Posted on 07/13/2006 6:43:30 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
The head of what used to be the main voice of ecumenical Christianity in America has made Fox News the target of his latest jeremiad.
Bob Edgar, former Democratic congressman and former seminary president is now an ordained Methodist minister and general secretary of the National Council of Churches (NCC) -- but his religion is often politics by another means. Edgar warned a gathering of "moderate" Baptists last month against the challenges of "fear, fundamentalism, and Fox News." instead urging his faithful to "walk in the footsteps of Jesus."
Edgar cited the supposed threat posed by Fox News while speaking at the 15th anniversary luncheon of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s (CBF) General Assembly on June 23. The CBF was founded by "moderate" Southern Baptists as a counterweight to the Southern Baptist Convention’s conservative leadership. About 1,800 local churches support CBF out of the 40,000+ congregations of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The CBF churches remain within the Southern Baptist Convention but channel much of their funding through CBF rather than official Southern Baptist ministries. Although professing to be "moderate," the CBF’s choice of the left-wing Edgar as a speaker confirms the suspicions of conservative Southern Baptists about the CBF. Edgar himself admitted he was an unusual choice for the "moderate Baptists."
The NCC hyped it when Fox News briefly reported Edgar’s anti-Fox remarks to the Baptists. The number one rated news network asked "Fox Fans" to e-mail their response to Edgar’s denunciation, which were forwarded to the NCC. The NCC, in turn, boasted Edgar’s comments had "hit a nerve" with Fox editors. "Predictably, many of the responses from the network's predominantly conservative fans disagreed with the NCC leader's assessment of Jesus' call to action," the NCC lamented.
However, it irrationally bragged, "a surprising number said Edgar's list of priorities might be just what the nation needed. Of the 279 emails received by NCC from 'speakout@foxnews.com' 48 supported Edgar or were critical of Fox News," the NCC celebrated. In other words, fewer than 20 percent of the Fox e-mailers sided with Edgar.
NCC leftist-in-chief Edgar has targeted Fox News before; it was not even the first time he had used this alliterative phrase. In a Washington, D.C., speech to left-wing religious activists at "Ecumenical Advocacy Days" in March, Edgar said he expected "each of us to work ecumenically to confront fear, fundamentalism and Fox Television, with a renewed commitment to seek peace, end poverty and heal our fragile planet earth."
Edgar has solidified the NCC as a political instrument of the Religious Left since taking the helm six years ago. When founded nearly 60 years ago, the NCC was the voice of mainstream American Christianity. Now funded more by left-wing philanthropies than by actual churches, the NCC is more interested in expanding the welfare state, hyping global warming, and demonizing U.S. foreign policy than in Christian unity. Thirty five denominations representing more than 40 million American church goers belong to the NCC. But the NCC is largely inconsequential to local churches, many of whose members watch the dreaded Fox News.
He has explained to reporters that he wants to redefine "moral values" to include left-wing perspectives on poverty, the environment, and health care among "middle-church, middle-mosque, and middle-synagogue" voters. It was the usual refrain from Edgar. In his speech last month to the CBF, he described the updated Jesus. "As I study the scripture, I have found five directions to walk with Jesus in 2006: Peace, Poverty, Planet Earth, People’s Rights, and Commitment to Pluralism," he explained. In other words, following Jesus means opposing the Bush administration. "The persons who would be Jesus’ disciples will be found standing in defense of human rights, believing that such dehumanizing acts of racial or gender discrimination, torture, invasion of privacy are an affront to the will of God for his creation," he declared.
According to Edgar, America’s "founding fathers and mothers" would never have supported "prison camps at Guantanamo, torture at Abu Ghraib, genocide in Sudan, HIV-Aids in Africa and rural Asia, pollution of our water supplies, over fishing our oceans, melting of the Arctic tundra or polar ice caps, proliferation of nuclear weapons, stockpiling of landmines, or paying anyone less than a living wage."
When Edgar speaks of human rights concerns, torture and invasion and privacy, his sole target is American "empire." At his March "Ecumenical Advocacy Days" speech, Edgar laid it on thick.
God’s Kingdom [is] much more important than any man-made EMPIRE. EMPIRES see to redefine war and foster a new militarism. EMPIRES talk of pre-emptive strikes and usable nuclear weapons. EMPIRES invade other countries and markets and cultures to destroy. EMPIRES fight wars on terrorism by labeling all who are different as terrorists…EMPIRES are built on greed and arrogance.
That is one awesomely powerful and evil empire! Launching mindless wars, countenancing genocides, melting polar ice caps, torturing, polluting, impoverishing. Edgar’s speech reads very much like science fiction (with good reason).
More attuned to reality, Ronald Reagan denounced a true Evil Empire in his celebrated 1983 speech to the National Association of Evangelicals. Unlike Edgar, Reagan was hopeful, inspiring, and targeting a wicked regime that had murdered and enslaved hundred of millions. Thanks in part to Reagan, that empire of evil soon thereafter fell.
