Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Exclusion
If you wonder why atheists are so sensitive to church/state speration issues, all you have to do is listen to Alabama governor-elect Robert Bentley.
"There may be some people here today who do not have living within them the Holy Spirit," Bentley said. ''But if you have been adopted in God's family like I have, and like you have if you're a Christian and if you're saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you just like the Holy Spirit lives within me, then you know what that makes? It makes you and me brothers. And it makes you and me brother and sister." Bentley added, ''Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother."
Nice to know that you classify who is worthy and unworthy of being called brother or sister on the basis of their religious beliefs. Bentley's office quickly backpedaled:
Bentley's communications director, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, when asked about Bentley's comments said, ''He is the governor of all the people, Christians, non-Christians alike."
Certainly the case, but based on his statements, one has to wonder if Christians will get preferential treatment from the government?
UPDATE: Good for him!
"What I would like to do is apologize," Gov. Robert Bentley told reporters, according to The Birmingham News. "Should anyone who heard those words and felt disenfranchised, I want to say, 'I'm sorry.'
"There may be some people here today who do not have living within them the Holy Spirit," Bentley said. ''But if you have been adopted in God's family like I have, and like you have if you're a Christian and if you're saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you just like the Holy Spirit lives within me, then you know what that makes? It makes you and me brothers. And it makes you and me brother and sister." Bentley added, ''Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother."
Nice to know that you classify who is worthy and unworthy of being called brother or sister on the basis of their religious beliefs. Bentley's office quickly backpedaled:
Bentley's communications director, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, when asked about Bentley's comments said, ''He is the governor of all the people, Christians, non-Christians alike."
Certainly the case, but based on his statements, one has to wonder if Christians will get preferential treatment from the government?
UPDATE: Good for him!
"What I would like to do is apologize," Gov. Robert Bentley told reporters, according to The Birmingham News. "Should anyone who heard those words and felt disenfranchised, I want to say, 'I'm sorry.'
