Riverwood Presbyterian Church

Politics

On Christianity and Political Activism

by Jimmy Hopper

A column in the Tuscaloosa News that I almost never miss is that of Cary McMullen, who appears each Saturday on the Religion page. I’m not sure why I’m so faithful to read him because He is obviously a bit to the left of my stance on most things. Maybe it’s because he’s thoughtful and articulate, and that’s relatively rare today; maybe it’s becaue he’s obviously a believer; maybe it’s simply because, looking at his picture, he’s at least close to my age. He writes for a newspaper in Florida and has been picked up nationwide.

His column today is written in the style of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters (with, he notes, apologies to his memory,) and in it, he discusses Jerry Falwell’s latest faux pas during a meeting of the Value Voters Summit. It seems that Falwell stated that Hillary Clinton would “energize ‘my’ constituency” even more than if Satan himself ran. McMullen discusses this as a memo between the two demons Lewis used in his book, Screwtape and Wormwood. Wormwood, the underling, had written his boss, Screwtape, complaining that this was an insult to their leader, Satan himself. Screwtape tells him not to worry, that “Insults are our domain.” He says that Christians were led to believe that “hating this woman is an act of serving our enemy,” who is, of course, God.

There is more, but McCullen’s final argument from Screwtape’s perspective is fascinating and, to me, right on. He has Screwtape, Satan’s demon, say this: “You see? Any time we can persuade people that their faith must be tied to a particular political platform or party, we distract them from the practice of what one of their more influential writers called ‘Mere Christianity.’ And the more they think Christianity has to do with comfort, political influence and something nebulous like values, rather than the hard disciplines of unselfish worship, prayer, study of scripture and service to the less fortunate, why then, the better our chances of making them ours.”

I think “distract” is putting it mildly. What happens is all too often we develop a wrong view of our faith and a wrong view of the gospel when it becomes part of some kind of secular crusade. Christians are free to vote on and support political causes they believe in but I believe none of them are a part of our faith. When we make them part of our faith, just as when we make patriotism part of our faith, we then have to accept the bad and even the downright evil that is in them also as part of our faith because the world will insist on it. Since we set the terms of the argument, there is no logical way out of it.

The Link to the column is here. http://http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060930/NEWS/609300307/1005/SPORTS0106

Christian Chaff

Christian Consumerism at its ‘finest’

by Jeff Miller

Gene Veith’s blog is one I enjoy reading regularly. He was with World Magazine until he recently took a position with Patrick Henry College. Today he referenced an article about Christian theme parks. I really can’t do it justice. Here’s the link. … and yes, there really was a Golgotha Fun park miniature golf course in Cave City,KY, it’s currently for sale….

I also found several other articles available online about the Holy Land Experience Park in Orlando. Just Google ‘Christian theme parks’. Be sure your stomach is settled before you hit enter.

Culture Wars

“Kids on Fire”

by Jimmy Hopper

One of the pleasures I enjoy each week is receiving by e-mail the New York Times movie guide each Friday and the Times book review each Sunday. In addition to enjoying reading about books and movies, I generally find that there is no better barometer of our culture than these commentaries on what we view and read.

It was with a great deal of interest that I saw a review in this week’s movie guide of a documentary called Jesus Camp. You can read it at this link. http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/movies/22camp.html?8mu&emc=mu

This is a documentary that I want very much to see, although I really don’t know where, since I’m sure it will never play in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham is probably doubtful. After reading the review and viewing the trailer, and being shocked by the contents of the documentary, I think that the situation described in it needs to be made known to the Reformed Church.

The movie describes a type of kids boot camp for evangelical children called Kids on Fire. It is located, ironically, in Devils Lake, ND. The camp is run by Pastor Becky Fischer, who states that its purpose is to indoctrinate children, preferably between ages 7 and 9 years, to become “soldiers” in “God’s Army.” The review states that Ms. Fischer compares it to the Palestinian training games that teach children aggressisive Islamic fundamentalism. This indoctrination is accomplished in part with camoflauge, face paint, fights with wooden swords, and Naizi style straight arm salutes. The accompanying music is “Christian” heavy metal rock and in the trailer I viewed, the chirldren are really into it. One of the really fascinating scenes the reviewer describes is the children bowing before a life sized image of George W. Bush and praying. While I won’t go far enough to mention the word idolatry, blasphemous does come quickly to mind.

