But much of the religion that bears his name in the cultural context I’m imbedded in–21st Century America–is misrepresenting him. The most powerful influence of the last thirty years or so has been the Religious Right. I like conservative thinkers: David Brooks, George Will is worth a listen for sure, William F. Buckley in his day. But some of the main voices in the Religious Right I have a bone to pick with. This blind marriage between one particular political philosophy–right now it’s conservatism, at an earlier time is was a Marxist liberalism–this marriage between that and the name of Jesus, has at times, bordered on the blasphemous. Crossed the line sometimes. It’s been an exercise in using the Lord’s name in vain. You say that, and people call you a liberal, but I’m of the opinion that liberal-conservative, when applied to matters of faith is a category error and I don’t buy it. So I’ve got this feisty thing going. And some of my best friends are conservative and some are liberal and if you had to characterize me as a political animal, I’d probably want to pick and choose the best of both those categories, the ones that when cobbled together would most closely resemble in some hodge-podge fashion the One I really trust, Jesus of Nazareth. - Ken Wilson Senior Pastor of Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor in his post on June 20th