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Title: Letter to the Editor: The Waning Political Clout of Evangelicals
Source:
The Fountain of Truth
URL Source: http://www.geocities.com/fountoftruth/waning.html
Published: Jul 3, 2008
Author: Doug Newman
Post Date: 2008-07-03 21:58:26 by snoopdougg
Keywords: None
Views: 2652
Comments: 18
Letters to the Editor Editor: Thank you for your article of June 30, 2008 entitled “Evangelicals' political clout wanes, scholars say.” This waning political influence is long overdue. For years, Christians and their churches have been inappropriately used as partisan political tools. The consequences have been most unfortunate. From 1980 to 2000, there was always a drumbeat about the need for Christians to vote Republican. When George W. Bush mentioned Jesus during the 2000 campaign, things went crazy. Based on just one statement, evangelical leaders relentlessly promoted Bush as this great Christian man and insisted that Christians stand with him foursquare. Someone said that it was as if they wanted to add Bush to the Holy Trinity. Millions of evangelicals thus became fervent supporters of unprovoked war, torture, warrantless searches and spying, rogue police and guilt without trial. They became cheerleaders for the most un-Christlike behavior imaginable. When called on this, they often would try to frighten people, saying things like, “Do you want liberals in power?” Well, our “conservative” president outspends his liberal predecessor by $1 trillion per year. Every liberal program these “conservatives” say they oppose is larger and costlier than ever. Abortions are as available now as they were in the Clinton years. Christians are called to be light in a world of darkness and salt in a world of decay. While we need to be involved in politics, we must not compromise Christianity for the sake of political victory. We must acknowledge the very strict limits of what government can accomplish and that the state almost always does more harm than good. We must also not yoke ourselves unequally with secular political movements. This unholy alliance of evangelical Christians and the Republican Party has given Christians a reputation as warmongers, cultural control freaks and partisan political jerks. This is not how Christ called us to live. Let us look to the Bible and to the teachings of Christ, rather than temporal partisan political agendas, as our guide toward influencing our world. Douglas F. Newman
Rocky Mountain News
101 W. Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO 80202
Aurora
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#1. To: snoopdougg (#0)
A kind of Spanish Inquisition.
Nice Letter to the Editor, Doug. ;-)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
why are so many people fooled by a politician's words while refusing to look at their actions. the very same thing is now occurring with obama.
It's a 21st-century Ghost Dance.
I believe Obama when he talks about change. The problem is, his "change" scares the crap out of me.
why are so many people fooled by a politician's words while refusing to look at their actions. the very same thing is now occurring with obama. It can't be explained rationally because it is irrational. I was chewing on about the same thought yesterday after reading someone's comment about the "Oh'bummer Cult" - which is no different than the "Bush Cult". Although I dislike the use of the term cult as it is frequently misused to make an ad hominem argument against something one does not like - as in the Kool-Aid drinkers referring to the 911 Truth Movement as a "cult". Returning to the original thought though - trying to explain Duhbya or Oh'Bummer worship rationally is doomed to failure in that it is not rational. Frequently, as I am sure you have noticed, both, which might as well be twins, always accentuate their "faith" in their current saviour and will not examine data and make an informed analysis. As we have both commented the simple fact of contrasting the treatment of Ron Paul by the media versus the faux adulation levied upon Oh'Bummer by the media offers a simple prima facie case that Oh'Bummer is NOT what the Baaing Sheeple try to convince themselves he is. Vague and undefined lines about "Change" without a definition of what "Change" is, is not a policy nor a reason to rationally support someone. When one burrows through Oh'Bummer's Rhetoric he really is not advocating anything significantly different than the current Bush Junta. The media black-out of Larry Sinclair and the convenient, and untimely, deaths of a couple of "Oh'Bummer's" alleged gay love interests speaks volumes, but the Oh'Bummerphiles are simply going nuts over it - trying to deny without examining. Of course if the Sheeple thought and acted rationally we would never have gotten a Bush as Preznit.
"The difference between an honorable man and a moral man is that an honorable man regrets a discreditable act even when it has worked and he is in no danger of being caught." ~ H. L. Mencken
A kind of Spanish Inquisition. Cheered on by "Boobus Bible-belt-us". People who claim to follow the path of Christ who then behave as a minion of the opposite are many things but they are not Christians - as the term is in its accepted meaning. I just love the daily Bush Worship Thread on FRaud Rezpublik.
"The difference between an honorable man and a moral man is that an honorable man regrets a discreditable act even when it has worked and he is in no danger of being caught." ~ H. L. Mencken
Christians have never been known for their intelligence or common sense.
uh, yep.
Would that be the "Pray for my Bush" thread?
Excellent observations and points. Thank you.
