The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience

[sally343434]

Why don't Christians live what they preach?

(snip)

Whether the issue is divorce, materialism, sexual promiscuity, racism, physical abuse in marriage, or neglect of a biblical worldview, the polling data point to widespread, blatant disobedience of clear biblical moral demands on the part of people who allegedly are evangelical, born-again Christians. The statistics are devastating.

Read the whoe thing: http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2005/001/3.8.html

[mhr]

1. This Is Exactly Why I Have No Tolerance For Christian Fundamentalists

Hypocrites just like the Republican party they love so much.

[NAO]

2. What Jesus taught vs. what Christian Clerics like Falwell teach today

this was discussed and many examples given in this post and in the replies:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2931057&mesg_id=2931057&page=


a few examples:

Recently Radical Cleric Jerry Falwell made this public statement:

"blow them all away in the name of the Lord."

That has to be my favorite Falwell quote. I found a Jesus/Falwell dueling quote, showing the contrast, on this site:

http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?articles/Mongr.htm

Jesus said (Matthew 5)

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Falwell said (speaking of Muslims):

I'd rather be killing them over there than fighting them over here.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Jerry Falwell said:

But you've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I'm for the President to chase them all over the world. If it takes 10 years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord.

The Lord Jesus said:

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An EYE FOR AN EYE, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, do not resist evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Jerry Falwell said:

Well, when they kill my family and blow those towers down...

Jesus Said:

I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it (either good or evil) unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Our paraphrase of the last half of Matthew, Chapter 25.)

more at the above link.

[pansypoo53219]

3. what sister Helen Prajean(sp) said on fresh aire.

the fundie jeebus lovers bypass jesus and go bac to the OLD testement.

[htuttle]

6. Yes, they've tossed the entire New Testament out...

...except for the Book of Revelations, and simply changed Jehovah's name to "Jesus".

[Lexingtonian]

4. pretty amusing

Says everything that's being said on DU and then some. Notice the inability to address gay rights at all.... And there's the bit about Southern Baptists being the most racist large religious group in the country, evidently, which Professor Ronald J. Sider is careful to avoid noticing.

As for the premarital living together rates, I guess it's a sign that the next generation in the Bible Belt is letting go of a lot of the wierder parts of their upbringings.

I'm having a lot of fun with the fact that Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country now and Oklahoma the highest. I guess every gay marriage ceremony has as indispensible part the launch of an Evangelical Marriage Destruction Missile with a range of about 800 miles, and all of them get aimed southwest :D

[PurityOfEssence]

5. They don't have to live what they preach: they're better than us

You can lay waste to everything and everyone in your path, and as long as you suck up to the Big Daddy, you're fine. At the heart of the faith is an extreme selfishness that is mostly disavowed by Christians: the primary function of a believer is to save his/her own ass. Whatever other good precepts exist often pale in comparison to this.

Couple this with the frenzied disavowal of everything earthly, and it's a wonder there isn't more insanity than there is. If you consider sex a horrible sin, yet you want it, you probably won't soberly assess the compatibility of your partner; time will out, and differences will grate. Good marriages tend to start with sincere and honest time spent to determine whether you'll actually get along. This is why living together for a while's so good.

[bobbieinok]

7. NOTE: Christianity Today is a very conservative magazine

"J.I. Packer is Board of Governors' Professor of Theology at Regent College and an executive editor of Christianity Today."

Regent University is Pat Robertson's university

[montieg]

8. Please don't call them evangelicals

when what you're talking about are "fundamentalists". Not all evangelical followers of Jesus are fundamentalists, which the ones you refer to are. The fundies don't want us to use that word because it makes people think of Shi'ites---which is what they are. Remember about fundamentalist--not much mental and damned sure nothing fun!

[murielm99]

9. Thank you.

I have said that on this board several times. I usually get blasted for it.

Evangelicals follow the Gospels. Most Protestant churches are evangelical, not fundamentalist. Fundies believe in the literal truth of every word in the Bible. Evangelicals do not.

[hector459]

10. Please give examples by name of "Evangelicals" vs "Fundamentalists"

The distinction is lost on me. What is Pat Robertson?

[Stuckinthebush]

11. I'm no expert, but I'll give it a shot...

Evangelicals believe that it is their duty to spread the good word through deeds, and sometimes, mission work that involves discussion of their Christianity. They are not necessarily the soul saving type, but are believers in "spreading the good news". Jimmy Carter is a shining example of an evangelical Christian.

Fundamentalists, on the other hand, may agree with the spreading of the word, but are more concerned with the accuracy of Biblical texts. They believe that the words in the Bible are literal, and that God's will is revealed in the Bible. Their main concern is with a literal translation of the Bible and in being "born again in Christ". The irony is that the Bible is full of contradictions and can best be seen as A) a historical text in some cases, and B) a book full of stories that describe the faith of a people (Jews) and the transformation of some Jews to Christians when Jesus arrives.

Fundamentalism is not as concerned with following the words of Jesus, as much as it is concerned with morality and making it to heaven. There is also a concern with the numbers that are saved. It is a very real contest to get as many people as possible to accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. That is all that really matters to the fundamentalist which explains their lack of concern for the liberal teachings of Jesus.

An evangelical can be a fundamentalist, and a fundamentalist can be an evangelical, but in my experience, the two are mostly distinct.

My personal derision is aimed at the fundamentalists who pervert an otherwise beautiful religion and give a bad name to the millions of Christians who "get it". The fundamentalists are the Pat Robertson types and Jerry Falwell types. It is important to distinguish between Fundamentalists and other Christians. I think here at DU we have a tendency to lump them all together which does a great disservice to the Christian faith.

[murielm99]

13. Nice post!

Everything you said was right on the mark. Thanks.

[bemildred]

12. "Evangelical" christianity, particularly the TV variety, is about money.

Entirely. Just watch a show for half and hour. The "Evangelical" part
is merely a pretext for collecting lots of money. Christian conscience
has nothing to do with it.