{"id":22428,"date":"2010-10-14T08:20:03","date_gmt":"2010-10-14T14:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=22428"},"modified":"2010-10-14T12:45:01","modified_gmt":"2010-10-14T18:45:01","slug":"rush-explains-%e2%80%98christian-nation%e2%80%99-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/10\/rush-explains-%e2%80%98christian-nation%e2%80%99-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Rush explains \u2018Christian nation\u2019 video"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Matt Rush<\/p><\/div>\n

A web video getting attention in the media<\/a> shows Republican Land Commissioner candidate Matt Rush<\/a> taking about restoring America as a Christian Nation and taking the fight to the \u201cenemy.\u201d Those are common statements in evangelical churches, but what exactly did Rush mean by them?<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people have asked me, \u2018Why should Christians get involved in politics?\u2019 My answer to that\u2019s really simple,\u201d Rush says in the video<\/a>. \u201cIf we want to be a Christian nation again, Christian people have to start standing up, running for office again. Christian people have to start getting involved in the decision-making process of our government\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in the video, Rush says Christians need to \u201ctake the fight to the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so I encourage each and every one of you to get involved, help those of us who are running, or be involved in your community, but we\u2019ve got to start standing up, because we are one nation under God, and we need to make sure that we take that back to our legislative process,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the video:<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Rush wrote in an e-mail to NMPolitics.net that he didn\u2019t record the video so it could be shown to voters in churches. He said he recorded it at the request of a 23-year-old college student from Belen who volunteers with her church youth group. The volunteer was putting together a presentation on why it\u2019s important for Christians to serve.<\/p>\n

The video was shown to teens, most 15 years old, Rush said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to do anything to help kids, especially if it reaffirms their faith or motivates them to be proud of their faith,\u201d Rush said. \u201cSo, when I was asked to help a youth group at a church I jumped at the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Not trying to shove a Bible down anyone\u2019s throat\u2019<\/h3>\n

As to his comment about taking the fight to the \u201cenemy\u201d \u2013 Rush said he wasn\u2019t talking about his Democratic opponent in the land commissioner race, Ray Powell<\/a>, or people who aren\u2019t Christians. He said he was talking about Satan and the evil that children and adults are faced with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never considered ANYONE who disagreed with me an \u2018enemy,\u2019\u201d Rush wrote in the e-mail. \u201cTHAT\u2019S RIDICULOUS. It\u2019s POLITICS. Just because we don\u2019t agree doesn\u2019t mean that we can\u2019t walk away and still be friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rush said he prays for Powell\u2019s safety and for the health of Powell\u2019s elderly parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitics are beliefs and opinions, but peoples\u2019 lives are important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some have interpreted Rush\u2019s statement about a \u201cChristian nation\u201d as an indicator that he wants to force his beliefs on others. Rush said he\u2019s \u201cnot ashamed to tell people that I\u2019m a Christian,\u201d but he\u2019s not trying to force his beliefs on anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people who are voting have a right to know my beliefs, but I\u2019m not trying to shove a Bible down anyone\u2019s throat,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, I also think that Christians need to get out of their \u2018sacred pews\u2019 and get involved. Stop preaching all the time and instead get your hands dirty. Get active, get involved and stop being ashamed for who you are or what you believe… whatever that is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A web video getting attention in the media shows Republican Land Commissioner candidate Matt Rush taking about restoring America as a Christian Nation and taking the fight to the \u201cenemy.\u201d Those are common statements in evangelical churches, but what exactly did Rush mean by them?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,177,107],"class_list":["post-22428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-religion","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}