We're home after a week in Anchorage. While we had a blast, we agreed in the cab on the way home that we are glad to be somewhere that is dark for more than three hours at night and gets warmer than 65 degrees. Photos to come later.
I've been posing some questions to my readers about Christianity and politics. Here are a few more:
- All of the questions so far have had to do with the law. What about Christians' social responsibilities? To what extent do we carry our social responsibilities as Christians into the voting booth with us? Should we be using the government to help us take care of widows and orphans? Why or why not?
- If you think laws should reflect Christian principles, but that social programs are the responsibility of the church, how do you reconcile those ideas? And the opposite question—if you think the government should follow Christian principles of charity, but that it shouldn't legislate morality, how do you reconcile those ideas?
The last time I bought a tank top (that I still own) was at the Women Commissioner's rummage sale my freshman year of college. (I do have one my mother-in-law bought for me more recently, but, since I didn't buy it myself, it doesn't count.) While it is a fabulous, form-fitting, comfy, blue, terry-cloth tank top that I will take with me to the grave, I decided I should venture out to buy another. In fact, my wardrobe is pretty woefully bereft of Saturday-afternoon-type attire for summer. I do have a fabulous and fuzzy Bruce Lee t-shirt, but it is beginning to look a little worse (or better?) for the wear. I set out on a mission.
Hours of shopping later, I have not been able to find a single tank top that I like because stores are only offering the frilly, lacy, daytime pajamas that "the kids" are wearing these days. The look works for lots of people. I don't dislike it. It just doesn't work for me. Especially shirts with a high waist and low hemline. I have wide hips that just don't belong underneath some sort of billowy, poetic shirt. They go in pants and more tailored-looking skirts, and that is all. Narrow, fitted waste=Good. Anything else, especially with ruffles=bad. These shirts make me look like some sort of over-groomed pregnant poodle. Don't even get me started on the flowy skirts that have taken over the racks.
Unfortunately, they are the style of the day. I have found that the frilliness can be stealthy. A perfectly normal-looking ribbed tank top turned out to have tuxedo-like lace ruffles stitched to the front! I was on the verge of resorting to the camouflage print tops in the Juniors section or just wearing sports tops all the time, but I was in search of something at least sort of girly, so I stuck to my guns. I did find one today that I liked in spite of the lace around the arm and neck holes. It was relatively subtle. It was basically all one color, and it did not have any ruffles. It also did not have a price tag. When I got to the cashier, it turned out that the price tag was on the missing pajama bottoms that made up the set. So, the one tank top I found that did not look like froofy lingerie was, in fact, part of a pajama set. *Sigh*
My booty from the trip? Teva sandals ($20!) and a Popeye T-shirt. So girly. Okay, okay, and a skirt. But it's denim. With no ruffles.
"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."
--G.K. Chestserton
That was a new one to me. I like it.
A few more questions concerning Christianity and politics:
- What are your views on the Kingdom of God? (In three sentences or less. Haha.) Seriously, I think this issue has a significant impact on what you think about Christians' role in politics. How does God rule here and now?
- How does our responsibility to govern, as you see it, play out in everyday life? Do you see Christian participation in government as an individual responsibility or the responsibility of the church as a body of believers? Are we to vote? Try to impact our world by reaching out to people we know one at a time? Form political action committees? March? Why?
Last week, I posted some questions about Christianity and politics for people to answer. Here are some more:
- To what degree are we to uphold a biblical standard of morality in the law? If we lived under a system of government that enforced God's ultimate moral standard, we would all be dead. I don't think anyone is advocating that. So how do you decide what you think ought to be the law of the land and what shouldn't be? Where do you draw the line and why?
- To the extent that we have a responsibility for the government of our country, how do you reconcile it with the doctrines of sin and grace? If "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10) outside of God's grace, what are we seeking to accomplish by creating and enforcing laws? Reminding non-believers that they are ultimately judged under God's law, whether they like it or not? Convicting people of sin so they are more prepared to hear the gospel? Protecting the innocent? Creating a more moral society? Ushering in the millennia kingdom (see the previous question)?
- Many of our contemporary concepts of "rights" come from Christian ideals of how other people ought to be treated. Do we, as Christians, have a duty, or even the freedom to demand those rights for ourselves? Why or why not?