In contrast to Reagan, Edgar speeches are little more than shrill whines about his own country, which he absurdly credits with transcendent evil. Traditional Christian clergy are dedicated to resisting the world, the flesh, and the Devil. But Edgar and his National Council of Churches prefer to target the United States of America and its appendages of "fear, fundamentalism, and Fox News."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark D. Tooley directs the United Methodist committee at the Institute on Religion and Democracy.
The members of the above churches are guilty of aiding and abetting this garbage.
Feeding the beast and complaining about apostasy just don't make sense.
RWA's Law: The substance of an argument is inversely proportional to the amount of time before a cheap shot is taken at Fox News.
ping
Liberals cannot stand a conservative point of view being heard because their ideas cannot withstand discussion.
Liberals support the first amendment only so far as it protects their right to speech. Others' speech must be denied.
Another "middle roader" who has somehow come to the conclusion that the middle road is socialism, gay marraige, and pro abortion.
So now he sees his role as instructing people on political choices?
Pull his church's tax-exempt funding.
Or better--have whoever gave him this job fire his butt.
The Left's Eight Commandments
I
Thou shalt create an illusion of invulnerability shared by most members to foster excessive optimism and encourage extreme risks taking
II
Thou shall not allow any member to question the group's inherent morality, instead members shall be encouraged to ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions
III
Thou shalt promote collective efforts to rationalize in order to discount warnings, or other information that might lead members to reconsider their assumptions before they recommit themselves to their assumptions
IV
Thou shalt reinforce stereotyped views of enemy leaders as too evil to warrant genuine attempts to negotiate, or as too weak and stupid to counter whatever risky attempts are made to defeat their purpose
V
Thou shalt self-censor any deviation from the apparent group consensus, inclining each member to minimize the importance of their doubts and counterarguments
VI
Thou shalt create and maintain a shared illusion of unanimity concerning judgement conforming to the majority view
VII
Thou shalt apply direct pressure on any member who expresses strong arguments against any of the group's stereotypes, illusions, or commitments, making clear that this type of dissent is contrary to what is expected of all loyal members
VIII
Thou shalt appoint mindguards to protect the group from adverse information that might shatter their shared complacency about the effectiveness and morality of their decisions
(adapted from Janis '82)
Strike "Religious Left" and replace it with "Democratic Party" and would be just as accurate.
Thanks for the heads-up. Time to do some research and then go talk to my pastor.
OK leftists, which is it? First they complain that our founding fathers were all evil slave owners, now they complain that our founding fathers wouldn't countenance paying anyone less than a living wage.
Can't they make up their minds?
Yeah, I really want these guys to have a tax free organization... NOT.
MSM reasoning:
Let's lavish lots of attention on 4.5% of the liberal Batpists...but ignore the 10% of the blacks in this nation who vote Republican!
I'll go one step further and charge that Edgar and the members of the above churches are masquerading as Christians in order to gain political power for the socialist/communist movement in the U.S.A.
I stopped my contributions to the Methodist Church a few years ago as a result of this garbage and no longer attend or consider myself a member.
The above "mainstream" Protestant Chruches have betrayed their nation, their hertiage, their faith and the majority of their members who are blissfully unaware of what trasnpire in the inner sancta of their respective chruches.
If the House Un-American Activities Committee (God bless it) still existed toady, it would be dragging in this Edgar creep and his fellow hedge priests for a lengthy interrogation and expose.
As a former Methodist, I can darn near garantee that any spew from the Methodist Church and especially the NCC has nothing to do with Christianity and everything to do with socialism.
I doubt these "moderate" Baptist are moderate. There are no middle of roaders amongest baptist, IMO,
True ministers of His Word would never have any alternate agenda for which they would be willing to prostitute His altar.
Make this "fragile earth" goofball stand outside anywhere in America for a hurricane or other storm, someday. He would find out what's fragile.
Actually, it is probably much less than that. I am a proud Southern Baptist and know all about the CBF and it's membership. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was formed by left-leaning Baptist leaders (they refer to themselves as "moderates", but most are political liberals who still have SOME morals left) about 15 years ago when they realized they could not regain control of the SBC because of their beliefs. They have struggled to get members for years.
They way the CBF "counts" their membership is like this: ANY ONE can join the CBF. Individuals or churches alike. If an idividual contributes money via membership, the CBF counts THE WHOLE CHURCH as a member, even if the rest of the church has nothing to do with them. So, basically, they cook the books to pump up their numbers.
I could go into all kinds of stuff that plague the CBF, but suffice to say they are having a real identity crisis these days. They have had leftist speakers at their convention for the last several years, including this moonbat and Tony Campolo, spiritual advisor to Bill Clinton.
Here's a good article if you want to see just how screwed up they really are these days:
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23548
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