One man’s crap is another man’s fertiliser.
Hey! I’ve jumped in my share of times in these here boards to rectify misconceptions about Christianity/Catholicism, and from the US perspective I’m so far to the left I should be swimming in the Pacific right now (relative to where I’m sitting). But I can’t be everywhere (heck, i won’t be in the SDMB for the next 4 days!)
BTW the folks that have no use for religion, period, I’m OK with, cool with me, it’s a rational conclusion to arrive at. OTOH people for whom every other religion is a valid cultural expression but Xtianity is a threat to civilization force me to concede Brutus a point, and lo, that ticks me off sorely.
However, seeing as nobody is proposing dropping the 82d Airborne on the Vatican as a way to correct the Evil of Christianity, I can understand people some feeling the Christianity-bashing is not an urgent issue, from the political perspective, and we can wait until we actually mobilize the US Marines to go take out a group of Radical Christian militants.
Oh, BTW, regarding the OP:
EWTN, as mentioned, is the Catholic network. However… it is a rather, how can I put it… “Tory” Catholic network. It firmly toes JP2’s “party line”. So they would indeed have a show acknowledging evolution AND at the same time insisting it really proves God. And one saying that the absolutely worst thing about communism was its atheism.
CBN, Pat Robertson’s network, was reorganized some time back and a lot of it was taken over by FOX and ABC; it’s now more focused on Pat’s shows.
Then there’s Trinity Broadcasting, something that apparently is the spiritual heir to PTL, the current home of the really, really astounding-hairstyle fundies.
Most “Christian TV” right now is in a form of meta-syndication, with various ministries’ national, regional and local stations and “network feeds” combining each other’s programming to end up with the product that gets to your homes.
They are a combination of scary and entertaining. My faves are Jack and Rexella VanImpe, who are always good for a laugh, seeing how chipper, cheerful and enthused they are about the coming cataclysm!
And down here in PR we have at least four homegrown ChrTV channels, from rabid fundie to reasonably preachy, including the one owned by the Rev. Rodolfo Font, of the “Fountain of Living Water” Ministry, who makes up is own vestments and HAS preached wearing a genuine-looking tallit. But then again this dude once did a show dressed in a (*&^% Starfleet costume. You can’t make stufdf like this up…
They aren’t dangerous unless you fear freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
Although often we really, really wish we were…
Well, yeah, but how relevant is that today? Communism is pretty much dying. You’ve got what-China, North Korea, North Vietnam and Cuba. That’s pretty much it. Communism is almost dead-I predict in 100 years, it’ll be six feet under.
Thing is, though, these people talk about Communism like it’s the boogey man, instead of the actual reality of it. Considering that most people who lived under communist regimes weren’t hardcore fundamentalist Christians (They were Catholics and Orthodox, or Buddhists in East Asia), it’s not like they really CARE about those people.
A lot of these people blame communism and Marxism for everything under the sun-feminism, psychology, atheism, etc. Anything they deem “unGodly” is the fault of the evil Marxists.
It starts to become absurd.
What killed communism is its lack of adaptation. Capitalism grudgingly accepted some parts of Social/Communism, with enacting Social Security and opening possibilities of business/property ownership to everyone, to keep the masses happy.
About Chistian Television: it is realtively harmless, and I think it is a shame. If anything, they should be more ‘militant’ to counter the militant atheism abounding. Don’t just leave it to Kirk Franklin to be ‘radical with our message’.
I think your OP is full of lies O_o
I mean, not to say that there are misleading programs on Christian television or anything (there are), but something triggers my “BS” meter when you start with the word “ABORTION” flashing in front of a fetus. If I am incorrect and that is literally true, I’d be interested to know what part of the country you live in, and what freakishly deformed cable provider you have.
The main problem with Christian TV is seniors et al blowing wads of money into rich assholes (er, sorry, that came out a little more graphic than I meant it to). Deluded parents are going to delude their children every chance they can get, cable TV or no cable TV… but on the bright side, most of those kids will grow up and rebel against it, so rest easy, wait 10 years, and reap the harvest.
then why is it the hard-core Christians who are always hanging onto bigotry and stupidity? Whether they’re ginning up fake sciences to oppose scientific theories they don’t care for (Creation Science) or opposing same sex marriage or trying to control other people’s access to birth control, abortion and sexual imagery, they’re a huge pain in the ass. Christianity ATTRACTS this shit, gives it a stable anchor and a platform in the form of churches and ministries to spread its filth around. I’ll grant you that some congregations are tolerant and enlightened, but they don’t seem to have much effect on the culture compared to the nasty ones.
