----- Original Message ----- From: James To: Curtis Kekoa III Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 7:30 AM Subject: Re: [God, Family, Republic] Mrs. Bush's Remarks Embarrassing, Lacking in Discernment Theology based up John the Baptist??? John was given the role of preparing "the way" for the complete message in Christ. Are you going to base your theology upon a partial or complete message? But to give you the benefit of the doubt, did John instigate this situation by continually criticizing Herod? It seems his message was repent and be baptized for the kingdom is at hand. His role was baptizing those who accepted this message, out of love and concern for their future. It doesn't seem to coincide with the full teaching of Christ to sit back and complain about your "appointed" leadership instead of devoting efforts to help them overcome the shortcomings. In your passage of Matthew, John was merely revealing the law as it was given instead of criticizing from a judgmental heart. This perception coincides with the rest of scripture which tells us not to criticize our governing leaders. Judgmental hearts tend to fall victim to using anything in accordance with their will to justify their judgment instead of the humble heart Christ taught which sees himself lower than others and merely wishing to reveal the Fathers law and will. Can you find how many times Christ criticized the Roman government during his teaching? Or did he simply say "give to Caesar what is Caesars'." An interesting concept to ponder is that it's not our leaderships fault that our countries moral values are falling, but the people of a democratic nation which have allowed such a thing to happen (and continue). It isn't simply one questionable choice on election day but rather years of falling away from God's moral absolute. We have the right to continually put legislation before them with more godlike qualities. We have the right to make known all the laws of God. These are the things Christ asks of his followers (Matt. 28:18). Study the church in the New Testament to see if God went to the Roman government and made his changes there or did he change the hearts of the people allowing them and their values to become the authority (and did he do it by criticizing Rome or revealing God?). Rome went out and conquered a vast amount of land with an impressive army but couldn't persist without God at the heart of their government. This caused them to implode upon themselves allowing the Christian nation to fill the vacancy and become the Roman Empire. History shows us how God's will works if we'll only accept it rather than our own ideals and vision. |