March 27, 2006

News

Karl Barth once said of Christians that we  should keep the Bible in one hand and the daily newspaper in the other. Which is to say, I suppose, to be simultaneously attentive to the Word and the world. I suppose he’d probably agree that could be anybody, but would be inescapably true of any follower of the Way in what William Temple called the most materialistic of all the religions.

Having both the news and the Good News in hand, though, is one thing.  Reading, learning, and inwardly digesting, as the old collect prays, is quite  another. 

Our president is said never to read the newspapers, but to depend rather on someone else to let him know what he needs to know. I wonder if, as well, he follows the same principle regarding the Bible. As cozy as he seems to be with the religious right and considering some of the decisions they both make, it’s only logical to speculate on whether that’s where he gets his word on the Word, as well.

At least one understanding of what it means to be created in the image of God is to be free to choose to live in harmony with all of creation and with God. Somehow, the president may have been spared such notice. Anyone who claims that not enough science is in on global warming and simultaneously recommends teaching Creationism and Intelligent Design as a science has clearly missed out on some biblical truths about stewardship and incarnation here and there. Maybe especially that one laid down in Eden, of all places, the one about gardening.

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