by Charles Toy

God is wise and deliberate, and he doesn’t occupy our physical realm of time and space. In fact, God is Spirit so “he” isn't really a “he.” We have no idea what a “Spirit” is. None. But we know God is good. He has shown us.

The Earth is 4.54 billion years old and the universe is 13.77 billion years, which is relatively new knowledge to us. That’s a long, long time, especially considering human history only goes back 12,000 years (Göbekli Tepe). Some cave drawings go back 40,000 years. There was a long time in between to get a lot of work done at God's own pace, which is probably slower than ours given that God is eternal.

I’m told the Hebrew word for “day” is “yom,” also meaning 24 hours, but it can mean more of a general time or period and can always be used metaphorically.

I’ve arrived at the personal opinion that the 6-Day Creation is a metaphor. I think God spoke "Let there be light," and the Big Bang happened. Over billions of years he tended to the entire project, watching it all unfold according to his will and his vision.

When our planet cooled down he started doing his work here. In the first period of time he brought forth the seas and measured out dry land. In the next period he planted plants, trees and berries. In the next he set up the position of the earth in relation to our solar system. During the next he created living creatures in the sea and in the air. Finally, in his own image he created them: male and female.

I don't believe all of the above happened in literal days. God could have easily taken as long as he wanted to carry out each step at the pace that worked for him. It would have been just as wonderful and just as spectacular. Did he zap us in in one day, or did he carefully plan every step that went in to forming us over an unknown period of time? Either way, he still created us, so does it really matter? I don't think it does.

God could have very possibly used the divine and magnificent tool of evolution to create us, and it may have taken much longer than 6 of our days.

The fact that this may be the case doesn't harm my faith one single bit. In truth, it strengthens my faith. Now I don't have to ignore science. Everything is older than I had thought for many years. The Universe, the Earth, and ancient allegories, which reveal truth over millenniums, are all much older than I believed as a young man.

No Christian should have to fear looking at creation this way. It’s doesn’t make a single difference in how you view your faith. It was thought for millennia that the sun revolved around the earth. The Church believed it as well. Then new science and new information came alone. Now views are different.

The 6-Day Creation is probably an allegory, and it doesn’t need to trouble your faith one bit.  In case you didn't already know, this view is nothing new. It's called Theistic Evolution.

On a side note, it could still be very possible that when his final creations learned how to interact with him on a personal level, they became Adam and Eve.

Here's a great quote from the Rev. Billy Graham on this topic. Don't be too mad at Billy about the last election cycle. Graham was a Democrat his entire life. His son Franklin took advantage of his Father in his old age when he got him to endorse Mitt Romney.

by Ted Carr, member of The Christian Left

The forces of greed and vanity which have been oppressing the people for many thousands of years are not letting up. They are pushing as they have always done, to dominate their neighbors, just like apes.

The rich are more like brutes than are the rest of us. It is pure animal instinct that drives the will to dominate others, and will not be overcome by winning an election once in a while over them, or by waiting for God to tame them. We must match their bestial tenacity with our own fierce love of our families and our weaker neighbors.

We must be good shepherds defending the vulnerable members of God's flock against lions and bears, who are men, seeking to bring down the needy.

Do not let up until they let up. That is how we will overcome our wealthy, and vain, neighbors. If they do not let up, and they aren't, then we will not let up. Do not envy the rich, they are receiving their reward in this life, but are losing eternal life by oppressing the poor and needy.

“Better the little the righteous man has than the great abundance of the wicked.” Psalm 37:16.

TCL: The only thing we would add is an emphasis that we must do all of the above in a manner that is non-violent. Violence is not the way of our Lord. Tenacious non-violent action works. All it takes is enough people to stand up and say, "No more."

With this in mind, be aware that the forces of oppression are gathering. They go by many deceitful names. The Campaign to Fix the Debt is one of them.

by Charles Toy

It’s time for us Christians to catch a clue. The modern conservative agenda is anathema to everything it means to be a Christian. It’s based on Randian Objectivism, which isn’t a far cry from LaVeyan Satanism.

Let the current state of affairs speak for itself. The poor and destitute have suffered the most under laissez-faire capitalism. The rich and powerful have emerged predominantly untouched. Now, when it’s time for everyone to ‘tighten their belts’ as a result of ‘conservative’ policy, it’s the poor who will have to sacrifice. Many have nothing left to sacrifice.

The stock market is soaring. Corporations are making record profits. Resource inequality is at staggering levels. The wealthy are more than fine, and yet conservatives will not make them share the burden of the fiscal conundrum created by foolish policy, exorbitant greed, and excessive militarism.

We have been deceived for far too long. These are not the ways of Jesus. Feeding the rich and powerful while starving the poor and destitute is a recipe for spiritual disaster. The majority of Christians in this country are supporting just that, and we need to wake up.

We're not against the free market here. The free market has its place. When it fails large groups of people, as it often does, we must have a vibrant social safety net to compensate. And we need to make access to health care universal to all. Health care is not a privilege. To think otherwise is barbaric and selfish.

The modern conservative brand of Christianity likes to blame the poor. They call them 'lazy,' and 'a bunch of freeloaders who refuse to work.'. Did Jesus ever call the poor lazy? Never once. Demonizing the poor is not Christian. It's akin to an anti-Christ philosophy.  It's social Darwinism. The resounding majority of poor people are not lazy, and they don't refuse to work. They work harder to survive than most do in society.

Isaiah 10 and Jeremiah 22 are two examples of the prophets issuing harsh admonishments to wicked kings who abused the poor and marginalized. Conservative Christians insinuate that ‘it’s not the government’s job to care for the poor.’ They couldn’t be more wrong. They go on to imply that ‘the downfall of our great nation will be abortion and gay marriage!’ What a joke. Jesus said nothing about these two issues.

Jesus spelled out exactly what his priorities are in Matthew 25: 31-46. Conservative Christians would do well to learn those priorities. If the ‘downfall of our great nation’ occurs, it will be because we ignored them. It’s happened before: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” ~ Ezekiel 16:49

We’re completely against any kind of State religion. In the “land of the free” everyone should be able to worship or not worship as they see fit. State religion just leads to persecution of those who don’t agree with it. That said, if we want to behave like a “Christian Nation,” maybe our elected representatives should start acting a little more like Jesus (that guy at the center of our faith). Maybe they should be out in the streets talking to real people who struggle every day to survive. Maybe they should be looking for ways we can collectively help them. Maybe when they give a banquet, they should invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, and give them the best seats in the house.

We’re no “Christian Nation.” We worship wealth, power and force. Our elected representatives coddle billionaires and arms dealers. Even among Democrats, only 30% of them (at best) are true progressives. We treat those who are, like Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich, like kooky, pie-in-the-sky dreamers. Let’s just get real about this whole “Christian Nation” thing, unless we really want to see our government officials acting like Jesus.

The marriage of the Church and modern conservative politics has produced a dark and ugly entity, and it’s time for Christians to come out from its grasp.