Commentary: It’s so easy to “forget” the Constitution. Is “ignore” better usage? South Carolina pastor Rev. Mark Burns addressed the RNC convention 7/20 and left the “box.” My concern is the mainstreaming of craziness/religious superiority in the USA. It’s noticeably worse this election cycle.
Some religious leaders inappropriately take political positions. At past national conventions even Rev. Billy Graham had more sense. Rev. Burns and other religious leaders who preach and openly support/oppose specific candidates/elected folk — give up your 501(c)(3) tax haven and re-register as 501(c)(4). Pay appropriate taxes; oh, be legal. This is not a freedom of religion issue. It is separation of church and state. Rev. Burns isn’t unique in forgetting the First Amendment (Remember, e.g. the Pastor Brown matter, El Paso?) He also will not be the last.
Can Americans support the 2016 Republican ticket? While it claims “America First” so did Lindbergh pre-WWII, i.e.: hatred of “the other” — non-whites, blacks, Hispanics, Jews, LGBTT’s and others not fitting a narrow “norm.” Neo-nazis, Oath Keepers and David Duke support it. Unfortunately, so do others.
Religious Americans probably understand both Jewish sages and Jesus: “love your neighbor as yourself…” (Leviticus, Mark, Mathew). Similar views of e.g., love to G-d for the poor and the understanding for the stranger, are in Muslim Hadiths and expressed East Asia style in Hinduism, among others. Islamic terrorist killings and sharia are only part of the story — the headlines.
Christian hate is an oxymoron.
In America no religion shall be imposed over another. Burns and colleagues have stated or inferred imposing such on the USA — a narrow “Christian” theocracy. This idea is our Sharia equivalent. Our founders, many seminary educated, would cry out — not in the USA they created.