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{"id":1063,"date":"2016-01-18T08:31:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-18T08:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/01\/americas-holy-day-of-obligation.html"},"modified":"2016-01-18T08:31:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T08:31:00","slug":"americas-holy-day-of-obligation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/01\/americas-holy-day-of-obligation.html","title":{"rendered":"America’s Holy Day of Obligation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Celebrating our substitute Jesus.\u00a0 Really<\/a>.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember the last time I heard a speech or even a sermon without hearing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. referenced<\/a>.\u00a0 He has a national holiday.\u00a0 Kids spend weeks studying and learning about him.\u00a0 My boys began getting ready for MLK day before Winter Vacation time.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we used to call Christmas Vacation in the olden days.\u00a0 The meaning of his holiday is emphasized.\u00a0 Good works and good will towards men are spoken of.\u00a0 There are no vices even acknowledged, much less mentioned.\u00a0 He is studied in our history books only in a celebratory way.\u00a0 Lincoln, Washington, the Christian faith get none of that.\u00a0 And in my boys\u2019 history books, no president was given a full page celebratory article.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

He is, basically, the substitute Jesus.\u00a0 He is a holy man, a religious icon, a sacred name we can invoke in an age where Christians are increasingly accepting\u00a0that their faith, their morals, and their Savior had best stay in the closet where they belong, at least until they are willing to change those things to conform to the modern way.<\/p>\n

But MLK?\u00a0 There is no change needed.\u00a0 Like most mythical figures, we are high on veneration, and low on obedience.\u00a0 Truth be told, Malcolm X is far closer to the representative figure of where the Civil Rights movement went than Dr. King.\u00a0 After all, one of the fundamental dreams he had in his famous speech was for a day when the color of our children\u2019s skin didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Fast forward to today.\u00a0 I dare say the color of people\u2019s skin is the first and primary factor in almost anything that occurs today.\u00a0 And often times, not for the best reasons.\u00a0 As a symbolic figurehead he does quite well.\u00a0 But when it comes to actually listening to what he said?\u00a0 I fear not so much. <\/p>\n

So it\u2019s the holy day that replaced Christmas and other Jesus days for a post-Christian society.\u00a0 The modern movement discovered that they could mold and shape (and subsequently ignore) Dr. King as they see fit.\u00a0 Much in the same way, I\u2019ll bet, they believe they can do with Pope Francis.\u00a0 Whatever Pope Francis actually says about homosexuality, for example,\u00a0will be irrelevant.\u00a0 They will hoist him up the modern flagpole next to Dr. King, pay about as much attention to him as is convenient, and use him as the only acceptable Pope that any Catholic dare reference.\u00a0 Just like Dr. King can be quoted, praised, referenced and venerated, as long as it is for modern acceptable narratives.\u00a0 And if you get out and start dropping that J-Term when talking about MLK, well then I\u2019m afraid we\u2019re just going to have to show you the door.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"