#thewelcomemovement

When Churches are Forced Into Bubbles

Eric Martindale • Aug 21, 2019

CHURCHES MUST NOT SIT SILENT, THEY MUST FORM A CHRISTIAN BULWARK

One of the most disturbing trends of our times is how churches are so relegated into obscurity that they are functioning in their own little bubbles, isolated from the craziness of our society.

This has been a goal of the Far Left for some time. While many people are “out of the closet”, and bursting with pride in their personal and sexual freedom, the idea that some people belong in the closet hasn’t been abandoned at all by the Far Left. They just have a different idea of WHO belongs in the closet, which are the Christians.  

I posted something Faith-related recently on Facebook, and I was rudely told by a reader that I should keep any religious beliefs to myself, and not subject the Facebook community to my thoughts or ideas. Essentially I was told that my belief in God should be in the closet. It should come as no surprise that this person is a non-believer and a fervent supporter of many things Far Left on social issues, but also a few things Far Right on economics.

That combination is increasingly rearing its ugly head, I’ve noticed. She was dead-set against rent control and consumer protection of all kinds, and she had no issue whatsoever with the socioeconomic disparities between Palestinians and Jews living in Israel and the West Bank. I’ve noticed that there is a connection developing between the Far Left on social issues and the Far Right on economic issues.

The verbal bullying I experienced is happening to millions of people all over America. It dominates all social circles from public schools and college campuses to work places to churches, and even within small circles of friends. Facebook, Google, and YouTube are all Far Left, and they stand ready to censor you, block you, or even eliminate you from their networks. The mere threat of this has a chilling effect over everyone. This problem has the strong attention of Tulsi Gabbard, a Democratic candidate for President, as well as the sitting President.

And it is not just happening on the individual level. Entire churches have been effectively forced into silence on public affairs. They have retreated into their own little bubbles of happiness and a sense of community. The attitude appears to be: ‘We can’t change the world, so let’s create our own community and do our own thing here’

Pastors cringe in fear that a single sentence or phrase in a sermon could be interpreted as being “political”, and they dance around topics of social concern out of fear that a church member might be offended by something. Dozens of people could be gunned down in a mass shooting, but the next day there won’t be a moment of silence or a single word spoken about it in the sermon, for fear that the sermon could be interpreted on a partisan level, or taking a stand either way on the Second Amendment. That’s all an anathema.

It would be easy to say that the main cause of mass killings is that God is in retreat in America, that secularism has advanced, that prayer and religion are gone from public schools, and that families and communities are not as tight and nurturing as they once were. A purely Christian statement could be made, without favoring any political party or discussing the Second Amendment, but even that is too risky for some pastors.

People who do have opinions on social and political topics are made to feel unwelcomed in their own churches, as if they are a cancer within the Faith community. They are told not to discuss anything political with other church members, and strong suggestions are made on what to post or not post on Facebook and other social media.

Many churches have adopted what I call “the bubble strategy”. They want to operate in their own little bubble, and create their own Christian-based contentment within their walls. And in order for everyone to be happy, the pastors, members, and attendees should just say as little as possible about any social or political issues. Meanwhile the rest of the world falls apart, and nothing is even discussed about it. That’s all outside of the bubble.

Personally, the church leaders may wholeheartedly agree with some of your positions, and be more conservative than you on the others. However, they are not going to pop the bubble, or let anyone else pop the bubble. They know that the churches are filled with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, and keeping them from squabbling over political matters is top priority. This is quite different from the Jewish perspective that encourages debate, and views the believer as being in a wrestling match with God. I don’t endorse that level of debate, just pointing out the difference.

Ownership of the public square is handed over to the Far Left, and the Christians are silenced, but reasonably content living in their little bubble of happiness. Well most people are content, but not me. I’m not content.

