"Western Christianity...state-sanctioned religion?"

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I think you should run the article "What Kind of Christians are These?" by M. Lagault under the Lifestyles section of your paper. However give it a different title, e.g., call it "Lifestyles Under the Microscope... aka, how the West manages the world". Something like that -- you might think up something better.

I think you need to get more people's attention on that article and unfortunately, most people skip the religious section.

"Mammon" is right. In the West, Mammon is god. The politicians have figured that out. However the Church hasn't brought it into focus yet -- too gullible, too poor (though they don't know it), too introverted; therefore, the politicians get away with it (making Mammon our religion).

I was recently at Lampeter Theological College in Wales for a 4-day session of auditing any lecture I chose. The lectures were excellent, extremely "on the ground," as it were. It is evident among the teaching level of the theologian in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, that visible American Christianity is viewed as state-sanctioned religion, with which our docile church-goers comply, because... well, we religious people have a duty to support any old leader the corporate machine throws at us. We rarely read a book, outside of booklets by evangelicals "to help us grow", and we don't discuss politics. However those excellent lecturers over in Britain, do not see any radical Christianity here; very likely not over there either, except that here, the ruling political administrations so obviously succeed in fooling the dozing church to get support for their exploitive national and international schemes (to help the rich get richer). Mammon is sexy, virile, exciting, powerful, and prosper we must.

The last radical Christian we had was Tommy Douglas.(And he happens to be The Greatest Canadian). "When the righteous rule, the people prosper." Through Tommy's groundwork, we got Medicare, the Old Age Pension, mother's allowance, and social welfare (and don't say there aren't some struggling folk who don't need it). That's prosperity!

Possibly, until we get another radical Baptist/Other preacher turned politician, there'll be no wake up call in the churches, and the country will go to hell along with the rest of the world. Does anybody care?

LaVonne Khayyat
Vancouver, BC