Ted's Blog

And I am chief among poor miserable sinners,

Wow, thank you for your thoughtful, if gently admonishing response
to the column I sent you.

But did you hear Rush Limbaugh blow it off as little more than a
fraternity prank? Please know that I feel pathos and compassion on the American
guards, not venom. I still believe in supporting our troops, I’m not going
to EVER advocate spitting on GIs or calling them names like “baby killer.”
But don’t we bear collective responsibility as a people?

I know that God had His reasons for allowing Bush to become
President, but then He must have for Clinton too, right? Romans 13 gets pretty
complicated when we’re in a “representative democracy,” doesn’t it? Who is the King? The man or the office? The people or the Constitution.

One of my big concerns is the whole eschatological thing, the false doctrines that Reagan and perhaps now Bush subscribe to- it’s like
they want to speed up the second coming (or some kind of millennium), as if
they could.

I struggled with how to finish that column, I thought about calling
for resignations- I truly thought a better ending would have been a call
to prayer. I wonder how Lincoln felt about Grant’s being a “butcher”
and Sherman’s psychological warfare- no wonder he was so depressed all
the time.

The worst part of wars and partisan politics is that they divide
friends, Countrymen, brothers and families. I hope that as strongly as I felt
about things in that column does not place a wedge between us. I consider
you a mentor and a blessing in my life. These are two verses that I use to
remind me not to let politics become an idolatry for me.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name
of the LORD our God. ~Ps20:7

It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who
fears God will avoid all extremes~ Ecclesiastes 7:18

Check out my column from Thursday, March 18, 2004
"Advancing historic principles and ideals"

After a Church Council
meeting one of our Elders was talking to our Pastor about “Slimy Liberals.”
That threw me, I thought he obviously didn’t know how I vote in November.
No doubt many Liberals are slimy, but there are surely plenty of slimy conservatives too.

I may be in error in some points and others may be open questions
that you’d either agree or disagree with, but I think you’ll “get it,” so, I’m
sorry this email has gotten so long, but I hope you’ll print it out and
find time to read it.

In Christ,
Ted


Thanks for your thoughtful response to mine, Ted.
From: Pastor Marty Brauer
Sent : Monday, May 10, 2004 7:12 PM

First things first: absolutely no chance of a wedge coming between us.

Forgive me if I sounded partisan in my response to you. Though I
generally vote the Republican ticket (primarily because of four
issues: abortion, homosexuality, freedom OF religion, redistribution
of wealth), I ALWAYS struggle with the "whole" package.

I do appreciate and respect your stance on why you consider yourself a
democrat. Unfortunately, both sides, in their attempts to demonize
each other, have stooped so low as to question how anyone could be a
Democrat, yet consider themself to be a Christian (my dad and Rush),
or how anyone could be a Republican, yet consider themself also to be
a Christian (my uncle Hank and Hilary C.)

AND...while I respect your position on the heinous torture and
humiliation tactics used on the Iraqui prisoners, I do NOT believe
this is indicative of an evil administration with the impeachment of
the president due consequence. If Clinton were still in office, I do
believe I would have responded similarly to your letter.

Oops, just got an emergency phone call...I'll finish this later.

Blessings
pastor marty