The silence of the churches is not limited to right-of-center or Republican views. Many Christian teachings on matters such as economics, labor, charity for the poor, and international peace are fairly and reasonably interpreted as being left of center. These left of center Christian teachings are also silenced, and this silence has been key in the developing stranglehold that the Far Left has orchestrated within the Democratic Party. Factions hostile to Christianity now own the Democratic Party, but continue to harvest the votes of Christian Democrats to get elected.

The Democrats rely on tens of millions of African-American and Latino voters who are Christian, but then completely dismiss their Christian views when it comes to the Party platform, positions, and legislation. The moderate and left-of-center Christian perspective has been completely extinguished within the Democratic Party. It’s a masterful political strategy. Meanwhile, the Republican side is less and less Christian, and more and more about corporate greed, so there’s little incentive for these Christian Democratic voters to change parties. I’m fast realizing that it is better for Christian Democrats to stay in their party, and become much more vocal about their Faith. They need to view themselves as a Christian bulwark against the lunatic public policy positions coming from the Far Left in deeply blue cities and States. Meanwhile Christian Republicans need to make their own Christian bulwark, and oppose corporate greed on the Republican side.

These two Christian bulwarks should meet regularly in a think tank format, formulate public policy, agree on a united front, agree as Christians to support each other, and then return to their respective parties and advance change. Some might say that is the most dangerous political idea they have ever heard. I don’t care. I love it.

This is not going to happen with churches retreating from anything remotely political. The idea that a Christian would dare to run for any public office is met with raised eyebrows in many churches, and very little support. If a church member did run, and his or her Party affiliation became known, that would send a subtle message to the rest of the church membership, and possibly pop their bubble.

And if a church leader doesn’t like how the Left wants to indoctrinate our public school children on various social issues, just take your children out of public school and enroll them into a Christian school. It’s obviously a very conservative thing to do, so be careful to talk very little about it with church members. Some of them are registered Democrats.

After decades of bullying and positioning by outsiders, most churches are now functioning inside their own bubbles. They may position themselves for community outreach and evangelizing, and this is admirable, but it’s not going to truly transform the community they are located in. At best, it will bring a few people from the outside world into their little Christian bubble of reality.

Truly saving the community entails direct involvement with all levels of public affairs. It starts with establishing dialog with elected officials, getting serious Christians onto various municipal and private boards and local committees, and especially in establishing programs to mentor large numbers of Youth. The Youth are the future, and they are astray in the idiocy of our modern society. That’s the first step.

The next step is completely unimaginable to our pastors, and that is to simultaneously encourage folks to run for public office as Christian Democrats and Christian Republicans. And for every office from those pesky County Committee seats that run the political parties all the way up to Senator, Governor, and President. It is especially important in urban areas to infiltrate the Democratic Party, as that is the party firmly in power, and there is a need to challenge the atheistic Far Left public policy from within the ranks of Democrats. This is key to the Christian Bulwark concept.

But isn’t this partisan? How dare a church do this?

A church cannot be accused of partisanship when it openly encourages Christians to infiltrate BOTH political parties, and then work together in a bipartisan way. Proclaim and shout to the world that the moderate political center is Christian-based and bipartisan. Step out of your bubbles, pastors. It can be done without taking sides with either of the political parties.

Who among the congregations will disagree with saying “Both political parties need to be infused with the Word of God”.  That is the truth, and everyone already knows it.

There’s a whole country that needs saving, and Christians are actually the largest faction in both major political parties. We Christians ARE the political center. It is ours for the taking. We must come together, meaning Christians of all races and backgrounds in both major parties, and create the Christian Bulwark alliance. Those candidates running in each party would openly declare that they will work with Christians in the other party in a bipartisan manner, both to advance needed legislation and to oppose bad legislation.

