Should Christians Use Saul Alinsky’s Tactics in Exposing Corruption?

Townhall.com ^ | March 7, 2010 | Doug Giles

[highlander_UW]

The basic premise is flawed. What was used was undercover journalism, not Saul Alinsky’s rules for radicals.

[fish hawk]

Was it right for Jesus to make a whip out of cord and tip over the tables of the money changers at the Temple? Some of you probably wont see my point here.

[Balding_Eagle]

Alinsky didn’t invent these tactics, he just collected them, organized them, wrote them down in a book, and since he had done all of the above, he got to name the book claiming ownership.

Seesh.

[Cacique]

The Christian pundit is correct, we should have used bananas to fight Nazism instead of guns and bombs./s

[cripplecreek]

Needless destruction of people is wrong. Exposing them for what they really are is fine in my book.

[highlander_UW]

Needless destruction of people is wrong. Exposing them for what they really are is fine in my book.

Exactly. I rather doubt Mr. Giles has read Alinsky's rules for radicals.

[RaceBannon]

I dont think the Nazis would have fallen for the old banana in the tailpipe routine!

[ozark hilljilly]

Sounds a little catty to me—and a wee bit like Dana Carvey’s Church Lady—but I digress.

"Wellllll, Isn't that special?!

[Spktyr]

Even so - yes, Alinsky’s Rules For Radicals is to be used against the leftists at every possible opportunity, at maximum force and effectiveness.

[bray]

They set the rules so we may as well play by them.

Pray for America

[BallyBill]

Ol Pappy used to say, “you lay down with the dogs, you wake up with fleas”.

[HiTech RedNeck]

The reference to Simon Templar is curious. Wikipedia it up.

[married21]

Yes. It was His Father’s house. Next time somebody does corrupt deals in your father’s house, you can defend it for him and throw them out, even if they were under the mistaken impression that everything was cool and it had been going on for awhile.

Giles and O’Keefe aren’t doing that exactly, though. They do not exactly have the moral stature of Jesus, and may be tempted to use their stunts more for attention than for moral correction. Personally, I am pondering whether they are more like papparazzi from the tabloids, with an unusual target, or whether they are wiser/of better character than that.

[sodpoodle]

That is one proud father - God bless him.

[rdb3]

Interesting idea, but as a Christian I have to say no.

Evil for evil is still evil.

[HiTech RedNeck]

When spelling out exactly what that means, people of good will will differ. But it doesn’t seem like Giles is talking about Alinski per se but about the discarding of scruples.

[HiTech RedNeck]

The redeeming thing, if any, about this escapade is that their requests were so outlandish that any person short of full-on evil should have flatly refused. Indeed, some ACORN sites did refuse them. This isn’t even at the level of offering to sell some mary jane to a stranger sprawled on a park bench.

[mdmathis6]

To use “Dawn’s logic”, Joshua should not have sent spies under disguise into Jericho nor Moses sending same into Canaan. Christians there-fore can’t be cops...especially under-cover cops!

[rdb3]

Was it right for Jesus to make a whip out of cord and tip over the tables of the money changers at the Temple? Some of you probably wont see my point here.

I see it. Ephesians 4:26 tells us "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:"

Christ was indeed angry and rightfully so, but He did not sin in His anger.