May 19, 2015
"The way to walk through demanding times is to grip my hand tightly. Regardless of the day’s problems, I can keep you in perfect peace as you stay close to me."
Said Jesus, as imagined by Sarah Young in "Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence," as read aloud to a group of religious conservatives in Iowa, by presumed presidential candidate Scott Walker.
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20 comments:
It's no Veronica, who took real time dictation, curiously in the style of a bureaucrat.
Always a bad idea to rewrite Jesus.
Or Shakespeare.
How has Scott Walker's religion impacted his term as Governor?
I think it's okay to rewrite Shakespeare! Particularly if you are adopting him for a medium like film. My favorite version of Shakespeare in cinema is Spider Castle, what many people refer to as Throne of Blood.
Also, I think it's okay to rewrite or reimagine parts of the Bible. For instance, I think Ridley Scott's version of Exodus is amazing! I love it. People complain about changing the staff into a sword. But I think he captures the spirit of the thing.
Is it a good thing, or a bad thing, for a politician to read devotional books?
Is it a good thing, or a bad thing, for said politician to quote from those books in public?
Does it matter whether the devotional book is of a woman who claims to commune directly with Jesus?
Would it matter if the devotional book was another type?
I'm trying to figure out what the problem is here.
It's not quite a President talking about personal sin, quoting a Jewish liturgical book, and asking for prayers at a Presidential Prayer Breakfast.
Nor is it a President musing on theology, war, and public morality in an inaugural speech.
What's so scary about a devotional book?
That book is crazy popular in Evangelical circles, especially with women.
Remarkable the things people think Jesus might have said. Sarah Young reads from a very different New Testament than I do.
I'm going to go ahead and assume that "grip my hand tightly" is not meant to be taken literally.
And still, one would probably be well-advised to look both ways before crossing the street, regardless.
This doesn't increase confidence in Walker's faith or his politics or his literary taste. If he promises never to quote from that treacle again, I might consider voting for him.
I think there is some confusion. That obviously was Jesus Koch, not Jesus Christ they were quoting.
He's a witch! Burn him!
Meh. She's not claiming that these are vebatim Burning Bush-style communications from Jesus. It's a rhetorical device to explain what she hears in her heart. No point in praying if you're not listening for the answer.
I've not read it, but I've heard it quoted a fair amount.
It's inspirational literature. Nothing I've come across seems problematic. The only issue, really, is it's very much slanted towards gentle, counselor Jesus and lacks the harder edges he shows in different places. I've not heard any of the challenging or difficult Jesus.
I'm also wary about putting words in Jesus's mouth. But, it's no different than how a lot of churchy, theology stuff has done over the ages. Pastors do it every week when they claim their weekly lecture is preaching "the Word."
And GW Bush did a pretty job of reading that story about the goat on 9/11, to the school kids in Florida.
Has Obama any similar public readings of great kids' lit that will be remembered in a decade?
It's inspirational literature. Nothing I've come across seems problematic. The only issue, really, is it's very much slanted towards gentle, counselor Jesus and lacks the harder edges he shows in different places. I've not heard any of the challenging or difficult Jesus.
That's why women love it. In my experience, women can't deal with Difficult Jesus--it makes them feel bad about themselves.
Dear God: please forgive those who have a problem with Scott Walker's faith and how he chooses to share it.
In your name.
He's signaling (truthfully) to evangelicals that he's one of them, without taking a stand on a controversial issue.
This seems like politics 101. What's the news?
The character of Greco-Judeo-Christian Civilization has a fearless freedom as it's anchor. It has built noble forms of expression because people could act from the realization that the Almighty Unameable Good calls them up and has their back.
Isaiah boldly affirmed his understanding of our contract with the One Beyond Naming, declaring this to Him: "Thou shalt keep in Perfect Peace (shalom shalom, the Serenity of Prosperous Peace, T'ai) him whose Mind is Fixed on Thee."
That's the promise, said sweetly in this image Gov. Walker evoked quoting a current joy-filled servant of Good.
Godspeed, America
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