Folks will then realize that the deep partisan divide in our country is coming from non-Christian forces in both parties, and that it is the Faith community which is ending the insanity. When Christians work together to end the political hate game, and reduce the polarization, our credibility and our prominence will advance greatly. This can and should be done by speaking passively and professionally at the microphone. There is to be no grandstanding, no yelling, and no threatening. Instead appeal to people’s Faith and to their humanity, and be upfront that the central intent is to include and embrace people of all races and ethnic backgrounds. It’ll be a stark contrast to all the lunatics out there on both sides. Really stark. A night and day difference.

The slogan of the Welcome Movement, prominently declared on our home page, is “End the Political Hate Game of Left versus Right”. Well, what needs to be done is something of a jigsaw puzzle that is piecing together. I gather inspiration from many sources, including within my own Christian church and friends from other circles. I’m seeing the big picture now with the Christian Bulwark, and it’s quite different from what I theorized when I launched this website in late 2018.

It would set an astounding example for people to see elected Christians of all races and economic levels acting in bipartisan cooperation, and answering to each other over the cries and demands of the Party bosses. Nothing a church could possibly do would be MORE EFFECTIVE in evangelizing than helping to create and advance the Christian Bulwark.

Want to bring in new members?  Want to get more Youth attending church services and youth programs? Want to fill the pews on Sunday morning? Get out of your little Christian bubble, and be the force of social and political change and UNITY in your community. That is what will get the attention. That is what will grow your churches.

If one counts Christians in both major political parties, we are a solid 50% of this country, if not more, potentially leaving the socialist Far Left and the greedy Far Right with only 25% each. That’s a recipe for control of the Presidency, the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and close to all 50 governor seats. The political center really is ours for the taking. WE own this country. It is ours. Every single nonsense piece of legislation can be reversed, and eventually every atheist sitting in authority as a judge will retire or die, and will be replaced. All we have to do is step out of the bubble and claim our country. It is ours.

Why are we letting the Far Left and the Far Right dominate all discussions and hold all elected offices? All they are doing is screaming and hating each other, and doing nothing to advance the Word of God. They have failed. Their day must come to an end. The Christian Bulwark must be formed. God Bless America.

For more information, and to review all of our blog postings, see www.thewelcomemovement.com 