The reviewer, Stephen Holden, states that this movement is a response to the unmitigated trashiness of American culture. A few days ago, I was in my car in line at Eastwood Middle School with the radio on my granddaughters favorite station. The two “songs” I heard while waiting consisted of the first one repeating “Let’s get started” about six hundred times and the second repeating “Do it” another six hundred times. This amazes me in much the same way as slasher movies in that I am stunned that there is an audience. However, there is not only an audience for both the “music” and the movies but this is the state of American culture for a significant percentage of young America. Holden is correct in his characterization but this militarization of Christian youth in the name of Christ is, to me, the worse possible response that could be made. It is very troubling to see the weeping of small children as they are being emotionally manipulated or hear them confess a desire to die for Christ in much the same sense as Islamic suicide bombers.

The responses by viewers is also fascinating. While some speak of the true teachings of Christ, most are either totally against this movement or totally for it. There is an obvious polarization in this divide among Christians. This is certainly a subject for all Christians to dialogue about since it depicts a particular culture in whose colors, unfortunately, all Evangelical Christians are painted by the world. One of the interesting aspects of the charismatic, evangelical, radical Christian group is their marginalization of Christians of any other ilk. This is something I’ve noticed personally in certain dealings with others as part of being an elder. According to Ms. Fischer, many of those (us) are “dead churches’, traditional Protestant churches where the congregations sit passively and hear the Word preached. She declares that these are places that “Jesus doesn’t visit.” According to her, I’ve really been fooled because I have been sure of the presence of the Holy Spirit of God while we worshiped Him and celebrated Jesus at Riverwood.

It has been suggested that this might be an interesting Movie Night presentation when a DVD is released. Riverwood, after all, is not afraid to examine anything in the light of the Gospel.

Education

Doing Some Homework on Homework

by Clay Staggs

I’ve heard several friends complain about the amount of homework that their elementary age kids have to do. Just a few years ago, I would have thought that such comments were just whining and that the kids needed to suck it up. My views have since changed. In fact, when we were deciding on policies for the classical school, we all agreed that homework in the elementary years should be limited (no more that 15 minutes for the first three years, if memory serves, and then only 30 minutes after that through the 5th grade).

Now it seems that there’s some science to back us up. This comes courtesy of the Instawife (married to the Instapundit, the granddaddy of blogs). Interesting reading.

Politics

Get Over It

by Clay Staggs

I’ve been reading a lot recently about the furor in the Muslim world over the pope’s speech. For those who may not know, the pope gave a talk at Regensburg University in Germany. In it he said the following:

In the seventh conversation edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad (holy war). The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: There is no compulsion in religion. It is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur’an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the “Book” and the “infidels,” he turns to his interlocutor somewhat brusquely with the central question on the relationship between religion and violence in general, in these words:

Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.

The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul.

God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably is contrary to God’s nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats… To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death….

The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature.

The emperor to which the pope referred is Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus. The conversation quoted happened in the 1300s between the emperor and an “educated Persian.” You can read the full text of the speech here.

Once this quote made its way around certain quarters of the Islamic world, riots ensued. Since then there have even been fire-bombings of churches (though not Roman Catholic ones).

This is most surely a sign of my fallen nature, but this is getting kinda old. I’m sick of seeing riots at the least little nothing of a perceived offense. It was just a 700 year old quotation, already.

I’m obviously coming at this from my own reformed viewpoint, but if muslims belive that they’ve had the truth of the universe revealed to them, they sure aren’t acting like it. What they are acting like is spoiled children.

The pope has apologized. I know there’s an argument to be made that this was the Christian thing to do. However, I really wonder whether it wouldn’t do the world a great favor for someone of the pope’s stature to just stand up and tell them to get over it. It seems to me that at some point, all of the world’s hypersensitivity just makes the problem worse.

Christian Chaff

Face in the Foam

by Clay Staggs

I think this is the first advertisement to be submitted for Christian Chaff:

Apparently a British group called Churches’ Advertising Network will place this ad with a caption reading “Where will you find him?” Their stated intention is to spark discussion about where people find God.

