Fred Phelps has lodged himself into my mind as an epitome of Things That Scare Me. I had a dream about him once. In it, not only was he recruiting people for a creepy army, but he was running a puppy mill. That bastard!
Although another issue, alluded in some of the comments to his post, is the differences between Evangelicals and Fundamentalists. The two are actually quite distinctive groups who, while holding many basic theological beliefs in common, are visibly distinct in multiple areas even within theology, to say nothing of politics.
In contrast to true Fundamentalists, Evangelicals have under their wing a broad enough political spectrum to include Tony Campolo, Ron Sider, Charles Colson, and Gary Bauer. This doesn't even begin to cover people like Stanley Hauerwas, who really can't be justly classified under our present political terminology.
Unfortunately, as David Brooks noted in a recent NYT column (for those of you who don't have registration, click here), most media sources simply aren't interested in interviewing actual Evangelicals on their views, or are too ignorant of Evangelicalism to know the difference between it and Fundamentalism. Which makes Burns's injunction to "know your opponent" all the more difficult.
Of course no one's interested in the truth of the matter. That doesn't make a good story for the readers/listeners/watchers, now does it? Gotta give them something to get them all riled up, doncha know.
This is particularly relevant because the Westboro Baptist Church had said they were coming to Carlisle, PA (the town my school is located in), but they haven't come yet. Even if they DID come there, there were quite a few people from various faith traditions and cultures who protested against what they stood for. So it's good to see someone point this out.
Wow . . . there's something about the thought of God making a guy gay, then choosing not to save him and instead watching him suffer and die that just makes me want to kick God in his spiritual nuts. What the fuck is up with that? These guys worship the aspect of a deity that didn't take its meds in the morning. If that was the case (and I know in my heart it isn't, but let's just pretend that it it, for the sake of this sentence), then God is one cruel and sadistic fucker.
Though as for the rest of this article . . . it's a good thing. More than one person I know is guilty of assuming the worst about all Christians, and hell, even I was guilty of that at one point, because I was in my self-righteous, "Christians abuse stuff and are so self-righteous and their teachers are just stolen from a bunch of other religions anyway, so why should I listen?" stage. (Thank whatever deity you believe in that my teenage years are over, huh? :p) But then I met a bunch of actually cool Christians. The kind that didn't tell me on a daily basis that I was going to hell because I didn't believe that the bible was the absolute truth of the world. The ones that made spiritual belief a big part of their lives, but didn't have it filling them so much that they forced it on others against their will. My first real introduction to Christianity was in the form of an overzealous old friend of mine, and she actually made me start to fear Christians to an extent. After all, I didn't believe what they did, so I'm going to hell, so they all hate me, right?
(Except that no, they don't, and cool people set me right, and for that I thank them. ^_^)
It is a shame how only the worst and best examples of everything are trotted out for the public to see, and the majority of the people, who are somewhere in the middle, get lumped in with the rest of the extremists to a point where they can't even speak their own views without being called liars, or worse. I wish more people had this guy's opinion, that the worst doesn't stand for everybody.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 07:54 am (UTC)Fred Phelps has lodged himself into my mind as an epitome of Things That Scare Me. I had a dream about him once. In it, not only was he recruiting people for a creepy army, but he was running a puppy mill. That bastard!
Not bad at all
Date: 2005-01-06 05:25 pm (UTC)In contrast to true Fundamentalists, Evangelicals have under their wing a broad enough political spectrum to include Tony Campolo, Ron Sider, Charles Colson, and Gary Bauer. This doesn't even begin to cover people like Stanley Hauerwas, who really can't be justly classified under our present political terminology.
Unfortunately, as David Brooks noted in a recent NYT column (for those of you who don't have registration, click here), most media sources simply aren't interested in interviewing actual Evangelicals on their views, or are too ignorant of Evangelicalism to know the difference between it and Fundamentalism. Which makes Burns's injunction to "know your opponent" all the more difficult.
Re: Not bad at all
Date: 2005-01-07 04:28 pm (UTC)*shakes head* I hate the world sometimes.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 08:27 pm (UTC)This is particularly relevant because the Westboro Baptist Church had said they were coming to Carlisle, PA (the town my school is located in), but they haven't come yet. Even if they DID come there, there were quite a few people from various faith traditions and cultures who protested against what they stood for. So it's good to see someone point this out.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 04:26 pm (UTC)Though as for the rest of this article . . . it's a good thing. More than one person I know is guilty of assuming the worst about all Christians, and hell, even I was guilty of that at one point, because I was in my self-righteous, "Christians abuse stuff and are so self-righteous and their teachers are just stolen from a bunch of other religions anyway, so why should I listen?" stage. (Thank whatever deity you believe in that my teenage years are over, huh? :p) But then I met a bunch of actually cool Christians. The kind that didn't tell me on a daily basis that I was going to hell because I didn't believe that the bible was the absolute truth of the world. The ones that made spiritual belief a big part of their lives, but didn't have it filling them so much that they forced it on others against their will. My first real introduction to Christianity was in the form of an overzealous old friend of mine, and she actually made me start to fear Christians to an extent. After all, I didn't believe what they did, so I'm going to hell, so they all hate me, right?
(Except that no, they don't, and cool people set me right, and for that I thank them. ^_^)
It is a shame how only the worst and best examples of everything are trotted out for the public to see, and the majority of the people, who are somewhere in the middle, get lumped in with the rest of the extremists to a point where they can't even speak their own views without being called liars, or worse. I wish more people had this guy's opinion, that the worst doesn't stand for everybody.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 05:13 pm (UTC)Oh wait, I'm supposed to respect and accept all those other religions, aren't I. Darn! Off to chant the Lotus Sutra I go.