After viewing yet another Right Wing tirade which infuriated me as a Christian and an American, I began, (fruitlessly) to try to figure out who was above these guys’ heads. So I’m kind of throwing this out for anyone who might know.
The Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition proport to be clearing-houses for the majority of Christian thought. Is there any resources available for Christians who challenge their authority, and who do NOT consider these agencies to be an accurate voice of Christian ideas? Is their any agency (e.g., World Council of Churches) that can reprimand them in any (even symbolic) way?
There is an eerie paralell here with the current situation of Islam. Unfortunately, the worldwide Christian community is as fractional as any other major religion. The primary voice goes to he who yells the loudest, and Robertson and his ilk have leather lungs. At the very least, the Republicans who lay prostrate before them during election years seem to be distancing themselves from thier rhetoric now.
The best thing you can do is to support one of the groups they hate so much: The ACLU, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, People for the American Way, etc.
No kidding. I’m sure somewhere there’s some group forming calling itself ‘Fist Of Jehovah’ in some basement somewhere, trying to cook up anthrax. Falwell’s probably bankrolling them.
As for the OP, a great way is to object is to simply call them out. I’ve often wondered why other christians never seem to mind when dickheads like Falwell & Robertson try to steal the whole show. Why don’t they ever say anything like, ‘Shut up, you’re not even a christian’? Good for you,tho-at least you have the gumption to speak up.
Try telling people that the christian coalition doesn’t speak for you and is contrary to the bible.
Well, I think the right wing did a pretty good job. Those clowns were denounced by just about every conservative commentator I can think of, immediately after they said what they said. And now both have offered apologies.
But I hope that no one forgets what their true impulses were when the chips were down, and that these hate-filled ‘Christians’ get put in the dustbin of societal rejects along with Louis Farrakhan and other hate-mongers.
Now if only we could get the left to castigate members of their own ranks, like Michael Moore, who used the disaster as an opportunity to spew their own brand of left-wing hatred.
That is an inadequate description. If you go far enough right or left you converge into the “wack” wing. Pat and Jerry have front row seats in that one. Notice, they are already backpedaling. “Wack,” but not politically naive.
Christians everywhere would do well to cast off these two bozos, but I think your criticisms are falling on deaf ears. I doubt many of their supporters are Great Debates participants. Too much book learnin’ here.
Thank you for the beautiful use of the word “whom” in the OP. Speak up and speak well and your voice may carry enough weight to help heal the damage done by the hate mongers that you object to.
Jerry Falwell:
I didn’t mean to single anyone out. I mean, I know I did, but I didn’t really mean it. Don’t mind me, I just get a little het up sometimes.
Pat Robertson:
Agree with him? Not really. Must have been nodding off at the time. Everyone was applauding so I just said “Amen” out of reflex. But mercy, he was way out of line.
And finally, Dick Cavett:
Jesus is gonna kick your a** up around your ears.
shemo, there’s no one official organization, no chain of command. It’s not like a hierarchy where everybody reports to the Pope. I’m not even sure what denomination each belongs to, so can’t point you to their leadership. (For instance, the Southern Baptists have the Southern Baptist Convention, which is more a confederation than a federation, if you get the analogy.)
However, I have seen numerous Interfaith Alliances springing up. These are pan-religious organizations. There’s one that sends me a mailing every 3 to 6 months asking me to join. They in fact do use Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as examples of what they stand against, and why reasonable christians should join in, as well as religious people of all faiths who stand against extremists. So you might look for one of these groups.