divining the paradoxes

i get kinda squirmy on sunday mornings when politics creeps into worship via the pulpit. it makes me even more uncomfortable than when some of my colleagues attempt to indoctrinate students from their position of power in the classroom. i don’t much care for an agenda from either point of view, left or right, being foisted on a congregation. this goes double when the opinions are buttressed with very little or no real Biblical basis or contextualization. an open discussion of debatable political points of view might be more productive in a small group Bible study where a chance exists for a legitimate exchange of ideas between those who struggle together toward a workable truth. often, from the pulpit, there seems to be no struggle, just an agenda not unlike what might be presented by al frankin or rush limbaugh. should we not at least struggle in our examination of the paradox of a text which tells us on the one hand that those who make peace are blessed (matthew 5:9), while clearly asserting, on the other hand, the certainty that there is a time to kill (ecclesiastes 3:3)? can we be so quick to ignore the fact that the same savior who asks us to turn the other cheek (matthew 5:39) also instructed his own disciples to buy a sword if they did not have one (luke 22:36)? is it not possible to objectively examine paul’s claim that governing authorities do not bear the sword in vain, but are God’s servants and agents of wrath to bring punishments to wrongdoers? the level of civil discourse in the public sphere is shrill and grating enough on its own. there is a place in the church for political debate, no question. but must it be on the most hallowed of days during the most sacred of hours when we gather together as one body to worship?

$7.25 > $5.15

in case you haven’t noticed, congress in all its wisdom increased the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over the next two years. the first increase raised the current minimum wage rate to $5.85. george miller, democrat – calif, and the bill’s author, gushed about those who will “benefit” from higher wages - "Today we finally release them from being frozen in time, stuck at that wage level when their gas prices are higher, their education prices are higher, when their medical costs are higher." it amazes me that he (and the others who passed this asinine increase) doesn't really get how economics works. who does he think is going to fund the increase? certainly the employers are not going to take a hit at the profit margin. instead, prices of goods and services will increase. here are two examples from my personal life. many sundays after church, my lovely and beautiful wife, my daughter, and i frequent ci ci’s pizza. we go so often that i know what to write the check for before we get there. two adult buffets and two drinks prior to congressional meddling ran about $12.00. the week after congressional jackassery, the cost increased to just over $13.00. in the second example, my daughter’s day care bill before was roughly $400.00 a month. now, it runs $460.00. democrats claim the minimum-wage increase will lift the income of 13 million workers . so – if such shifts in goods and services across the board affect my life-style, i can’t help but doubt how much the minimum wage increase will actually help those 13 million workers who will also face rising prices of goods and services.