Barack Obama's evangelicals close the God gap in Presidential race

The Times (UK) ^ | March 7, 2008 | Chris Smyth

[FocusNexus]

Progressive evangelicals believe they can end the dominance of the religious right

A group of American evangelicals are on a mission to put moral issues at the heart of the most intense presidential campaign in years. Those used to the thundering rhetoric of the religious right will expect a tirade against abortion and gay marriage. But in an interview this week Jim Wallis says: "Top of the list is what happens to the poor. Poverty is the principal Biblical political issue." He adds: "climate change is now a mainstream evangelical issue. Human rights, Darfur too."

Wallis is one of the leading figures in a group known as progressive evangelicals, or Red Letter Christians. They are theologically conservative, but strikingly radical on poverty, the environment and Iraq. Inspired by William Wilberforce and Martin Luther King, they believe theirs can be a popular movement to transform US society.

But they say it is precisely this focus on Christ's message which gives them their radical edge. Wallis has written that he found the Sermon on the Mount "more revolutionary than anything I had read in Karl Marx, Che Guevara or Ho Chi Minh".

"There are 2,000 verses in Scripture that deal with poverty - this is the dominant social concern," says Tony Campolo, a professor at Eastern University and author of Red Letter Christians. From these verses stems a passionate commitment to social justice. From Jesus's ideals of peace, comes a heartfelt opposition to the Iraq war. "War is an ethical issue," says Campolo. "You can't foster a war mindset and call yourself a Christian." And scriptural verses emphasising's man stewardship over nature are the spur to take action on global warming.

[boop]

"But in an interview this week Jim Wallis says: "Top of the list is what happens to the poor. Poverty is the principal Biblical political issue." He adds: "climate change is now a mainstream evangelical issue."

So therefore global warming shouldn't be taught in school, right? For the same reason the ACLU fought abstinence education in schools. Because it was "religious".

[Anti-Bubba182]

What this UK paper forgets is that Conservatives have been dealing with the Reverend this or that for generations and their claim to be “evangelical Christians” ain’t necessarily so. These ‘preachers’ are Marxist agitators with religious rubric.

[jmaroneps37]

Oh that’s right! How silly of me! I forgot that Evangelicals would support a man in favor of gay marriage, partial birth abortion and born baby euthanization by the state! Yes how silly of me to forget that! What could I have been thinking?

[444Flyer]

Progressive “Evangelicals”. Evangelical is becoming a more and more useless and meaningless term, hijacked by anyone to cloak their agenda. If these people are real Christians they are in dire need of Church discipline for their views on baby killing (abortion), stealing (collectivism), and support of sodomy (gay marriage) all of which Obama is passionate about.

[attiladhun2]

Thinking the same thing. The the hammer and the crescent are a very good fit, but not the cross and sickle. Leftist evangelicals have not really thought the implications of an Obama presidency on home schooling, the 1st Amendment (return of the Fairness Doctrine), how increased taxation will impact charitable donations, support for Israel, etc.

[attiladhun2]

Yes. He is a first class chump, isn’t he?

[attiladhun2]

Campolo is an exemplar of the so-called Emerging Church, which is nothing more than theological liberalism in a skimpy bathing suit, one that does not disguise her as being identical to that theologically liberal whore of yesteryear. To use an even older term, Campolo is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Yeshua and His apostles warned us the likes of Campolo would be a thick as thieves in the last days.

[RichInOC]

"War is an ethical issue," says Campolo. "You can't foster a war mindset and call yourself a Christian."

Ahem...Professor, I seem to remember reading that a noted Jewish religious leader some 2100 years ago, shortly before his death by crucifixion, was quoted as advising his followers, in so many words, "if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one". Would you care to hazard a guess as to his name?

[attiladhun2]

"Our systems have failed the poor and they have failed the earth,” Wallis has said. “They have failed the creation.”

What a brain-dead idiot. Communist nations are among the most polluted on earth with lines for bread and other staples we take for granted stretching for blocks. The USSR used to dump radioactive waste right onto open ground. There are still mountains of this stuff in Russia and former Soviet republics.

The problem with numb-skulls like Wallis is they haven't spent a single minute critiquing their views. I was a 3rd generation leftie myself, whose ideas were completely upset by repeated encounters with the Truth.

[FocusNexus]

“These ‘preachers’ are Marxist agitators with religious rubric.”

Definitely.

I also just remembered that the “World Council of Churches” ( or something like that) has been PROVEN to be a communist front.

[attiladhun2]

Jesus said nothing about the gay thing in the GospelsThat is not actually true. Jesus affirmed that the Law and the Prophets are the Word of God. The Law condemns homosexuality explicitly. That would be like me reading a section of the penal code dealing with robbery, and concluding that it says nothing about murder. That would violate the laws of logic on more levels than I can count, but I will begin with:

1. the fallacy of ambiguity of accent
2. the fallacy of begging the question
3. the fallacy of hasty generalizaion
4. the fallacy of ignoratio elenchi
5. the fallacy of inconsistency
6. the fallacy of misleading context
7. the straw man fallacy

[Mr Rogers]

It was called Sermon on Mounting in the original. Trust Obama. Yes you can.