"Better late than never", or "Christian hypocrisy comes 'round"
From Sunday's NY Times comes a story of an evangelical mega-church pastor, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd, who has taken a stand against the Republicanization of Christianity. It's a very interesting story for anyone concerned about the melding of patriotism, Christianity, and Republican policies. Some quotes/tales I found exceptional:
From a pastor in Maryland, Brian McLaren: "You cannot say the word ‘Jesus’ in 2006 without having an awful lot of baggage going along with it. You can’t say the word ‘Christian,’ and you certainly can’t say the word ‘evangelical’ without it now raising connotations and a certain cringe factor in people... Because people think, ‘Oh no, what is going to come next is homosexual bashing, or pro-war rhetoric, or complaining about ‘activist judges.’ ”
Another megachurch that Rev. Boyd visited, during Fourth of July services, had a choir singing "God Bless America" while video footage showed fighter jets flying over hills laden with crosses.
Volunteers who served as Sunday school teachers quit after Boyd's sermon against politicization of Christianity, saying things like, "You’re not doing what the church is supposed to be doing, which is supporting the Republican way."
I don't want to give it all away. Read the article! Bravo to Rev. Boyd, and other Christians who take a stand AGAINST these hypocritical, "love thy neighbor, only if thy neighbor is a Christian Republican lockstepper" faux-Christians who are nothing more than the sheep that support the authoritarian oligarchs of the Bush cabal, who shroud their anti-Christian agenda with enough red-meat social conservatism to dupe the Christians into following them blindly. They go to church on Sunday to get their fill of fear and hatred, and spread that fear and hatred like Jesus wanted to spread love and peace.
We need more people like you in this world, Rev. Boyd. Keep fighting the good fight.
-R.
From a pastor in Maryland, Brian McLaren: "You cannot say the word ‘Jesus’ in 2006 without having an awful lot of baggage going along with it. You can’t say the word ‘Christian,’ and you certainly can’t say the word ‘evangelical’ without it now raising connotations and a certain cringe factor in people... Because people think, ‘Oh no, what is going to come next is homosexual bashing, or pro-war rhetoric, or complaining about ‘activist judges.’ ”
Another megachurch that Rev. Boyd visited, during Fourth of July services, had a choir singing "God Bless America" while video footage showed fighter jets flying over hills laden with crosses.
Volunteers who served as Sunday school teachers quit after Boyd's sermon against politicization of Christianity, saying things like, "You’re not doing what the church is supposed to be doing, which is supporting the Republican way."
I don't want to give it all away. Read the article! Bravo to Rev. Boyd, and other Christians who take a stand AGAINST these hypocritical, "love thy neighbor, only if thy neighbor is a Christian Republican lockstepper" faux-Christians who are nothing more than the sheep that support the authoritarian oligarchs of the Bush cabal, who shroud their anti-Christian agenda with enough red-meat social conservatism to dupe the Christians into following them blindly. They go to church on Sunday to get their fill of fear and hatred, and spread that fear and hatred like Jesus wanted to spread love and peace.
We need more people like you in this world, Rev. Boyd. Keep fighting the good fight.
-R.
posted by Minister of Propaganda @ 8/03/2006 11:48:00 AM
3 Comments:
At August 03, 2006 1:55 PM,
Anonymous said…
isn't the real issue that the Constitution guarantees a separation of church & state & if we permit our government to undermine the Constitution we permit our government to undermine the very foundation/basis of our so-called democratic society?...
how arrogant & hateful of you to claim the right to sit in judgment of another’s religious beliefs....
you sound amazingly unintelligent & trite. what would you be w/o your rhetoric?... you are the very thing you claim to despise.
At August 03, 2006 3:23 PM,
Minister of Propaganda said…
The biggest issue with the promoting of the Republican party in a Church is indeed the separation of Church and State. The institutions that blur the lines between politics and religion are breaking the laws of tax exemption. A tax-exempt religious group is not supposed to preach politics as by the guidelines you have to meet when becomming a religious tax exempt. The bigger problem is the people in charge (including the IRS folks) are appointed by the party benefiting from the blurring of religion and politics, therefore the laws are not being enforced. This could change as Democrats gain power in November. It is up for the IRS to enforce these laws with consistancy. No church should remain tax-exempt if they endorse a political party.
Ralph clearly attacked the victims, which are the folks going to these "blurry" churchs. They place their faith in the church, and take to heart what is spoken in service. The preacher's are clearly taking advantage of their believers by blurring the line. They are VICTIMS.
The clear solution would be not to attack the church members but to address the issue, TAX EXEMPTION. Once these laws are enforced, these churchs who break the tax laws, would have to declare themselves "a business", therefore they would pay taxes just like a company would have to. A company is allowed to endorse a political party and give them money. If a religious person wishes to attend a church that is declared a "for profit", that is their business. I predict once this occurs, less people would attend a church which is now "for profit". I feel their status as a business should clearly be explained to the members. Let them make that decision. The member's of these churchs are not "psuedo christians", the preachers are the ones not living up to their standards as a religious instution. Most likely these religious authorities have been corrupted by money and the benefits of towing a political party line.
Jared
At August 03, 2006 4:20 PM,
Minister of Propaganda said…
Have to disagree with you on this one, Jared.
If these people are victims, then so was every "good German" who followed the Nazi Party, because they, too, were only doing what they were "told" to do. Even in the military, any soldier can refuse an order he believes to be unjust.
The way these faux-Christians are behaving is NOT in line with any of Jesus' teachings that I remember. They have every right, and every opportunity, to reject the instructions given to them by their religious "leaders." If Rev. Boyd's dissenting constituents can leave and find another church to worship at, so could any Christian who disagrees with his pastor. In some way, they may be victims, but then, too, are they enabling their own victimization with their behavior. On top of this, they strut their "piety" and "patriotism", while displaying neither. These are against the basic principles of their belief! I find it hard to call them "victims" here. If you allow yourself to be "victimized," are you truly a victim? Or too inattentive to realize you are being victimized? People who adhere as strongly as they do to this Republicanized version of Christianity are only victims inasmuch as gang members are victimized by their leaders when the leaders convince the members to commit a crime. They always have the option to say, "NO"; if they don't, they are responsible for the crime, and, if they snitch on their leader, he, too, will be held responsible.
Regarding tax-exempt status, though, Jared, you are almost dead on... One church has been threatened with the loss of its tax-exempt status. It suffered this threat in 2004, when its pastor said something to the effect of, "It's OK to vote Democrat." You are 100% on point, though, when you note that not a single Republicanized church has received similar treatment from the IRS.
If the IRS did its job, perhaps this would not be a problem. Church members could speak with their feet, fannies, and donations, as they have done both for and against Rev. Boyd and others like him. Without either check on this behavior working, they are all contributing to the enabling of an illegal system.
My referring to these people as "sheep," by the way, was more in reference to how they are viewed/treated by the Bush cabal, not to call them mindless followers. Because, as I mentioned above, they DO have a choice. If they choose to willfully disregard the tenets of their religion, then I cannot give them the respect of calling them a faithful believer.
My initial thought in posting this was to showcase the idea that faux-Christians have no problem when Republican ideals are spoken in church, but get outraged when someone even HINTS that it is OK to separate religion from politics, as is written in the Constitution.
-R.
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