Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Over at SoCon or Bust , you can find an article questioning whether or not it's appropriate for Cardinal +Dolan (NY) to address the upcoming DNC convention in Charlotte, NC. He agrees with Dr. Jeff Mirus who says that +Dolan should not ... unless he uses the opportunity to give them hell. I disagree. IMHO +Dolan is IMHO doing exactly the right thing. First, he has been invited to lead the convention in prayer… not speak to them. Prayer must NEVER be done with a political intention other than to fulfill the great commission. It transcends the left/right framework of the American political system and super-imposes the imprint of the heavenly kingdom. It should be something that recognizes that we are all sinners and are all in need repentance and forgiveness. This is the role of prayer. If he were invited to give a speech, he would be obliged to do as his critics suggest. This however is not the case. Secondly, +Dolan espouses a brand of Catholicism which describes as affirmative o...

I've been having this same debate in the threads of the Holy Post! It seems that many evangelicals believe that ONLY those who believe in Christ will be found in the New Jerusalem. They seem (IMO) to be far too quick to condemn to hell the BILLIONS of souls of people who died without ever hearing of Christ. Further, they condemn those who once had faith, but through the events of life have had their faith stolen from them (think of victims of clergy sexual abuse or people who experienced the horrors of the Concentrations camps) thus (again IMO) victimizing these souls a second time. My understanding of God is very different. I take him at his word when he taught that many who think that they will be saved simply because they claim to be his followers will be shocked to find the way closed to them while 'tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners' are invited in. Personally, I always look at it this way: imagine after death you must stand in one of two lines. The first is...