Make A Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

There are some church bodies responding to our not so Christian national advocacy or redefinition of torture. Their influence is limited though.

Sojourners has been calling our country to account and asking Christians to get engaged. The NCC has recently spoken out against torture too. That's good.

Sojourners has been effective in bringing to light other issues ignored by the Oval Office prayer team and reminding the church and the world that being a Christian is about more than putting up monuments to the 10 Commandments, resurrecting Deist creation theories, making sure babies have the right to be born (but after that screw them), or upholding marriage by making sure gays can't do it because we can't uphold it by staying married ourselves.

The thing about the NCC and Sojourners though, most Evangelical pastors could not care less what they say. The Bible might suggest it, the Holy Spirit might lead us to it, voices in the Body of Christ might be articulating it, but unless James Dobson or Ted Haggard decree it (and send out talking point bulletins), we just can't find the will to care.

I understand how difficult it must be to find the time to think about something like torture. If I had to preach and do all the other things pastors do, I might rely on topics sent from the Mother Hen too. So get the Mother Hen to say something.

Bob says he can't believe we're having this conversation in America. I can't either; it's letting out a cat that's been happily in the bag for a long time. (If that's too subtle- We, like other nations, have historically relied on torture). More egregious though is the silence of Evangelicals- I can't believe that. There- you have two people who can't believe something. Is that what we want- people going around in disbelief?

So absolutely contact your legislators (the Sojourners link above can help with that). But, like I said before, contact Pastor Ted and Jimmy D.. Remind them who they follow. Remind them who they represent. Remind them whose power fills us.

I think another feature I might add is how many times I avoided "swear" words- that is, how many seemed to crop up in my thoughts that I avoided in writing. (I tend to not believe in bad words- but I know other people do. What can I say- I'm a giver). This time there were 2. I wonder if you could guess which ones and where.

Samba Para Ti- Santana
Bonnie's Blues- Dizzy Gillespie
Come Around Again- Jet
Same Dress New Day- Tripping Daisy
Summertime- Johnny Come Lately
Humming Chorus- Herbert Von Karajan