By RickO ~ I recently read a post on Facebook that began with the comment, “Will Washington ever declare: ‘Jesus Christ is Lord?’" The Post linked to an online article entitled: “ If There Can’t Be a Christian Nation, Can There Be Anything Christian at All? ” (1) I was curious and read the linked article. The article tried to address the question why the United States could not be a Christian Nation ; not just a country inhabited by a large population of self-identifying Christians, but a nation governed as such. What the article and the poster are clearly advocating is an American Theocracy, plain and simple. There is an endless litany of reasons why it is a really bad idea, no matter what you believe, but nevertheless, there is a measurable fraction of the population who truly believe theocracy is the only form of government that would ever be acceptable to them. When you seek to bridge the divide between religion as a personal pursuit, a family practice or the group...

By RickO ~ F ear is an emotional response to a perceived threat. It serves as a vital survival mechanism triggering the fight-or-flight reaction in most living creatures, ourselves included, when faced with imminent danger. We feel fear physically as our bodies release chemicals like adrenaline. Image by stuant63 via Flickr We can sense it in others in a way that is often compared to the sense of smell. We have adapted it for use it as a weapon, not only to intimidate, but to motivate. Fear is one of the most powerful copy drivers used in marketing. And we’ve all seen the political campaign ads where the opponent is cast in grainy black and white while his or her positions are grimly outlined by a deep sinister voice intended to make us afraid. Fear is also defined as a sense of awe and reverence, a profound respect, such as the common term, “Fear of God”. But these two uses of the term “fear” are not mutually exclusive. In fact they are directly related. For example, one ...

By RickO ~ O ne Saturday morning in 1987, when I was 25 years old, two men came to my door. They were elderly gentlemen; too old to be detectives, but that was only a momentary thought anyway because they identified themselves as elders of the local Alliance church . They asked if they could come in and talk to me. I agreed. While we made a little small talk, I wondered why they were here or how they happened to know me by name. They told me that certain people were deeply concerned about me, my soul, to be more specific and it was quickly apparent to me that my father had to be behind this (I later learned it was my grandfather and my father who had contacted this church in the city where I live and requested this mission). I should digress to say that my father was an Alliance minister and my entire family, devout Christians. I was, in their opinion, wayward and at risk of being lost, according to the vernacular of that culture. It’s true that from the day I left home to e...