Little seems left for liberal religious activists

Philadelphia Enquirer ^ | 1/18/04

[11th Earl of Mar]

Little seems left for liberal religious activists Civil rights and Vietnam gave way to abortion and homosexuality.

Heading into a presidential election year, the Republican Party faithful are already rolling up their sleeves and passing the collection plate. In church social halls, they are raising money for voter registration; issue advertising; and "Christian scorecards," which rate candidates on their positions on key cultural issues such as abortion and homosexuality.

[11th Earl of Mar]

Just a little about Tony Campolo. He was Bill Clinton's "spiritual advisor" who helped Bubba look more Christian after the Monica story broke.

Also, Campolo was the man Bubba was laughing with at Ron Brown's funeral. If you saw the video, you would see a happy, jovial President leaving a funeral... until he saw the camera. Bill Clinton immediately started crying when he noticed the camera was on him.

Campolo was on a TV show with an evangelical. Campolo was asked: "Is Jesus the only way and the only truth?"

After a long pause, Campolo said, "Yes. But Christianity is not the only way to Jesus."

So when they talk about a "Bible based Jesus" nobody knows exactly what that means.

I guess Jesus is the sun, the sky, the wind and the earth.

[WOSG]

Coffin, whose collection of speeches and sermons, Credo, has just been published, said he was impressed with Wallis' brand of evangelical Christianity. "That's exactly where it should be," he said. "The more orthodox the theology, the more radical the politics. There are two great biblical imperatives: to pursue justice and to seek peace."

Ah, the hypocrisy of Coffin the leftist: He sees the word of God as a mere means to the end of "the more radical the politics". He rejects orthodox theology when it doesnt suit him, then uses it a 'tool' to advance his radical agenda.

[optimistically_conservative]

Thought this was interesting about Campolo...

Why Clinton Likes Campolo
The President and evangelist talked about sexual ethics long before Monica.
By Ted Olsen | posted 12/27/2002
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/001/4.37.html

[madprof98]

I was struck by this section:

Still, there are faint signs of life - and youth - in the religious left, according to Jim Wallis, of the Washington-based Sojourners community. Founded in 1971, the group is a Christian ministry whose mission is "to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice."

Wallis considers himself a theological conservative, pro-life evangelical - and a radical social activist. Unlike many evangelicals, he believes that religious concern for the poor and the powerless should be motivated by justice, not charity.

For a while, I was involved with the online Sojourners discussion list. Someone asked about abortion, and the answer from the underling in charge of the e-mail discussion was so mealy-mouthed and dripping with false "compassion" that it could have come from Bill Clinton. After a long while, and under some pressure, Jim Wallis himself actually stepped in to clarify the position of Sojourners, which again sounded suspiciously like the position of Bill Clinton. I let that group go. They have a very strange sense of "justice."

[cyborg]

Jesus is my cup of coffee... seriously christianity... Christ... how else is someone supposed to be a christian?

[RightWingAtheist]

I honestly hope the religious left becomes more vocal and mobilized. It means more people like me will start coming out of the woodwork, and make people more aware of just how absurd and simple-minded the left truly is.

[tom h]

Tony Campolo is and always has been a major league liberal Christian. Check out any of his books still sold at Amazon.com. While I feel that he is a believer, he is also a rationalizer of the unChristian behavior of today's liberals.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

What they are doing violates the separation of church and state and the new campaign finance law.

[TheGeezer]

DemocRats have been scurrying into black congregations all over the place for decades. No one has ever charged them with violating the Constitution, even when politics is preached from the pulpit of churches whose members vote DemocRat!

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

Sorry,guess i should've put sarcasm at the end as i was thinking about that violation between Dean and Carter today.

[11th Earl of Mar]

I don't understand the edit.

No flame. I just don't understand where the article went.

[Admin Moderator]

Orlando Sentinel is part of Washington Post/LA Time settlement. (It's on the site you took this from, top of the story)

[11th Earl of Mar]

Thanks.