Follow us on Facebook by joining The Welcome Movement at https://www.facebook.com/groups/2110578839017576
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It’s Columbus Day, and time again for the annual tradition of historical revisionists and haters of Christianity to bash Christopher Columbus. I want none of it, and I couldn’t care less if he was Spanish, Italian, or Jewish. The case in favor of Christopher Columbus is the case for Western Civilization. If you believe that the progress of the world is being guided by the growth and maturation of Western Civilization and the spread of Christianity, then Columbus Day should be celebrated. If you believe that some other value regime is better for the world, chances are you want to vilify the man. That’s how the battle lines are drawn. History is ugly, plain and simple. It’s full of invasions, wars, slavery, oppression, famine, and misery. That didn’t start with Columbus, or with The Crusades. Not even with the Muslims that plundered and invaded the Mediterranean and southern Europe for hundreds of years, leading to the counterassault known as the Crusades in the Middle East, and as the Reconquista in Spain and Portugal. No, the evils of the world go back thousands of years, far before the founding of Christianity and Western Civilization. The glass of history isn’t half empty, it is half full. What really matters is the advances that we have today in engineering and technology, in medicine, in computers and electronics, in the arts and sciences, and in economics, literature, government, and democracy. These advances have occurred because Western Civilization and the social structure of Christian society allowed these advances to occur. Yes, there were bumps in the road like what happened to that Copernicus guy, but progress still occurred. Despite our flaws and despite all of the inequalities and injustices remaining, humanity and civilization has greatly advanced under the Christian Western system. Thank you Jesus, and thank you Columbus. This is our history, and what matters most is where we have arrived. I openly acknowledge that much work remains to be done. If I thought we were done with the need for advances, my Welcome Movement website and blog would not have been created. I would be singing the praises of Donald Trump instead of advocating that he become more Christian, more humble before God, and less crass and domineering. Christopher Columbus is important and must be honored because he’s at the very center of the progress of Western Civilization. It doesn’t matter that other explorers and pioneers set foot in North America long before Columbus. Let me explain. Yes, the Chinese visited our West Coast, and mapped it out. They referred to America as “Fusang”. The Japanese were here as well. The ancient Minoans from Crete had massive copper mines in Upper Michigan and Minnesota. The largest mine on Isle Royale in Lake Superior is called “Minong” by the Native Americans, obviously a reference to Minoan, as is the place name of Minnesota. I wonder what Sota means in ancient Minoan? I’ll put my money on cold or snow. The ancient Egyptians were here, and the Carthaginians. Maya or Maya Rata is an ancient region of Sri Lanka as well as the name of a modern province in that country, with architecture identical to that of the Mayan civilization in Mexico, and dating to the same time period. Many words, and some cultural practices and beliefs are the same in both regions, and their calendars are in synch. To this day, South Asian DNA remains a significant component in the Yucatan, Belize, and Guatemala. Here’s one of many sources on this connection https://thegr8wall.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/similarities-between-the-hindu-the-maya-culture/ There are hundreds of Muslim place names in America, from Allamunchy in New Jersey to Tallahassee in Florida. There are Medina’s and Mecca’s in multiple states, and even American towns with exact place names for small towns in Turkey. Almost all of them have the same story, which is “the place name was Native American in origin.” Native Americans in the Eastern United States and the maritime provinces of Canada fear taking ancestry DNA tests, and they bitterly resent the findings showing substantial DNA from the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. They call it the curse of the Middle Eastern DNA. Rather than accept these DNA results at face value, modern geneticists have come up with a twisted theory called The Founder Effect to try and justify the findings. It’s a really bad case of science starting with a conclusion and working backwards to find the evidence to support it. I’d love to see Elizabeth Warren’s full DNA results. No doubt it shows substantial Middle Eastern DNA, and that may be why her test result showed almost no “Native American” DNA, to her great embarrassment. The actual origin of Native Americans, especially the Creek and Cherokee, is a matter of major discussion all over the internet. https://accessgenealogy.com/native/cherokee-dna.htm and https://www.woowoomedia.com/dna-scientists-claim-that-cherokees-are-from-the-middle-east/ Yes, the Muslims were here in America in huge numbers. The famous Piri Reis map was compiled in 1513 by an Ottoman Empire admiral using older source maps that no longer exist. The Piri Reis map shows amazing detail of places not yet reached by European explorers as of 1513. Columbus records in his log encountering a wooden sailing ship on the coast of Jamaica, with occupants in colorful clothing. He could not discern their place of origin, but the Native Americans had no ships. There were Black settlements in Nicaragua and Costa Rica prior to the slave trade, and likely founded by Muslim traders from Senegal and Guinea. They left gold artifacts with an