This has ticked off the anti-drinking advocates, who say it will undermine anti-binge drinking campaigns. What exactly about this image is supposed to incline folks to funnel beer is not exactly clear to me.

However, I am at a loss to understand how this furthers the gospel. Does this mean that you can find Jesus in your beer glass, or not? From what the group says, I think they mean no, but, just to look at the ad and the slogan, it’s by no means clear.

It really brought to mind Tim’s sermon from last week about how Christians should desire excellence and discernment. Without getting into the relative merits and demerits of mass media advertising for Jesus, I think it’s pretty clear that this is not even excellent advertising, because its message is so confusing. What’s the non-believer supposed to take away from this? Is he or she supposed to see the face in the foam and miraculously convert? Or is the non-believer to be shamed for drinking a beer?

Either way, I call this chaff.

General Theology

Point of the Sword

by Clay Staggs

I’ve been thinking for awhile about the Fox News Channel Reporter, Steve Centanni, and his cameraman, Olaf Wiig, who were captured in Gaza a few weeks ago. Thankfully, they were eventually released. What has been on my mind is the way that they were forced to convert to Islam prior to their release, and the fact that this “conversion” was videotaped and released to the world. You can still see it on YouTube here.

I began to write this entry a few days ago with the idea that we in the West really don’t understand the nature of our enemies. However, I scrapped that entry and rewrote it because what we really don’t understand is ourselves and our fundamental natures.

I was puzzled that no one seemed bothered by these men’s forced conversions. A friend at work explained that this was because everyone knew it was fake. My friend is exactly correct. In point of fact, the kidnappers knew it was fake too. So why go through the bother?

Because Islam is a religion of works, not grace. In their theological world, converting at the point of the sword, no matter how insincere it may be, earns you religious brownie points. We look at the video and shrug it off as silly propaganda. What we in the West fail to understand (not simply acknowledge; I mean truly internalize) is that for radical Islamists, earning your way into heaven is a deadly serious business.

So why don’t we get it? I believe that we don’t get it because we can’t comprehend someone believing that forcing conversions at gunpoint or killing infidels earns you any favors from God. We in the Christian (or worse, post-modern) West can’t grasp that anyone would be that depraved. And that’s really the problem, isn’t it? We can’t believe that the enemy is that bad, because we really don’t believe that we’re that bad.

Family

Remembering 9/11

by Prathima Ryali-Hancock

A lot of people are going to be asking themselves today where they were 5 years ago. I remember it vividly. What I think about most when I think of the latter months of 2001 is the tumultuous season in my life that God taught me to cling to him in desperation, and then to look to him for peace.

It started with my father’s heart attack in August while he was in India. That was the first time I’d ever experienced a life-or-death situation with a parent, and I struggled with the long-distance medical procedures being performed. While everyone thinks of Indians as doctors, the care over there is not always the best. Thankfully both of my sisters are doctors and I could rely on their expertise.

9/11 threw us all into seeking answers about why, and in my own life, my father had to wait additional time before coming back to the States. I was really grateful to see him, although he was very weak.

As we struggled in answering the question of “why” during October and November, I entered my own private Hell when my marriage broke into a million little pieces. I still remember that time with pain because I was so numb with shock, grief, and disbelief. I see it through a haze, almost. The only bright side to it all was God’s guidance in leading me through the pit. He was my constant companion and He placed friends in my path when I needed them the most. I went through a crash course in clinging to Christ and learning by His grace the beginning stages of forgiveness. As the country struggled with forgiveness and justice on a larger scale, I took it step by step, moment by moment and learned to trust implicitly what is in Psalm 46:10-11: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Do I remember that day? Of course I do. As with so many things, though, I think of that day more in the context of a season in my life. Yes, one day (by itself) can have events that trigger life changes. For me, it’s more about what happens before and after those days that define us and how we fit into God’s tapestry.

Devotion

All of Our Days

by Lowell Urban

Why is it that I live as though my days on this earth are unending? I find it so easy to slip into that mindset. As I read Psalm 90 this morning I was humbled and reminded once again that my life is finite and full of trouble (strange that I need a Psalm to remind me that life is full of trouble). The irony of it all is that I am constantly investing in this life of trouble as if it is my eternity. I pour fervent effort into it as though it is the very treasure of contentment that my heart desires. Why am I so easily and repetitively deceived?

