A Little Politics and a Little Religion (no mixing, please!)

From links found at the ever-informative Eschaton:

• If the election were held today, the electoral vote totals would be:
  John Kerry . . . 312
  George Bush . . . 215
  [In other words, it ain't even close!]
• Jerry Falwell should lose his tax-exempt status [New York Times]

  
  Citing Falwell's Endorsement of Bush, Group Challenges His Tax-Exempt Status
  By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
  
  Published: July 16, 2004
  
  Hoping to send a warning to churches helping the Bush campaign turn out conservative voters, a liberal group has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service charging that an organization run by the Rev. Jerry Falwell has violated the requirements of its tax-exempt status by endorsing Mr. Bush's re-election.
  
  "For conservative people of faith, voting for principle this year means voting for the re-election of George W. Bush," Mr. Falwell wrote in the July 1 issue of his e-mail newsletter "Falwell Confidential'' and on his Web site, falwell.com. "The alternative, in my mind, is simply unthinkable. To the pro-life, pro-family, pro-traditional marriage, pro-America voters in this nation, we must determine that President Bush is the man with our interests at heart. It is that simple."

  Of course, any church or 'ministry' that endorses political candidates should lose tax-exempt status [and I mean that even if Democratic candidates are supported!] Some Christians will call this persecution--they don't even know the meaning of the word.

And here's some real persecution--what's happening to Christians in Vietnam:

• Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang, general secretary of the Mennonite Church in Vietnam, remains under arrest and held in an unknown location.[from the blog Radio Free China]
• A sixth Vietnamese Mennonite reportedly has been arrested amid an apparent wave of persecution aimed at the growing house church movement. [from Mennonite Weekly Review]
• Vietnam and the Montagnards[from the blog Notes from a Byzantine-Rite Calvinist]

  On the eve of the 2004 Easter celebrations, the Montagnards organized a demonstration starting from their widespread villages, across municipalities and reaching provincial capitals in the central highlands of Vietnam, to come together and pray publicly before the buildings of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
  
  The motto was "Moak Hrue Yesus Kgu Hdip" -- Joyful Day, Christ Has Risen. According to local sources, there were 130,000. Government forces used arms causing about 400 deaths.
  
  It is difficult to confirm what really happened because the Vietnamese government impeded foreigners from going to the region.

Father, let me dedicate All this year to you
In whatever earthly state You will have me be
Not from sorrow, pain, or care Freedom dare I claim;
This alone shall be my prayer: Glorify Your name.
--from New Year's Hymn by Lawrence Tuttiett, 1864 (alt.)