It is possible to support both freedom of expression and freedom of religion and still believe that certain expressions and certain religious beliefs are dangerous. It is quite consistent to consider many opinions and religious affliations to be dangerous, while still supporting the right of people to hold such opinions or to foster whichever affliations they wish.
For example, I believe advocating suicide is an example of a dangerous expression. Encouraging people to kill themselves or providing information on how to achieve suicide is a danger to impressionable minds and those in the grip of mental disorders. That does not mean, however, that I advocate the passing of laws to restrict free speech on suicide methods. I believe suicide is a private matter and that people should have freedom of expression on the subject–but it remains what I consider to be dangerous speech.
Equally, I believe that the advocation of certain religious beliefs is a danger to society. I think, for example, discouraging divorce is a danger to the children of parents trapped in disfunctional and violent relationships. I also believe that preaching that homosexuality is a sin and that gay men and women should be denied equal rights is a danger to a large section of society.
This doesn’t mean that I call for the banning of these religious opinions. This doesn’t mean we “fear” the concept of freedom of expression and freedom of religious association. It does mean that we fear (and indeed hate) certain opinions and expressions and consider them to be dangerous.
You know, if you watch the 700 Club with the sound off and play Pink Floyd, it all makes sense.
Just a bit about the tallit- it’s quite possible our OP stumbled onto a Messianic Jewish broadcast. More probably that he discovered a John Hagee broadcast (the description “intolerant a-hole” is a big clue, tho I think that’s a bit harsh on John).
Anyway, John Hagee occasionally does teachings on the Biblical significance of the tallit in OT & NT- some of it interesting (the bleeding woman being healed by touching the “hem of His garment” was probably touching the tassels on His tallit) and some of it probably reaching too far (Christ’s reference about going into one’s closet to pray is a reference to the tallit, His vestment in Revelation 19 with His name on His thigh being a reference to the Holy Name coded into the knots of the tassels).
Btw, I have a tallit, a yamulke, a shofar & a mezuzah (oh, and a Rabbi Schneerson keychain & some other stuff). I have used the shofar in teaching on the trumpets in Revelation (oy! that takes some skill!), worn the tallit in my Passion Play costume, and have considered doing some teachings on everything. I really need some tefillin (phylacteries) so I can teach on their significance in Revelation 7, 13, & 14.
Never heard that one but I wouldn’t be surprised.
If you’re into that kinda stuff you gotta listen to Perry Stone sometime.
Cool!
I maintain that it’s hard-core *anyone * who make problems for the “rest of us”. The Taliban and their cronies certainly don’t reflect the majority of Muslims, but they got all the press. Their’s nothing unique to Christianity that makes it attractive to nutcases and extremists; any human organizing principle will attract them.
Those Christian congregations that are tolerant and enlightened (thanks for the bone) are in the majority, I’ll wager. But since they’re doing what Christian congregations are called to do - working on their relationship with God, doing good deeds, praying - they don’t get a whole lot of media attention. I suspect the actually do have a significant impact on the culture, one that you would notice were they to suddenly disappear.
- Genghis Bob, looking for some turpentine to clean the tar off from that wide brush
Actually I had Perry Stone in mind also!
Is Christianity more dangerous than Islam?
Islam is a LOT more dangerous than Christianity in that respect, because it has some teachings in it that are naturally dangerous, and because it exists in more fertile fields for ignorance and bigotry than Christianity.
If you have cable you can block all those naughty channelcz to your heart’cz content.
On your remote you might cztart with the the ‘CZETTINGS’ button.
Unfortunately, I’m not raising my family on a desert island, and I worry about what all the other young impressionable minds are being influenced by. There is a vast difference between not allowing hate to influence your immediate sphere, and actively fighting hate.
Czarcasm, the problem with that is that that’s exactly what the other side thinks, word for word, and it’s their justification for trying to get the stuff THEY have a hard-on about banned.
Admittedly, our side has the weight of evidence as far as the scientific facts about things like evolution. But, again, if you don’t want THEM to be able to decide what YOUR kids watch and learn, you can’t try to tell them what they’re allowed to let THEIR kids watch and learn.