Churches mixing in politics make Faustian bargain

[sled]

Churches mixing in politics make Faustian bargain

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking-news-story.asp?submitdate=20041122151925

Charles C. Haynes
Gannett News Service

Monday, November 22, 2004

“My pastor kept asking us to pray for George Bush to win,” a Georgia
woman told me last week, “and most folks seemed to go along with it.
So I just kept quiet and secretly prayed for the other side.”

She’s not alone. A majority of frequent churchgoers may have voted for
President Bush (if surveys are right), but a large minority voted for
Sen. John Kerry. Not all Christians — not even all evangelicals — are
born-again Republicans.

But the word “Christian” (not unlike the word “moral”) is
increasingly tied in the news media to the word “Republican,” thanks
to the successful alliance between Karl Rove and leaders of the
religious right. (In one pre-election news account, a minister
described comforting a parishioner who anxiously asked if he could
remain a Christian and vote for Kerry.)

Growing numbers of Christians are alarmed by the hijacking of their
faith. In a recent editorial, Robert Parham of the moderate Baptist
Center for Ethics vowed to “take on the religious right more
forcefully — critiquing its false religion and anointment of the GOP
as God’s Only Party.”

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[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I find this an interesting parallel

with moderate Muslims fighting back against fundamentalists and terrorists. It is hard for moderate believers to do this, because the teachings are such that one should worry about one's own soul and not make such a fuss, especially in Christian teachings.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Why do people yield their right to free will to church leaders?

In this day and age, who can really take them seriously? Not just pedophile problems. On Sunday, if I turn the volume down and just watch the guy up on the stadium talking to the audience in the bullpin, I can't tell if it's a motivational to get rich, or a church sermon. Really, I'm serious. Try it some time. Turn the volume down on Sunday morning and go channel surfing and try to tell the difference. If you think it's a church sermon and turn the channel up, you'll find the guy talking about why buying foreclosures is not really profitting off of someone's misery. Or if you think it's a motivational show, you'll turn the volume up to hear a t.v. evangelical performing church services.

It's craaaaazy.

[Briar]

3. Because Christianity stresses faith and obedience

which makes it very attractive to those of a dictatorial tendency.