in medias res

Reprinting this from a note a friend of mine wrote. She does a beautiful job of coherently laying out her case for support of a presidential candidate.

My life has been surrounded by political arguments lately.

A lot of people believe I am voting for a kook who wants to legalize everything that Christians see as wrong. I just want to take a second (maybe more) and explain why I am voting for Ron Paul.

Let me start off by stating my big issues. They are abortion and the economy. It’s one thing to say that, as president, you will “fix” these two things. It’s another to have proof that you have tried. I am not talking about attending pro-life rallies or cutting taxes a few times. I mean definitive evidence that what you are saying can be backed up. Otherwise, you are lying to me. Ron Paul’s congressional voting record and his personal life cannot be denied. He is known as Dr. No in Congress because he votes for what he believes, even if he is the only no. And he believes in cutting spending, drastically, to get us out of debt.

For him, everything goes back to the economy. And truthfully, everything does. Illegal immigration, abortion, health care, the war…it all affects the economy. What really woke me up was when I realized where our economy is heading. It’s not just about the numbers. It’s about my convictions.

I truly believe that the society of debt and wealth we live in is a disgrace. People live far above their means. As a Christian, I look around and see plenty of places our money could be better spent. But, we have created a society of faceless giving. The government takes care of the poor, the ministries in churches take care of the poor and hurting. So we give our chunk of change to Uncle Sam and we put our dollars in the offering plate and we feel good. There is no face to our giving. So, we build our big houses that we can’t afford, and we drive our big cars that we can’t afford and do not need. And we feel okay. This is a big problem in America. Greed, wealth, and the need to get ahead.

And our government does it as well. We borrow money from China at a rate of $1.5 – 3 billion dollars a day. Yes, billion. Yes, each day. From China. A communist country who has been accused of some horrible humanitarian atrocities. Who aborts more babies each day than any other country. Who has enormous leverage in Sudan because of their investment in Sudanese oil fields (and could help to end the crisis but won’t). As a Christian and a human being, borrowing money from this country is bad on many levels. Borrowing money like this from ANYONE is.

Ron Paul is one of the only candidates that directly addresses this issue. Many of them say they will cut spending and lower taxes, but when I took a look at their track records, few can compare to Ron Paul’s stance on this issue.

A lot of Christians won’t vote for Ron Paul because he “wants to legalize everything” from gay marriage to prostitution. Not true. He wants to live by the Constitution and not federalize these issues. Christians seem to believe that if we do not force everyone to live by our beliefs, then we will no longer be “a Christian nation.” The only thing stopping us from being a Christian nation is our own failure to be what God called us to be and do what God called us to do. He never says to make sure gay people can’t get married.

Instead, he tells us to love our neighbor. He tells us to take care of the oppressed and the poor, the widows and the orphans. If Christians spent more time loving people instead of telling them what they are not allowed to do, we could get a lot further. Making certain things illegal does not mean they go away. If something is not infringing on the rights of others, it shouldn’t be a federal issue, it’s a states issue. Making it a federal issue does not change hearts and minds, Jesus does. This “Christian nation” is in our hands, not the governments’ and governing by the Constitution will keep it that way without running over the rights of others.

How “Christian” is a nation that kills unborn babies, borrows money from a humanitarian horror of a country, and has hundreds of military bases worldwide so that we can intimidate everyone and keep them in line. The world knows us through two things, military presence and Hollywood…not very “Christian” things to see.

Somehow the Christian vote means voting for someone who can say everything just right, keep our troops in Iraq, and keep gay marriage illegal. In Isaiah 1, we are warned against leaders who “accept bribes and seek out gifts” but this never comes into play when deciding who to vote for. Ron Paul is KNOWN for not accepting bribes and gifts. Lobbyists are fiercely hoping he will not get elected.

I believe America is heading into a dismal state. There are already parts of the Constitution that we blatantly ignore. What happens when we ignore freedom of speech or religion? You may laugh and say that will never happen, but I am not so sure.

We are sacrificing the Constitution and freedom to keep a few key “Christian” issues. We are no longer the country we used to be. We are weakened, spread to thin, and in debt.

For goodness sake, our LIGHTBULBS are going to be outlawed! The signers of the Constitution are rolling in their graves I am sure. The government has no right to do this, not according to the Constitution. We are blatantly not living by the Constitution. When sworn into office the president is swearing to “uphold the constitution”.