Chuck Carlson and his disciples are taking it to the streets, demanding that pro-life churches practice what they preach and condemn war in Iraq By Tony Ortega Carlson appears hopelessly out of place. He's picketing a church that is home to a large congregation of conservative Christians, the kind of evangelicals who not only solidly oppose abortion but who also tend to read the Bible as literally as possible, think of the Earth as only a few thousand years old and vote Republican. He gets mostly quizzical looks from the nicely dressed folks making their way to the meeting hall, and it's not hard to understand why. Holding an anti-abortion rally in front of Calvary Community Church makes about as much sense as surrounding the national headquarters of the NAACP and singing "We Shall Overcome." And yet it's here, outside this mega-church astride the Black Canyon Freeway south of Thunderbird Road, that Carlson and six others have chosen to hold a demonstration. Almost none of the people walking by stop to ask why the 66-year-old north Phoenix resident is holding the PRO-LIFE poster in one hand and a large yellow sign with the message "IRAQ? WWJD?" in the other. But Carlson knows that even the passers-by who avoid him can decode the message of his second placard. It was the conservative Christian community, after all, that made popular the latter four-letter code – short for "What would Jesus do?"
LOL! That pretty much nails it.
"The difference between an honorable man and a moral man is that an honorable man regrets a discreditable act even when it has worked and he is in no danger of being caught." ~ H. L. Mencken
Yup, same apparatchiks different front man.
"The difference between an honorable man and a moral man is that an honorable man regrets a discreditable act even when it has worked and he is in no danger of being caught." ~ H. L. Mencken
It's a safe bet that if most of today's evangelical "Christians" were around ~30 AD, they would have been on the side of Caiphas and the Pharisees. If they're losing political power, it's good news for a change. The 700 Club / Christian coalition people are self- righteous control freaks, every bit as bad as the PC left that they complain about.
That's because they are warmongers, cultural control freaks and partisan political jerks. It's a reputation they work hard for and is well earned. IMHO these "evangelical Christians" don't worship Jesus, they worship government, money and power. It's the logical path for those protestant cults that bought into the "money is power" rantings of 19th century Baptist preacher Russell Conwell.
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Director, CIA 1973–1976
Millions of evangelicals thus became fervent supporters of unprovoked war, torture, warrantless searches and spying, rogue police and guilt without trial. They became cheerleaders for the most un-Christlike behavior imaginable. That's pretty much a definition of [Judeo - www.asis.com/users/stag/royalty.html - ] British-Israelism: "British Israel Uses Christian Fundamentalist Evangelicals to Promote the "Kingdom of God on Earth' Scheme to Deliver Up A One World Society-Both Feudal and Fascist " Someone said that it was as if they wanted to add Bush to the Holy Trinity. I sonder if anyone else saw the AP photo of OBAMA last week at some church in Chicago, where he sat right smack in front of the preacher, in some huge throne-like chair, with his back to the congregation, and behind him on the back wall, appearing to rest directly over his head, was a big cross. Now what kind of subliminal message were they trying to send with that, do you suppose?
"...as long as there..remain active enemies of the Christian church, we may hope to become Master of the World...the future Jewish King will never reign in the world before Christianity is overthrown - B'nai B'rith speech http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/luther.htm / http://bible.cc/psalms/83-4.htm
how odd that they would have him with his back to the congregation. what message do you think they were trying to impart?
Millions of evangelicals thus became fervent supporters of unprovoked war, torture, warrantless searches and spying, rogue police and guilt without trial.
I've already said too much.
#2. To: snoopdougg (#0)
#3. To: snoopdougg (#0)
Someone said that it was as if they wanted to add Bush to the Holy Trinity.
#4. To: christine (#3)
the very same thing is now occurring with obama.
I've already said too much.
#5. To: christine (#3)
why are so many people fooled by a politician's words while refusing to look at their actions. the very same thing is now occurring with obama.
“The best and first guarantor of our neutrality and our independent existence is the defensive will of the people…and the proverbial marksmanship of the Swiss shooter. Each soldier a good marksman! Each shot a hit!” Schweizerische Schutzenseitunt (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#6. To: christine, Ferret Mike, Arator, aristeides (#3)
Someone said that it was as if they wanted to add Bush to the Holy Trinity.
#7. To: MUDDOG (#1)
Millions of evangelicals thus became fervent supporters of unprovoked war, torture, warrantless searches and spying, rogue police and guilt without trial.
#8. To: snoopdougg (#0)
#9. To: Original_Intent (#6)
When one burrows through Oh'Bummer's Rhetoric he really is not advocating anything significantly different than the current Bush Junta.
#10. To: Original_Intent (#7)
I just love the daily Bush Worship Thread on FRaud Rezpublik.
#11. To: snoopdougg (#0)
#12. To: snoopdougg (#0)
#13. To: Jethro Tull (#10)
Would that be the "Pray for my Bush" thread?
#14. To: christine (#9)
#15. To: snoopdougg (#0)
(Edited)
This unholy alliance of evangelical Christians and the Republican Party has given Christians a reputation as warmongers, cultural control freaks and partisan political jerks. This is not how Christ called us to live.
#16. To: snoopdougg (#0)
This unholy alliance of evangelical Christians and the Republican Party has given Christians a reputation as warmongers, cultural control freaks and partisan political jerks.
#17. To: snoopdougg, christine (#0)
#18. To: AllTheKings'HorsesWontDoIt (#17)
I sonder if anyone else saw the AP photo of OBAMA last week at some church in Chicago, where he sat right smack in front of the preacher, in some huge throne-like chair, with his back to the congregation, and behind him on the back wall, appearing to rest directly over his head, was a big cross. Now what kind of subliminal message were they trying to send with that, do you suppose?
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