At RNC, an uneven, awkward embrace of religious pluralism

Get used to it. Salad bar theology appealing to semi-conservative political principles. Once someone rejects John 14:6, nothing is left.

An older lady at our church commented last night how encouraged she was because of how often God was mentioned during the RNC.

I just smiled. She asked me what I thought about it, and I told her that I have a real hard time being encouraged by that knowing that republicans (and politicians in general) often use God to procure votes.

There' no question that a lot of "God talk" is empty and deceitful. However, I think there is benefit to hearing people talk about God openly. It counters the leftist push to eliminate everything Christian from public discourse. Hearing people publicly speak of God encourages others to speak of Him openly. Christians shouldn't need such examples, but the timid among us often do.

A few days ago my wife and I were eating in a restaurant and had already prayed openly to thank God for our food. Another couple were seated near us, and when their food came, they bowed their heads and thanked the Lord in an audible voice. When we finished our meal, I stopped by their table to thank them for praying openly. I told them it was a wonderful testimony and an encouragement to fellow Christians. Public recognition of God needs wider expression in American today.

....of even false religion is what Dostoyevsky noted in The Brothers Karamazov: If there is no God, everything is permitted. So if someone holds to a religion with which I disagree (there are a few of them), I at least have some assurance that that person has some fear of divine retribution for sin.

And really, it isn't that hard to figure out which politicians aren't taking their religion very seriously. They either reject certain core tenets, or they otherwise make clear that their religion doesn't restrain them much morally.

Regarding the prayer in particular, it's my view that as far back as I can remember,most prayers offered at political events, especially outside the Bible Belt, are pretty much mainline liberal/ecumenical, and there have been a lot of times where, let's just say, I prayed something entirely different as the invocation was proceeding. So this is a little bit further, but not as much as we might like to believe.