Let’s elect someone who won’t lie to us their first day in office.

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The Tennessean has an article today about the settlement between Belmont and the Tennessee Baptists, and one of the best parts is a quote from Marty Dickens, Belmont’s Board of Trustees Chairman:

Dickens said the payout actually is worth about as much as a $5 million offer the university made to the convention two years ago.

Belmont could invest $4.2 million now and make the $250,000 annual payment for the next 40 years off the earnings, he said.

With the $1 million the university will pay the convention upfront, Belmont’s out-of-pocket costs would be $5.2 million under that scenario.

Ha! Nice little final jab at the Tennessee Baptists. Sort of, “See? If you’d only taken the same settlement two years ago, you could’ve avoided this whole PR nightmare.”

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I received an email a half-hour ago from President Fisher of Belmont announcing the official end of the relationship between Belmont and the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Included in his email was a statement released by Belmont’s Board of Directors:

Belmont University is pleased to announce that it has reached a mutually agreeable settlement of all disputed claims with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. We believe that this resolution honors the many significant contributions that Tennessee Baptists have made to the University and upholds the teachings of Jesus Christ, whom we all seek to serve by ending litigation.

The settlement concludes a 56-year relationship between Belmont and the TBC and provides gifts by Belmont to Tennessee Baptists of $1,000,000 next year followed by annual payments of $250,000 for the next 40 years. These gifts are an expression of gratitude to Tennessee Baptists for the financial and spiritual support that they have provided to the University over the past five decades. The funds will be added to an endowment at the Tennessee Baptist Foundation to support Tennessee Baptist missions and ministries.

Approximately $4,900,000 in funds being held for Belmont by the Tennessee Baptist Foundation for the benefit of the University will be transferred to another trustee selected by Belmont. Of that amount, $1,500,000 represents funds which are subject to the terms of the settlement agreement between Belmont and the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

Belmont is grateful to the many Tennessee Baptists who have encouraged the University as it seeks to broaden its Christian mission by including on its Board of Trustees Christians who are members of churches affiliated with other denominations. The University will continue to be a student-focused, Christian community of learning and service with a rich Baptist heritage that we intend to foster and nurture through our ongoing relationships with local Baptist churches. That is our promise and our covenant.

Though Belmont is parting ways with the TBC, we trust that our shared history has provided important groundwork to achieve common goals of the Convention and the University, and that our futures will evidence this good work. Belmont is committed to its Christian mission and to cherishing its Baptist roots.

Marty Dickens
Chairman of the Board of Trustees

I’m glad to see the end of it. Earlier this year I went down with some 25 to 30 other Belmont students to protest the TBC’s actions (detailed in the post “I’m Not Jesus.”)

Of course, instead of the Tennessee Baptists winning a settlement like the hethens do, they’ve won mandatory gifts for 41 years from Belmont. How nice of Belmont. Nobody gives me mandatory gifts totalling $11 million. That’d be nice.

But it is definitely a positive to see them settle it out of court. May 2008 would’ve seen the case placed on the court docket with a judge determining the validity of the document signed between Belmont and the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 1951. Given the settlement, I’d say that document was valid enough for Belmont to want the case never to reach that judge.

There’s a great letter to the editor in a recent Baptist & Reflector (the newsjournal of the TBC), and once I get a copy of it in front of me, I’ll throw in a few quotes.

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Sweet Fancy Moses, either put up a manger scene or don’t. Can someone please let me know when it started seeming reasonable to this town’s park superintendent or mayor to construct an entire manger scene without Mary, Joseph, or Jesus? Does the manger scene even make sense without the baby Jesus? What’s the point of all these people gathering, coming from so far away? In some incredible skew of logic and reason, these leaders somehow think that leaving out the Holy family will keep from offending people? Listen, if you don’t have the stones to display a complete manger scene because you’re afraid of the ACLU and the one atheist in your town, then don’t put one up at all. If you want a “holiday” scene, find a blow-up Santa. It’s only $49 at Walmart. Sheesh. St. Albans, any reasonable person would look at your town’s display and wonder, “Now, why’d they go and do that?”

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Here’s a short excerpt from this morning’s newscast. Click to watch the Quicktime movie.

