An excellent Mennonite choral group called The Hope Singers has released an album titled “Jesus.” My sister-in-law was able to participate while the group toured Poland where she was teaching at the time. Click here to listen to audio clips and purchase or download the album.
Edit: This link no longer works. Apparently the album has been taken off the site.
For the last several weeks I have been listening through an mp3 CD of seminar talks in support of young-earth creationism by Kent Hovind. I have a habit of googling speakers and authors I am currently listening to or reading so I did a little web surfing the other day. I was surprised to come across recent news articles detailing the recent trial and conviction of Mr. Hovind on 58 counts, facing him with up to 288 years in prison.
The charges which include failing to pay federal taxes and structuring deposits to avoid federal bank reporting regulations began to make sense to me as I continued to listen to Hovind’s talks. Branching out into a wide range of issues beyond his views on creationism, he commented on various conspiracy theories and even health issues. Mr. Hovind subscribes, for instance, to the view that the world’s financiers orchestrated the major wars of this century, and to the idea that the US government was behind the 911 attacks on this country as well as the Oklahoma City bombing.
Further, possibly explaining his current predicament, Mr. Hovind suggested that, among other things, 501(c)(3) incorporated churches, paying taxes, obtaining marriage licenses, and registering one’s vehicles with the state are an invitation for government control of the church.
In addition to the flurry of blogging on the subject there is the expected association of Hovind with other evangelical leaders whose reputations have gone down in flames over various scandals. The Hovind conviction is seen as one in a series of blows to the “religious right” or the evangelical community.
Not necessarily viewing myself as a member of the “religious right” or even the broader “evangelical Christian” community, my feelings are that the Hovind case is just another example of “Christians” fighting the wrong battles. Much as I appreciate the young-earth creationist view I reject the ideas that we are to refuse to pay taxes and obey the laws of our country to the extent that they do not conflict with the law of Christ. In my opinion refusal to pay taxes and fees and obtain necessary permits for building directly contradicts the teaching and example of Christ, as does Hovind’s willingness to criticize and scorn the authority of government. At the same time his stash of guns (which he said belonged to his church) including semiautomatic weapons reveals at least a willingness if not intent to exercise deadly force in self-defense which is also contrary in my view to the teaching of the New Testament.
I wonder if, today as always, the worst enemies of true Christianity are not “Christians” themselves.
I’ve wanted to build a wooden toy barn for the boys and one of the nice things about long winter evenings is the chance to tinker with woodworking projects like this. They are delighted with their new toy and my wife plans to paint it. I like to see what I can make out of scrap wood lying around. I made this barn out of the scraps from a bookshelf I made this summer. The only material I bought was three sets of hinges for $1.97 each at Wal-Mart.
Jordan and others are working on a project they call the “Mennofesto.”
Quote:
“These Mennonfestos were inspired our dear friend Peter Guertzen. Peter was listening to the NPR programe Fresh Air with Terry Gross. She was interviewing a non-Christian Left-winger who wrote a book about the Religious Right. As Peter listened to the interview, he was repelled by the understanding of Christianity which was given to this man by the Religious Right. On the other hand Peter felt himself rising to the defense of Christianity as this man completely dismissed the idea of creation and the essentially proclaimed Christianity stupid. He felt this tension inside. On one hand there was his own disgust with the Religious Right. On the other was his deeply held sympathies for Christianity. He felt a need for an articulation of Christianity which was not like that of the Religious Right, but that could be seen as a compelling and radical interpretation of the teachings of Christ. Something that would have more integrity and be more compelling than mainstream Christianity. He wondered what would be the result of a number of Anabaptists writing their understanding of Christianity which could be compiled into a book as a statement of Anabaptist Christianity. In answer to his call, Michael Hostetler, Darrel Hershberger, and I (Jordan Ehst) have written the following papers. We each have a little bit of a different angle.”
The Mennofestos.
Jordan’s paper is here.
