General Synod and 50th Anniversary of the United Church of Christ

The big 50th anniversary of the merger between the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical & Reformed Church that created the United Church of Christ was celebrated from June 22 to 26 in Hartford, Connecticut, along with the UCC's 26th General Synod. I was fortunate enough to attend as a visitor.



There were many things of interest to comment on at this event. One of the highlights for most folks was the speech given by Bill Moyers. You can read it here: http://www.ucc.org/news/significant-speeches/moyers-challenges-ucc-drive.html.



One of the themes of the speech, along with many of the other speeches, was the hijacking of the Christian religion for the purposes of the political right. In short, many of the speakers (and I) believe that the language of Christian faith and piety have been taken over by politicians who have turned many of Jesus' meanings on their head.



For example, how can it be that the most vocal and recognized Christian groups in politics share a party alignment with those representing the interests of big-business corporations? Why is this same party most interested in giving the richest Americans a sizable tax break, while shifting more of the burden onto the lower classes (and taking away the public resources these folks need most)? Have they read what any of the Hebrew prophets had to say about economic power in society? Or what Jesus had to say about worldly riches?



And why do we have a President who is perhaps the most "professed" Christian president of recent years, but at the same time pursues policies that not only help the rich at the expense of the poor, but also continue to fail to welcome the stranger and alien, actively destroy God's creation, and--of course the big one--make war based on false claims? How can the religious right be on the same side as these priorities?



Or, as so many others have asked, WHAT BIBLE ARE THEY READING?



Let me know if you come up with any answers, or if you have good points to share on either side of the question of whether Christianity has truly been hijacked by the political right.



-Pastor Chris