christian music is the failed understanding of how to be in the world but not of it.

 

 

 

 

 

omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg

 

 

 

i'm pretty sure that i just put down about $60 worth of organic fertilizer.

yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

you all make me feel complete

 

 

 

 

 

my sworn enemy

 

 

 

the best music video ever

 

 

 

 

 

i was bored

 

 

what happens when you increase corporate tax rates?

you fall out of step with the rest of the world.

 

http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/22917.html
this link compares what both the U.S. and the states require from corporations, to what the rest of the world requires.

 

http://www.sunherald.com/447/story/494633.html
this link gives quotes and specifics from the two leading democratic candidates regarding their views on taxes, and what they would do regarding taxes when they are elected.

 

 

this interests me because the general media never likes to talk about these issues.  they know that if you threaten peoples retirement plans/savings/earnability, they tend to vote the other way.  someone will again eventually say, "give to caesar what is caesar's", but we are not yet required to agree to these tax increases.  we have yet to vote for who holds the gun to our heads and makes us pay.  and don't believe it when they say these taxes are only for the super-wealthy.  whenever they talk about capital gains tax or investment taxes, they are talking about small business owners and a large group of middle class americans.  another thing to note, is that when you tax large corporations the people who suffer are not the owners or ceo's, they are the workers who eventually get laid off or have their job sent over-seas to a country that lets them operate under lower taxes.  you can't blame the president for allowing companies to go overseas, and then call for the rise in corporate taxes.

 

i hear a lot of talk about making the wealthy pay their "fair share", and then the same people support politicians who make the wealthy pay a greater percentage than everyone else.  is that fair?  it certainly is not equality.

they call it class warfare.

 

 

some will say anything for votes, even going along with the ethanol scam.

 

 

 

edit:   mmmmmmmmmmmmmm grammar

 

 

 

today = done

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i'm going to take back a portion of my last post, and then add a little more to the discussion.

 

what is so "progressive" about "progressive christians"?

i'm starting to think that when we assign ourselves these titles (liberal/progressive/conservative), we're really only taking our political selves and trying to form-fit them into our spiritual selves.  this kind of situation can be seen on both sides of this political/spiritual construct.  a good example for this is how a christian who supports war would look at the old testament as a justification for the use of violence by a seemingly "christian" state.  the problem in that situation is that christianity is not at all defined by the laws of the old testament, and part of being a christian is accepting Christ's new covenant which states that we should love our enemies.  a lot of us have grown up in a situation (me included), where patriotism is put on the same pedestal as our faith and the lines between them have been blurred.  we are not called to an allegiance with anything other than God, and therefor we are only called to defend our faith and not defend what our worldly nation does.

inversely, we are not called to build nations that will serve as the hand of God, and that leads us to the other side of the spectrum.  the problem with this can be seen in someone who sees the welfare system as a way for God's work to be done throughout the nation.  the problem with this being, Christ never called the nation of Rome to care for anyone.  he definitely did call everyone personally to feed and clothe the poor.  we've all read "give to caesar what is caesar's", but i think we too often use this as only a way to justify giving taxes.  i think if we read further into it, we can see that Christ is basically saying not only should we pay the taxes that are asked of us, but there is an understanding that the nation will do whatever it wants to.  we don't operate through an earthly nation though, we are a larger nation with God as it's leader.  if we see suffering somewhere, our first reaction shouldn't be "how can the country solve this?", it should be "how can i, or the church, solve this?"

we have arrived at a situation where our party affiliation determines what kind of christian we are, but there should only be one kind of christian.  we take these titles upon ourselves, and become content with the division it causes between brothers in the same faith.  the biggest thing to understand here, is that regardless of the involvement of christians, war and welfare will still happen.  it doesn't matter who we elect, or what party we vote for.  in the end, rome will do what it wants to, and only with rome in mind.  we, however, are called to something bigger than rome, and therefor should only be called children of God.

 

 

 

 i am guilty of this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it seems to me that "progressive" christians need to re-examine what they are opposed to.  if they would say "legalism", that's all fine and good.  but when they single out conservatism they tend to give the impression that they distance themselves from original intent, and not just the people they label "christian conservatives".

does this make sense to anyone?