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of Your anger, and Your wrath according to the fear of You? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Just think this could be the last thing I ever write. However, since I am an adopted child of God’s then that is good news not bad! If I number my days, if I live this life as the journey rather than the destination, my heart will be wise. God will give me His eyes and His heart so that I may see and feel life from His perspective. What greater treasure could I possibly acquire here.

Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let Your work be shown to Your servants, and Your glorious power to their children.

Give me this perspective all of my days, and I will find contentment and peace on this troublesome, afflicted earth. When I see His love for me in the morning all I can do is rejoice and be glad, even through the misery and evil of this sin torn life. God has unconditional love for me. What a fantastic message for my “prone to wander” heart. I just wish I could live like I really believed it.

Psalm 90 quotes are from the ESV

Miscellaneous

Free the Hops

by Clay Staggs

I really enjoy good beer. I learned today that there is a group of like-minded folks out there who are attempting to get the Alabama Legislature to repeal a couple of restrictions that keep most high-end beers out of the Alabama market. The group is called “Free the Hops.” Their website is here. (Hat tip to Kris Sodergren for pointing them out ot me.)

I recommend visiting the site. It is truly fascinating what all is illegal in Alabama. And, if you’re so inclined, join up. Cheers!

Politics

“Profound Moral Confusion”

by Clay Staggs

Hugh Hewitt is one of my favorite bloggers to read. He asserts this morning that the country, or at least certain parts of it, are profoundly morally confused regarding the decision by Harvard, the University of Virginia, and others to invite former Iranian president Khatami to speak. Now, I agree with Prof. Hewitt that this is tremendously wrong-headed and, indeed, morally confused. Sad to say, though, that I don’t find this terribly surprising for these big-name universities today. I almost expected as much, since academia seems to have long ago driven off the cliff of moral relativism.

However, what really shocked me was when I learned that Khatami will also be speaking at the National Cathedral. According to the Washington Times, his speech will focus “on how the three ‘Abrahamaic faiths’ — Christianity, Judaism and Islam — can work together for a Middle East peace.” Lest anyone doubt Khatami’s real views, according to the Harvard Crimson,

Khatami has criticized Israel in the past and once called it an “illegal state” and a “parasite in the heart of the Muslim world,” according to newspaper accounts from 2000 and 2001.

I’m really having a kind of a Bob Dole moment about this - where’s the outrage? I haven’t heard anything about this until I read it on Hewitt’s blog this morning. Does no one care? The National Cathedral is part of the Episcopal Church USA. Is it just that no one expects different from ECUSA, given their well-publicized liberalism?

There seems to be one person who does get it, though. The governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, a presidential aspirant, has ordered the state not to provide any security services for his visit. Good for him. It really does seem, though, that those who are “morally confused” greatly outnumber those who are not.

Miscellaneous

This Just In….

by Clay Staggs

Apparently a team (yes, a team) of researchers have determined that celebrities are more narcissistic than the public at large. See the full story here (if you must).

What passes for academic studies (and news) never ceases to amaze me. It reminds me of the year that I was at NYU. Kimberly worked for one of the university’s departments that was doing a study to determine the reasons that housing costs were so high in Manhattan.

Yeesh.

Books

BookTV Viewership Doubles

by Tim Lien

With seventy-plus channels available on cable television, BookTV doesn’t even seem like a viable economic venture. Most of their potential viewers are probably reading a book, anyway. But Sunday night, BookTV’s ratings enjoyed a rare spike when I joined Prof. Robert “just-call-me-Bob” Koshansky* (from Kankakee, “just-south-of-Chicago”) in watching a woman pitch her book to a meager crowd, the cameraman, Mr. Koshansky, and myself. I missed the actual title of the book, but it was a biography on Harriet Beecher Stowe.

[*Yes, Mr. Koshansky is a fabricated, fictitious character used to emphasize the small amount of people watching BookTV.]