unusual alloy mix identical to gold produced in Guinea, West Africa, and found nowhere else in the world. Various European groups such as the Vikings, the Basque, the Welsh, the Irish, and the Templars were likely in America as well. Their contact may have been more fleeting, but they also left various artifacts. The explorer Giovanni Verrazano was the first modern European to visit what is now Newport, Rhode Island. His log and his map note a stone tower which is still standing and shrouded in controversy. It’s clearly of European architecture, and it has been repaired and repointed so many times that nobody knows for sure who first built it, or when. Carbon dating of mortar can only prove when a repointing occurred, not when the stones were lain. Here’s one of hundreds of theories on the tower. http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/did-giovanni-verrazano-visit-the-newport-tower Doesn’t all of this make the case that Columbus was not so important? Not at all, just read on. What was the result of all those settlements and civilizations from all those great peoples from all of those places? What came of them? What lasting advances were made? How was the world made a better place? The answer is nothing. Nothing at all. The Muslims in particular were all over North America and left so many place names, but the physical and cultural contact was largely lost at least 200 years before Columbus, and the religion was extinct in the West by the time the Europeans colonists arrived. The contact that really mattered was the contact made by Columbus in the name of Kingdom of Spain. And that contact came only months after the last Muslim forces in Spain surrendered, and the Reconquista was complete. The knowledge of Columbus’s voyage swept Europe, and led to the major European powers exploring and settling the America’s. A vast exchange of plants and animals occurred called The Columbian Exchange. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_exchange It is considered an epic event in world history. The connection of the Old and New worlds had a profound impact on all of humanity. Europe accumulated massive wealth and power, and overpopulated from the new calorie-rich food supplies, especially corn and potatoes, that were imported and grown all over Europe. Much of that overpopulation was sent to other parts of the world as conquerors and immigrants. There was nothing like the Columbian Exchange resulting from any of the earlier civilizations that visited America. Cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses didn’t make it to the New World with the Minoans, Mayans, Muslims, or any other Pre-Columbian group. Turkeys, corn, potatoes, tobacco, and tomatoes didn’t arrive in Europe either. There was no massive collapse of the Native American population from disease, and the migrants from the Old World in those past eras eventually mixed with the Natives and lost their cultural identities. The next question is, was the Columbian Exchange a good thing? Would the world have been a better place, or advanced quicker, without this exchange. The answer is probably No. Human civilization had several opportunities for civilization to greatly advance in the past, and become “modern”. Ancient Egypt was very advanced in many regards, and even today with our best modern technology, we could not build the great pyramids. There are depictions in Egyptian art of devices that look like flying machines and even lightbulbs. Another drawing shows a baby mammoth, perhaps from Labrador? Airplanes may have flown the skies of ancient India as well. The Muslim World was very advanced around the year 1000. They also experimented with electricity and had batteries. They made spectacular advances in science and mathematics, and they founded the world’s first true universities. Timbuktu in Mali had a university before any in the Christian world. The ancient Chinese used natural gas for lighting and heating, and possibly manufacturing. They had thousands of miles of natural gas pipelines made out of bamboo. Their naval armada sailed all around the Indian Ocean, and contained huge wooden ships called junks that were far larger than those of any European power. Well, what became of these civilizations and their advances? The answer is about the same as what became of the explorers and settlers that reached America before Columbus. That answer is very little. Those civilizations reached their glory days, and then faded. That’s why they deserve to be little more than historical footnotes. It’s the history of the Christian West that really counted. What succeeded was the work of Columbus, and all the advances in Europe that happened only because the European powers extracted so much wealth from the New World, and benefitted from trade. In the 1700’s something happened in England and the American colonies that never happened any time in the history of the world. We experienced the Industrial Revolution. All of the world has benefitted. The Industrial Revolution happened within the context of Christianity and Christian civilization. It didn’t happen in ancient Egypt, Baghdad, or China. There is something about our Western value system, our views, and our perspective on the world that lends itself to social and economic development, and to democracies replacing monarchies. A key series of events occurred. First, the Renaissance led to the invention of the printing press in Germany by Johannes Guttenberg. Second, the mass printing of The Bible made the Protestant reformation inevitable. Third, the Protestant reformation set the stage for capitalism, the industrial revolution, and the rise of democracy. Thus, all of our great advances are rooted in our Christian value system, and in the rise of modern Christianity. I certainly don’t bash the