tagged w/ Evangelical Christians
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Franklin Graham, and the churches that follow his line of thought, and who have injected their religion into public policy, are operating in direct opposition to the Constitution of the United States of America.
They place their religion before their country and they are traitors, plain and simple, and it’s time to classify them as such and revoke their tax-free ride on the backs of the Americans they claim to love, but simultaneously want to see destroyed for the sake of their phantasmagorical ideology.
http://veracitystew.com/?p=45950Franklin Graham, and the churches that follow his line of thought, and who have... more
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Rick santorum endorsed Mitt Romney late Monday night...by email.
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Every now and again you hear about a story and think to yourself, Surely that must be a headline from The Onion! Alas, no, this one’s for real.
http://veracitystew.com/?p=33095Every now and again you hear about a story and think to yourself, Surely that must be... more
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The Evangelical Church has drifted from its position of showing the love of God to the world into a position of codified rules and by-laws which must be adhered to and honored. The Evangelical Church has become something other than what it was when first it became a witness to the love of God for all people. The Evangelical Church has turned inward upon itself. It is sick. The corruption which infects it is killing the message of hope and promise. Whatever it is, it is no longer the redemptive, restorative, reconciling member of the “Christian” movement that it once was.
http://veracitystew.com/?p=32526The Evangelical Church has drifted from its position of showing the love of God to the... more
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They can always home school their children so that they can properly indoctrinate them into their narrow-minded way of thinking. They’ll be happy to know that the Grand Inquisitor, Rick Santorum, favors that approach. In fact, in a speech to the Ohio Christian Alliance, he declared that public education is “an artifact” that must come to an end...
http://veracitystew.com/?p=30925They can always home school their children so that they can properly indoctrinate them... more
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This is the same Holy Man of God that gave his followers permission to divorce their spouse if they suffered from Alzheimers, has long advocated for Government control of contraception and abortion, and has had past business dealings with Nigerian dictator Charles Taylor...
http://veracitystew.com/2012/02/15/pat-robertson-obama-becoming-a-dictator-video/This is the same Holy Man of God that gave his followers permission to divorce their... more
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Phil Zuckerman.
Professor of Sociology, Pitzer College in Claremont, CA.
This article was co-authored by Dan Cady is an assistant professor of history at California State University, Fresno. He publishes on the history of the American West, music, and religion.
The results from a recent poll published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Tea-Party-and-Religion.aspx) reveal what social scientists have known for a long time: White Evangelical Christians are the group least likely to support politicians or policies that reflect the actual teachings of Jesus. It is perhaps one of the strangest, most dumb-founding ironies in contemporary American culture. Evangelical Christians, who most fiercely proclaim to have a personal relationship with Christ, who most confidently declare their belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, who go to church on a regular basis, pray daily, listen to Christian music, and place God and His Only Begotten Son at the center of their lives, are simultaneously the very people most likely to reject his teachings and despise his radical message.
Jesus unambiguously preached mercy and forgiveness. These are supposed to be cardinal virtues of the Christian faith. And yet Evangelicals are the most supportive of the death penalty, draconian sentencing, punitive punishment over rehabilitation, and the governmental use of torture. Jesus exhorted humans to be loving, peaceful, and non-violent. And yet Evangelicals are the group of Americans most supportive of easy-access weaponry, little-to-no regulation of handgun and semi-automatic gun ownership, not to mention the violent military invasion of various countries around the world. Jesus was very clear that the pursuit of wealth was inimical to the Kingdom of God, that the rich are to be condemned, and that to be a follower of Him means to give one's money to the poor. And yet Evangelicals are the most supportive of corporate greed and capitalistic excess, and they are the most opposed to institutional help for the nation's poor -- especially poor children. They hate anything that smacks of "socialism," even though that is essentially what their Savior preached. They despise food stamp programs, subsidies for schools, hospitals, job training -- anything that might dare to help out those in need. Even though helping out those in need was exactly what Jesus urged humans to do. In short, Evangelicals are that segment of America which is the most pro-militaristic, pro-gun, and pro-corporate, while simultaneously claiming to be most ardent lovers of the Prince of Peace.
What's the deal?
Before attempting an answer, allow a quick clarification. Evangelicals don't exactly hate Jesus -- as we've provocatively asserted in the title of this piece. They do love him dearly. But not because of what he tried to teach humanity. Rather, Evangelicals love Jesus for what he does for them. Through his magical grace, and by shedding his precious blood, Jesus saves Evangelicals from everlasting torture in hell, and guarantees them a premium, luxury villa in heaven. For this, and this only, they love him. They can't stop thanking him. And yet, as for Jesus himself -- his core values of peace, his core teachings of social justice, his core commandments of goodwill -- most Evangelicals seem to have nothing but disdain.