I just finished The Minister’s Wooing, by Stowe, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her enjoy some Prime Time. Well, it was 10:30pm, my time. But it was Prime Time somewhere. Stowe’s famous quote was printed on a backdrop behind the vivacious biographer:

I wrote what I did because as a woman, as a mother, I was oppressed and broken-hearted with the sorrows and injustice I saw, because as a Christian I felt the dishonor to Christianity— because as a lover of my country, I trembled at the coming day of wrath.

A good quote, but this is one that I had underlined in The Ministers Wooing:

He was called a good fellow, — only a little lumpish, — and as he was brave and faithful, he rose in time to be a shipmaster. But when came the business of making money, the aptitude for accumulating, George found himself distanced by many a one with not half his general powers. What shall a man do with a sublime tier of moral faculties, when the most profitable business out of his port is the slave-trade? So it was in Newport in those days. George’s first voyage was on a slaver, and he wished himself dead many a time before it was over, — and ever after would talk like a man beside himself, if the subject was named. He declared that the gold made in it was distilled from human blood, from mothers’ tears, from the agonies and dying groans of gasping, suffocating men and women, and that it would sear and blister the soul of him that touched it; in short, he talked as whole-souled, unpractical fellows are apt to talk about what respectable people sometimes do. Nobody had ever instructed him that a slaveship, with a procession of expectant sharks in its wake, is a missionary institution, by which closely. packed heathens are brought over to enjoy the light of the Gospel. So, though George was acknowledged to be a good fellow, and honest as the noon-mark on the kitchen floor, he let slip so many chances of making money as seriously to compromise his reputation among thriving folks. He was wastefully generous — insisted on treating every poor dog that came in his way, in any foreign port, as a brother — absolutely refused to be party in cheating or deceiving the heathen on any shore, or in skin of any color — and also took pains, as far as in him lay, to spoil any bargains which any of his subordinates founded on the ignorance or weakness of his fellow-men. So he made voyage after voyage, and gained only his wages and the reputation among his employers of an incorruptibly honest fellow.

It was amazing to see the continuing relevance and prescient wisdom of Stowe’s observations from 1859. I can’t help but think that we have our own correlating “slave ships,” that we use to justify our own evangelistic ends. Talk amongst yourselves.

Politics

Feeling Blue

by Clay Staggs

Anyone who knows me knows that my politics are broadly conservative. As such, I find myself firmly in the Republican camp. I generally consider myself to be a good party guy, and, generally support the party’s candidates. Lots of “generallys” in that last sentence, and that’s because I’m about to diverge from the party line.

Florida is a red state. One of their Senators, Bill Nelson, a Democrat, is up for re-election. Normally, this should be an excellent pickup opportunity for my side of the aisle. However, the Florida Republican party seems content to drive off a cliff by nominating Katherine Harris. Now, I respect her for doing what I consider was the right thing in the 2000 presidential election. However, that respect notwithstanding, I think she needs to be defeated (assuming she wins the GOP nomination).

Consider her recent comments on the role of religion in politics as reported in Carol Platt Liebeau’s Townhall column:

Harris insisted that America was not intended to be a “nation of secular laws,” called separation of church and state a “lie we have been told” and asserted that, “If you’re not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin.”

I think that speaks for itself. Where do I get my Nelson ‘06 bumper sticker?

Pastoral Musings

Sunday Morning Confession

by Tim Lien

An early Sunday morning confession: Father, I want to appeal to as many people as possible. I want to seem relevant, hip, cool, sophisticated, and modern. Father, forgive me. An early Sunday morning fear: Those who are young, will be bored from the worship service, and will dismiss me quickly as they escape from all manners of traditions. Father, forgive me.

Words from G.K. Chesterton:

Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man’s opinion, even if he is our groom; tradition asks us not to neglect a good man’s opinion, even if he is our father.

Words from Hebrews:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Father, assure me, again, that the fire that fueled the martyrs’ faith, is the same fire found within your Gospel.

Miscellaneous

On the Lighter Side

by Lowell Urban

Wow, my head hurts. After reading the posts written before me I am not sure I have much to contribute to the wisdom of the ages or these pages. I am a simple man and I do not often have motivation or energy to ponder theology, literature, politics, or Christian chaff. I do know that if you feed your Golden Retriever puppy too much he will vomit on to your newly cleaned carpet. (Perhaps I should borrow a “Christian” t-shirt to help me clean it up!) Still, I do believe it important to dialog about such things. Even so, my posts shall prove to be of a more personal nature.

