Posted on 11/08/2004 6:27:21 AM PST by Dr. Scarpetta
I know bunches of people who take their faith very seriously and shudder at the works of George Bush: the WARMONGERING, the DISREPECT FOR THE POOR and the WEAK, the ARROGANCE.
Here’s the problem: RELIGIOUS LIBERALS don’t wear their faith on their sleeves. We don’t evangelize; we consider it disrespectful to shove our spiritual views down other people’s throats.
Faced with a movement that has no such scruples, unfortunately, we’re flummoxed.
We’re always on the back foot, being forced to resort at the last minute in an election cycle to taking out ads in newspapers under the umbrella of People of Faith Against the outrage du jour: wars, the death penalty, assaults on women’s rights, whatever.
Candidates like John Kerry who share our values feel they have to make uncharacteristic public noises about their religious views. It all seems kind of tacky. We’d prefer to wear our faith like a nice little black dress, not like a G-string.
If you think that analogy is over the top, consider a conversation my kid had at school last week. They were discussing the election, and the other child said, “KERRY’S for QUEERS.” She also informed my daughter that “GOD KILLS QUEERS.”
You see the problem? The other side’s ammunition is so inane, we haven’t taken it seriously. But they’re WINNING. These little slogans, appealing to gut instinct, beyond rational discourse, have power. That’s partly what being a liberal is about: live and let live.
But times have changed, and we need to change with them. The RELIGIOUS BIGOTS, who think it’s CHRISTIAN to hate gay people and who are ready to forgive any degree of callousness toward their fellow humans — as long as it’s cloaked in pious clichés — are winning the ideological battle in this country.
The rest of the world is horrified and perplexed. Friends from other countries ask me, “How could you let this happen?” I have to admit that I don’t have a good answer. Or maybe the answer is just too uncomfortable.
We’ve screwed up. We haven’t found a way to counter the religious right, because we’re all too damned tasteful and tolerant to be pushy about our beliefs.
That has to end, friends. We have our work cut out for us. If we’re going to rescue this country from the GAY-BASHERS, the CREATIONIST SCIENCE-HATERS (Good Lord, what more gorgeous divine plan could you find than evolution?), we’re going to have to stop being so nice and restrained.
We’re going to have to start doing some pulpit-thumping ourselves. We’re going to have to put OUR VALUES(you remember the ones: CHARITY, LOVE, that sort of thing) back into the public eye and we’re going to have to be loud about it.
We’re going to have to stop being so WASPY and RESTRAINED. We’re going to have to take on these neo-Pharisees, Bible verse for Bible verse.
We haven’t really lost this fight. The problem is that we haven’t been fighting at all.
Susanna Rodell is editorial page editor of The Charleston Gazette. E-mail: srodell-wvgazette.com
I hope someone tries to sell you an English grammar.
I see one unsourced quote here using God and "My Lord" stated once in a sentence discussing evolution. Maybe, this isn't so bad though. If they are going to fight us with scripture then won't they have to start reading their Bible?
BRING IT ON!
These idiots don't have theological ground to stand on, outside of the leftist denominational churches.
*Ping
This woman rejects Jesus' command in Matthew 28:18-20, which is called the Great Commission.
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[1] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
She makes other points in this piece which she claims are "Christian". The only problem is that she is not basing her beliefs on the Bible. The other thing she does is drop the "H" word. "Hate" has replaced "Racist" in the culture war.
Riiiigghht. Your perversion of the doctrine of the separation of church and state has brought us to the point where Christianity is the only institution which may be attacked but not defended or celebrated in the public square. I would be happy if your idea of Art and expression that included any use of symbols important to those of faith would be denied any public support on that prinicple. Any use of Christian symbolism would automatically disqualify any artist. That would be a nice start
You not only shove your views down everyone else's throats, you demand that we pay for the executioner's bullet.
The author offers nothing of substance -- just name calling!
Religious LiberaL= oxymoron
The Capt.
BTTT
I bet $50 that's a lie.
The religious left is in the predicament that they're in because they took off the kid gloves 50 years ago, and have spread a trail of heresy, betrayal, misery and suffering wherever they've been.
They have destroyed mainline Protestantism. They have turned the Roman Catholic Church in the United States upside down and destroyed the faith of thousands in the process.
They have created a pansexual dystopia where anorexia, depression, and youth suicide are common.
And now, with a little pushback, they're crying.
Go to Hell.
"We don’t evangelize; we consider it disrespectful to shove our spiritual views down other people’s throats."
Except when it comes to shoving Gay-ness down OUR throats.
The Capt.
They could. But I wouldn't buy it either.... And to you somebody should sell a guide to other people's beliefs...
For me christian evangelism is a personal attack, and one I won't support... We have said, no thank you, we don't believe in the NT or in Jesus for 2000 years... This should be enough for you!
Big difference between being "religious" and being a believing,practicing, christian.Religion can be nothing more than an exercise in ritual or "dogma" Where true people of faith practice what they preach.I think this is what bothers them the most about "W" his faith is an integral part of his life not just a ritual for show.
Those were kid gloves? Made from real human kids I presume with brass knuckles sown in.
"Bible verse for Bible verse."
Uh, I think this should read:
'Communist Manifest reference for Bible verse.'
Adults aren't afraid of ideas.
They preach their gospel of filth in the public school via the NEA.
They have their preachers and evangelists on T.V. everyday and have had for years.
Oprah, Phil Donahue, Norman Lear, Sally Jessie, Ellen Degenrate, Rosie O'Fat, Jane Pauley, Geraldo, Bill Maher, all the late-night talk shows (some more than others), almost any 'neutral' PBS program, any sitcom that touches morality, on and on it goes.
The music industry is also preaching a message of rejection of the Bible and acceptance of another gospel. Sex, Drugs...
This article is part of the reason why liberals lost the election to value voters. Smearing Christians is not a family value and making up stories about evangelicals being bigots shows your own bigotry.
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