So What's This All About?

In case you didn't know, I'm in the multi-year-long process of posting a Christian devotional at the TAWG Blog. The TAWG Blog is, and always will be, mostly apolitical. For the most part, Bible-believing Christians will find little to disagree with there. But I also firmly believe that God's word can--and should--inform everything in life, and this should include politics and popular culture. How should we vote? How should we respond to hot topics such as abortion, capital punishment, taxes, and other issues? Which party, if either, is closer to the Biblical ideal? Tony Campolo and Ron Sider, Evangelicals whose political leanings are on the Left, have made the case in several of their writings that God wants his followers to vote politically on the Left more than on the Right. At times, some of them have gone so far as to equate voting on the Left with obedience to Christ, either subtly or not-so-subtly contending that the converse is true as well: If you vote Republican, you're sinning against the Savior.
I don't agree. I think that to the degree they actually resort to the Bible, they're misinterpreting it. With a whole bunch of caveats, I think politically conservative positions are a lot more compatible with the Scriptures than the Leftist positions.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
So there are two main purposes for this blog. One is to make a case for my political beliefs based on Scripture. The other is a bit more vague, basically to work out my political beliefs and figure out what's based on Scripture and what's based on my own biases. I certainly don't have all the answers. Some of this stuff I'm still figuring out. And I'm certainly open to correction. As long as you make your case civilly and based on Scripture, feel free to make a comment, and I promise I'll post it and consider your arguments thoughtfully and prayerfully. Who knows? Maybe we'll learn a little something from each other.
May God bless our common striving together towards both the "little t" truth and "Big T" Truth. Our watchword here is a line from C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle: "Further up and further in!"

P.S. -- Below on the left is "Topics I've Covered" which lists everything I've posted topically. It's come to my attention that some people would like to see everything just listed for them. If that's you, you can get it here. Thanks to my friend Stephen Young for the tip!

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Sit-ins

From Bill Bennett's American Patriot's Almanac:

On February 1, 1960, four black college freshmen from North Carolina A&T State University sat down at a lunch counter in an F. W. Woolworth’s store in Greensboro, North Carolina, and asked to be served. They were told no—the counter was for white people only. The four sat quietly until the store closed, and the next day they came back. Again they were refused service. Again they sat quietly at the counter until the store closed, and returned the next day.

The four students—Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond—knew they were running a risk of being arrested, beaten, or worse. Across the South, black people were supposed to stay away from whites-only restaurants, drinking fountains, and restrooms. But the four freshmen were determined to challenge segregation.

By day four, the store was still refusing to serve them, and many people were stopping by to heckle or stare. But there were also hundreds showing up to support their silent protest.

As word of the sit-in spread, black students in towns across the South began politely asking to be served at whites-only lunch counters. Whenever police arrested them, more protestors stepped forward to sit in their place.

The sit-ins gradually had an effect. In July 1960, Woolworth’s decided to integrate its stores. Across the South, racial barriers gradually began to fall. The sit-ins helped bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned the segregation of public facilities.

The Greensboro Four, as the four brave young Americans came to be known, had helped make the United States a more just place. “This is my country,” said Joseph McNeil, who later served in the Air Force in Vietnam. “I not only fought for it; I fought for the chance to make it right.”

Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email--for free--a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. You’ll read about heroes, their achievements, and key events that took place “On This Day” in American history. Click here to subscribe.

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