And this is nothing new. At the end of World War I, the more rabid, and often less educated Evangelicals decried the influence of the Social Gospel amongst liberal churches. According to these self-proclaimed torch-bearers of a religion born in the Middle East, progressive church-goers had been infected by foreign ideas such as German Rationalism, Soviet-style Communism, and, of course, atheistic Darwinism. In the 1950s, the anti-Social Gospel message piggybacked the rhetoric of anti-communism, which slashed and burned its way through the Old South and onward through the Sunbelt, turning liberal churches into vacant lots along the way. It was here that the spirit and the body collided, leaving us with a prototypical Christian nationalist, hell-bent on prosperity. Charity was thus rebranded as collectivism and self-denial gave way to the gospel of accumulation. Church-to-church, sermon-to-sermon, evangelical preachers grew less comfortable with the fish and loaves Jesus who lived on earth, and more committed to the angry Jesus of the future. By the 1990s, this divine Terminator gained "most-favored Jesus status" among America's mega churches; and with that, even the mention of the former "social justice" Messiah drove the socially conscious from their larger, meaner flock.
In addition to such historical developments, there may very well simply be an underlying, all-too-human social-psychological process at root, one that probably plays itself out among all religious individuals: they see in their religion what they want to see, and deny or despise the rest. That is, religion is one big Rorschach test. People look at the content of their religious tradition -- its teachings, its creeds, its prophet's proclamations -- and they basically pick and choose what suits their own secular outlook. They see in their faith what they want to see as they live their daily lives, and simultaneously ignore the rest. And as is the case for most White Evangelical Christians, what they are ignoring is actually the very heart and soul of Jesus's message -- a message that emphasizes sharing, not greed. Peace-making, not war-mongering. Love, not violence.
Of course, conservative Americans have every right to support corporate greed, militarism, gun possession, and the death penalty, and to oppose welfare, food stamps, health care for those in need, etc. -- it is just strange and contradictory when they claim these positions as somehow "Christian." They aren't.
Lairderg comment:
Houston, we have a problem! The people who believe in the words of Jesus are being spat upon (sometimes literally) or totally ignored. The people who believe in the superstar Jesus seem to be taking over. God help us!Phil Zuckerman.
Professor of Sociology, Pitzer College in Claremont, CA.
This... more
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A proposed law in Uganda is -- on the surface -- intended to curb pornography, by meting out heavy fines and/or prison sentences ranging from five to 10 years for those found guilty of dealing in pornographic materials.
The bill proposes that pornography have a broad definition as any form of communication that depicts unclothed or under-clothed parts of the human body. And by communication, any form of speech, entertainment, or even fashion would be included.
But rather than just addressing pornography, could the proposed bill also be another attack on gay Ugandans?
A proposed law in Uganda is -- on the surface -- intended to curb pornography,... more
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shana
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added this
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2 years ago
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This exclusive, extended footage from Vanguard's "Missionaries of Hate" shows American evangelical leader Lou Engle at a rally in Uganda this May.
Engle, founder of TheCall Ministry and a chief campaigner for Proposition 8, the measure that outlawed same sex marriage in California, traveled to the east African nation to headline a prayer event. "We know that Uganda has been under tremendous pressure," Engle said at the rally. "I felt like TheCall was to come and join with the church of Uganda."
In "Missionaries of Hate," correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Uganda, where many question whether the growing influence of American religious groups has led to a movement to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.This exclusive, extended footage from Vanguard's "Missionaries of Hate"... more
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I’ll admit I have little patience for people who confuse religious mythology for real-world politics. You want to believe that, when the earthly going gets tough, you’re going to be zapped up to heaven and have a front row seat for the conflagration and the return of your deity? Cool, swell, no skin off my nuts. You want the U.S. to model its domestic and foreign policies on such fantasies, that’s when I politely have to object.
Which is to say that I probably couldn’t have sat where the directors of WAITING FOR ARMAGEDDON did while interviewing people who dearly believe in the looming spectre of the End Times — including a couple who have come to their beliefs after, ahem, “scientific” analysis and a guy who leads tours through Israel and gets all giggly at the thought of the razing of the Dome of the Rock — and not wound up stabbing a pencil in my brain. I’m just not that strong.
Fortunately, directors Kate Davis, David Heilbroner, and Franco Saachi are, and their forbearance pays off in a documentary that gives you a good look into what a vocal and influential segment of our population believes is the world’s ultimate destiny, and what the risks may be in trying mold our politics to that worldview. It’s an important film for anyone concerned about the continuing incursion of religion into our public policy, and a balanced warning in particular for those who have noted the religious right’s involvement in Middle East politics without considering its possible costs.
Click on the link to hear my interview with Kate Davis and David Heilbroner:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-persons/emmighty-movie-podcastem_b_416976.htmlI’ll admit I have little patience for people who confuse religious mythology for... more
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Members of Joel's Army are fighting to bring about the millennial reign of Christ.
..."Joel's Army believers are hard-core Christian dominionists, meaning they believe that America, along with the rest of the world, should be governed by conservative Christians and a conservative Christian interpretation of biblical law. There is no room in their doctrine for democracy or pluralism."....Members of Joel's Army are fighting to bring about the millennial reign of... more
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lecoke
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added this
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4 years ago
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