Well, correct me if I am off the point here, but I think part of Satan’s point was that the anti-evolutionist pastor and people like him tend to wield a lot of power, and they sway lots of people into thinking things like the earth is only 6,000 years old, etc. I would say that this is probably a bit of a misconception which is fed by the news media, because, as Jodih pointed out, the people who are reasonable and intelligent, not to mention responsible, do not make money for the media, and ergo, we never hear about them.
I would point out that the number of Christians who think that folks like the guy described in the OP are way out in left field is twenty times larger than the “fundaloonies”. Most (not all, but most) Roman Catholics have no problem with evolution, and they are tolerant with other believer’s views. Granted, they’re pretty vociferous about the abortion debate, and they tend to get more than a little uppity whenever they feel that their faith has been inpugned, such as the Brooklyn Museum debacle, but by and large, they’re pretty quiet, and they don’t threaten people with hellfire and damnation, nor do they try to convert people by beating them about the head and shoulders with 14-pound Schofield reference Bible. How many Catholics are there in the United States? 60 million. The next largest body is the Southern Baptist Convention, at 16 million. Even if the SBC were all believers in the things put forth by the pastor in the OP (and I hasten to affirm that they are NOT), the relatively “quiet” Catholics have them outnumbered by 44 million members. I can only imagine how far they outnumber the “fundaloonies” who get all the press coverage. My point? As I said, for every goofball Christian out there, you have 20 or more Christians who think he’s a nut. The nuts have far less influence and power than you might be led to believe, however, by reading the press reports about them.
As for the question of why do we let these loonies speak for us instead of standing up and denouncing them, there are a couple of different reasons why. One is, if you have large groups of Christians standing up and denouncing other groups of Christians, it makes us all look like a bunch of squabbling little warmongering nabobs, which is as bad as the statements made by the fundaloonies contrasting what more moderate Christians believe, so we really aren’t gaining anything anyway. Furthermore, it drives wedges, it alienates people, and it causes resentful feelings between various denominations. That isn’t the Kingdom of God, that’s Yugoslavia. On top of that, most Christian organizations have enough on their plates anyway, what with trying to run their churches, their schools, and their various ministries, such as shelters, colleges, hospitals, soup kitchens, etc., to spend time debating boneheads like our friend in the OP.
Besides, it is to be assumed that most reasonable and intelligent people, Christian or not, are going to be able to discern the difference between a guy like our OP pal and the bulk of Christian believers in the same way that they can discern the difference between Pat Buchanan and the rest of the Republican Party; or any other individual of any other group that’s on the fringe. I’ve never heard of anybody looking at Carl Sagan and saying, “Wow, I guess all atheist scientists are weirdos who stumble around in a cannabis haze all the time.” I’ve never heard of anybody looking at Werner von Braun and Walter Dornberger and saying, “Look at that! Seems that all rocket engineers are former Nazi officers in the SS who used slave labor before the CIA brought them over here to build our moon rockets!” Most people can tell the difference between the fringe and the mainstream. But once again, if you believe the extremist reports you see on the news, you might think that they don’t. I have said this before, but it bears repeating: America, if you want unbiased and accurate reporting, two acronyms: NPR and BBC.
The next little shootin’ match I’m going to address does not concern me, so I’m sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong, and it will undoubtably get me flamed, and I’m going to do it anyway.
Dave, go easy on Jodih. Those of us who are regular posters here know what your philosophy concerning religious matters is, and we know what Jodih’s is, as well. Attacks and rebuttals on subjects that have been done before does not add anything of value to our discussion here, all it does is clog up web space. Unless you are deliberately trying to provoke a flamewar, give it a rest or take it to the Pit.
Jodih, my advice is not to react in anger or indignation to Dave’s posts. Granted, we have all done this before, myself included; it’s not easy to be slammed and to take a step back and not respond with the outrage that you feel at the moment. But we can do better than this; you can do better than this. This is not what Jesus would do. I’m asking your forgiveness for what I’m about to say, Jodih, but you are not responding to Dave’s posts in a Christian manner. I’m sorry to put it this way, and you have every right to be angry with me for saying this. I agree. But instead of slamming back when Dave slams you, why not turn the other cheek? Why not pray for him? Why not pray for yourself, as well? And while you’re at it, would you please pray for me, too?
As St. Ambrose once said, “For the love of God, let us have peace.”