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One of my fellow protesters has been communicating with the Collegiate Ministries Coordinator for the TBC since the protest and has posted some of that correspondence:

Essentially, I would just like to discuss questions that were related to the heart issues behind the matters, questions on philosophy of action, biblical connections, questions on how the parties were communicating or not communicating, etc (which is really all students are concerned about anyway). James wouldn’t go into any of that and in fact said it was irrelevant.

In fact, in response to questions raised regarding Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 he said, “I am well aware that Scripture says we should not sue. But sometimes circumstances and other parties leave no alternative.” Scripture can just be sooo inconvenient sometimes, can’t it Dr. Porch?

There seems to be a bunch of religiosity divorced from the gospel; hearts held hostage by shallow compartmentalized faith that only reaches so deep.

…and then the plea:

Assuage my doubts. Let me know that a bunch of old men are not playing chess with other people’s lives. Let me know that they’re pondering both grace and justice in light of God’s Word alone and not secular wisdom. Let me know that there is hope in joining the world of adults and not just more of which to despair.

That’s exactly what I was concerned about, so thanks Matt. Read more, it’s important.

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Today I traveled with a group of about 25 or 30 other Belmont students down to the Tennessee Baptist Convention headquarters to peacefully hand them letters showing our concern in regards to the lawsuit against Belmont. We’d used Facebook to organize ourselves, and according to the confirmed attendees on the website, we expected to see at least 86 people involved. As it turned out, fewer actually attended, but those that did had some great things to say.

Belmont’s legal council apparently contacted the protest’s organizers–Nicole Loveless, Nick Williams, and Melody Drushal–last night to discourage the event from actually taking place. In a meeting today, the three students spearheading the protest ironed out some of the details with Belmont’s legal council, and though there was still discouragement and a firm stance from the lawyers that Belmont was not in any way supporting the protest, the decision whether or not to proceed was left up to the students. After prayer and consideration, they decided to continue as planned. Read the rest of this entry »

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My dear leaders,

I write this letter not as an angry student of Belmont University, but as a member of a Tennessee Baptist Convention church. I was born and raised in the Southern Baptist Church, and many of my greatest childhood memories come from time spent with those I met and loved at my home church. I am so glad to see that the TBC represents a church that refuses to sit back and passively exist in our world today.

But I am concerned that perhaps we have lost our true focus in search of vindication of a contract with Belmont. My heart is grieved to hear that money given by those with a heart for missions has been redirected to finance a lawsuit against another body of believers. We know from mainstream media coverage that Americans are notorious for lumping together all Christians in their negative judgments, from swindling televangelists to Billy Graham–it’s all the same to them. When someone like Jerry Falwell makes a statement on national television, the nation assumes he speaks for all Christians. It is, therefore, so crucial we conduct ourselves in all matters in a manner pleasing to Christ, especially in dealing with conflicts within the church.

I have no doubt you’ve had committees scour over passages such as 1 Corinthians 6:1-8, but I personally have a difficult time reconciling the latest efforts by my state’s Baptist Convention with that scripture. Perhaps there is some chance I do not fully understand what Paul was saying here. But of all passages in the Bible, this one seems least likely to be cryptic. When Paul charges us to not sue our Christian brothers in a secular court in front of unbelievers, how have the members of the Tennessee Baptist Convention convinced themselves it is the right and just thing to do. My heart is saddened at this effort if only for the fact that reflects so poorly on the church and undermines the Great Commission.

In both love and sorrow,

Kevin

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Tomorrow, a group of 80 or more concerned students will meet around Belmont’s tower and pray. From there, they will travel down to Brentwood, to the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s headquarters and deliver a silent protest. The plan is to walk in single file and place letters in one stack and a dollar each in the other. I’m writing this post before the scheduled event, but I will withhold my own letter from being published on here until immediately after the protest. Shortly after the protest, I will have more information on how the protest went down and how some of us felt about it.

We should keep in mind that the purpose of this event is to show the Tennessee Baptist Convention just how disheartening this lawsuit really is, and exactly who it’s going to be affecting.

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A lovely food analogy, using one of my favorite beverages, from The Refugee Baptist:

What we need is an officially endorsed Baptist coffee: Bitter enough for fundamentalists, smooth enough for moderates, and weak enough for liberals. Then we could get an “overwhelmingly” supported creamer from a B&R poll..short on substance, easy to write about, and luke-warm journalistically.

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