Catholics, but we’d probably still be sailing in wooden ships with cannons, and living in monarchies, if Martin Luther didn’t post his 95 theses. Other religions and other value systems don’t generate societies as successful as that of the Christian West. Christopher Columbus and his voyages were a key step in the entire development of Western Civilization, and led to the rise of Europe. That’s not only our history, it’s the most relevant history of the world. Ours is the system and the culture that has conquered the world in so many ways, not just militarily. All major aspects of society from religion and democracy to education, medicine, science, engineering, technology, and the arts has largely derived from that of Western Christian civilization. Thank you, Christopher Columbus. You created our world. Yes, you deserve to be celebrated, warts and all. If some great revolution covering all aspects of society had happened in Japan, Nigeria, or Iran instead of in Europe, surely the world’s history, technology, and culture would be focused on their past instead. Our homes and businesses, and our public infrastructure, would be modeled after some other part of the world. But no, that didn’t happen. We don’t have natural gas pipelines made out of bamboo, do we? Modern western cities, even places like Dubai, Seoul, Tokyo, Brazilia, and Nairobi, don’t look like Jericho. The rest of the world is modeled after us. This is the ultimate legacy of Christopher Columbus. This matters way more than him spreading slavery or being responsible for diseases, oppression, and murder that claimed the lives of the Taino natives on Hispaniola. Equal and greater evils had been happening for thousands of years, and WITHOUT any advance of civilization to show for it. Yes, the glass of history is half full, not half empty. The misery wrought by Columbus has born fruit and created the modern world. 
We know there has been oppression associated with Western Civilization. We know there have been wars, and there will be more. We know there are great injustices still unresolved. We know that our history wasn’t perfect, and the motives of whole nations and empires were selfish and insincere. But we also know that progress occurs in phases. For instance, our Founding Fathers simply could not have established a system of democracy covering women and racial minorities. They just weren’t ready. They were the most progressive and advanced people in power anywhere in the world at the time, but the best they could implement was democracy and equality for all White men. They weren’t ready. Society wasn’t ready. Should we mock and blame them for the great steps that they took, and demand that their names be removed from public buildings? No, that’s just plain ignorant. The Founding Fathers took the first steps. Nobody else took them, did they? No other society in the world was on a path towards the full equality of all men in their society, no less to include women and other racial groups. In time, other people took the necessary further steps, and the social structure of our Christian-based society allowed it to happen. That’s how progress unfolds, that’s how history moves forwards. What about good ole’ Chris? Didn’t he bring misery and oppression wherever he visited. Well, he wasn’t ready to establish a just and fair society either. He was only ready to expand the empire of Spain, and the fortunes of businessmen there. The nations of Europe were ready to advance themselves, and to spread Christianity to other lands. That was about it, at that time. Are the indigenous peoples of the America’s, Africa, and Asia better off as Christians, and for adopting Western Civilization? Absolutely. Not a doubt about it. The Christian value system is the best value system, and the best proof of this claim is the development of the modern world. Thank you, Christopher Columbus. The real reason some people hate Columbus and our Founding Fathers is their desire for historical revisionism not just for Columbus, but for all of history. They want to portray the whole world as groups of people in conflict with other groups, and as exploiting and oppressing other groups. This is their message, this is their venom, and this is their politics. They are an unholy alliance of socialist, anarchists, atheists, and artists. They hate religion, especially Christianity. They want no limits on sexual morality or substance abuse. They are advancing a culture war, and they have largely conquered academia, the media, the fashion and entertainment industries, and the tech sector. Their intellectual development is that of a rebellious teenager. Yet collectively, they have more power than our political leaders, and they have the full determination to use it to dominate our society. That’s what Columbus bashing is all about, and it’s time for everyone to choose sides on this issue. It’s not about analyzing history and respecting the progress that humanity has made. Nor is it about building on that progress, and planning the next steps. Nope, Columbus bashing is all about spreading hate and political mischief, and upending our entire society. And the tip of the pitchfork is pointing squarely at the neck of Christopher Columbus. Our best defense is to educate the public on the role of Christopher Columbus in the advancement of Western Civilization. I have no problem with cities and towns having an Indigenous People’s Day. There’s about 350 days not designated as any kind of holiday in this country. Pick one of them. The second Monday in October is already taken. For more information, and to review all of our blog postings, see www.thewelcomemovement.com 

 Follow us on Facebook by joining The Welcome Movement at https://www.facebook.com/groups/2110578839017576/
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