Last night I was putting my youngest daughter to bed, and we were playing her favorite game. In this game, I walk into the room and pretend I do not see her hiding under the covers like she has done for countless nights before. I sit on her bed and bemoan the prospect of waiting for her to return so that I may kiss her goodnight. She lies perfectly still until I comment about the lump in her bed, and then I start to tickle her mercilessly. Eventually she manages to beg me to stop. By that time the damage is done. The day has ended with love and laughter. She always breathes the sweetest sigh when it’s all over.

My question is this. When is the last time you were tickled? When is the last time you tickled someone else? I believe laughter to be one of the greatest gifts God has given to us. So, why is it as adults we tend to lose our “tickleability?”

Now, I know about personal space and sexual harassment, and I realize there is a time for everything. For instance, if the music minister was feeling kind of impish and decided to give the Pastor’s ribs a poke during the Pastoral prayer, well…probably not a good idea. But there are other people and more appropriate places. What about your good friends? What about your parents? What about your spouse? Couldn’t you tickle them? I could be wrong, but I think a good tickle might just make their day.

Perhaps you are afraid of the verbal or physical response of the would be “ticklee.” I understand. On more than one occasion my oldest son has retaliated to my tickling with a very painful blow to my arm. So, if you can’t tickle anyone else or you are too afraid to try, I hereby grant to you personal permission to tickle my daughter Hannah. You’ll love it when she sighs!

Books

Oak and the Calf

by Jeff Miller

I’m halfway through listening to The Oak & The Calf by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It is an enthralling tale of his difficulties and triumphs in writing and publishing in Soviet Russia. It is a memoir, not of the author so much as a literary memoir. The story of his writings and their publication is rather astounding. Even 20 years post Cold War, it is amazing to hear of the inner workings of the various Soviet committees. There was, of course, much pressure brought to bear on individuals who did not toe the party line and much work by many individuals to work around the Soviet system to get what they wanted/needed.

I guess I always tended to think (by not thinking, actually) of the Soviet citizenry having one mind, manipulated by fear, dictated by the state, etc. Humanity always struggles against tyranny as much as possible at any given time. I have been reminded of Solzhenitsyn’s (and others’) determination and fortitude in the face of grave circumstances. I am thankful for the example he and others have left for us in living a life of dignity despite hardships the like of which I have no basis of knowledge.

If you have an interest in Soviet Russia in the 1960s & 70s, you might pick this up at some point.

General Theology

The Sage of Omaha

by Clay Staggs

I saw an entry on the Drudge Report yesterday that Warren Buffett had married his “companion” of decades. Apparently, even though he separated from his wife back in the seventies, they remained married until she died a couple of years ago.

I thought this was an unconventional arrangement, and it made me think of Buffett’s recent pledge to donate billions of dollars to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All this made me wonder about Buffett’s religion. A quick Google search reveals quite a few sources claiming that Buffett is an agnostic, as is Gates.

What I found strange was this comment from Buffett upon announcing his gift: “There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.” Now why is an agnostic so sure about how to get into heaven? How does an agnostic even know that such a thing exists?

This brought yet another thought. Warren Buffett opposes the repeal of the estate tax, and refuses to leave more than 10% of his fortune to his children, substituting the Gates foundation instead.

This seems to me further proof of the principle that if man does not have the work of Christ as his justification with God, human nature will seek something else to go in its place. Buffett doesn’t just blow it all on stuff (like yachts or mansions), he makes a major press announcement about giving it away to a charity. He even outright states that this will definitely get him into heaven. Why is this the ticket in, and not leaving it to his kids? Do people who leave inheritances to their children not get into heaven? For someone who opposes the repeal of the estate tax (full disclosure: I support repeal), making such a large charitable donation will assure that he pays almost no estate tax. Would letting 45% of his fortune (maybe $20 billion in rough numbers) go to Uncle Sam get him into heaven?

I do not have $40 billion to hand to Bill & Melinda Gates to do who-knows-what with. I wonder what Mr. Buffet would advise me to do.