U.S. evangelicals call for step back from politics

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

DALLAS, May 7 (Reuters) - A group of U.S. evangelical leaders called on Wednesday for a pullback from party politics so that followers would not become "useful idiots" exploited for partisan gain.

One in four U.S. adults count themselves as evangelical Protestants, giving them serious clout in a country where religion and politics often mix. Conservative evangelicals have become a key support base for the Republican Party.

But the movement has had growing pains and the statement issued on Wednesday, called an "Evangelical Manifesto," is the latest sign of emerging fractures as some activists seek to broaden its agenda beyond hot-button social issues such as opposition to abortion and gay rights.

"Christians from both sides of the political spectrum, left as well as right, have made the mistake of politicizing faith," the manifesto declares.

"That way faith loses its independence, the church becomes 'the regime at prayer,' Christians become 'useful idiots' for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology in its purest form," it said.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07482581.htm

[Xipe Totec]

1. not become? As if it hadn't happened already? nt

[niyad]

2. oh my, do you think the fundies realized, finally, that some of us are absolutely sick

of their divisive, corrosive bs, and that they just might not have as much influence as they think?

I would love to see fungus and new life shut the hell up around here.

oh wait, I get it. they will stay out of politics, and just concentrate on turning the military fundamentalist instead.

[jasmine621]

36. All this means is that the funddies are giving permission to vote for McCain. nt

[baldguy]

3. They liked politics well enough when they were being duped by the GOP.

[skooooo]

4. About effing time!

[poppysgal]

5. low turnout

at church services due to parishioners unable to buy gas to drive to church. This lovely recession is affecting everyone. :wow:

[dnbmathguy]

6. I'm not sure how much of a difference this will make

Lots of the "big names", like Richard Land and James Dobson, didn't sign onto it.

[xxqqqzme]

7. Well, that's about 28 years toooo late.

It always amazed me that the bible bangers started the raygun adulation when they already had a very Christian Carter in the White House.

[FSogol]

8. Won't happen. There is money in the Fundies attachment to the GOP

and vice versa. Also, gullibility is a prime qualitiy of the Fundies. Once their mind is made up, it'll take years, maybe generations to convince them that the GOP does not have their best interests in mind.

[Taverner]

9. It's all because of Christian Environmentalism

or "Creation Care"

The Neocon Christians don't like this development, and thus are pulling the reins.

[silverweb]

40. Bingo!

That's it exactly.

The younger evangelicals are looking to scripture for real Christian issues, including social justice and "creation care" instead of the unsupported, unsupportable anti-choice/anti-gay screed. It has the elders upset, so naturally they will try to rein their "flock" in.

[Taverner]

43. and the last thing the Oil Lobby wants is to lose control of the Earth Debate

[silverweb]

44. Even if it's ultimately suicidal.

Very short-term thinking, so typical of so many. :(

[Taverner]

45. Yep - what amazes me is most CEO's (of oil companies) are trying to fight warming

Which shows that even they have little to no control of the corporation or 'big oil'

[Megahurtz]

10. Good idea!

Get out!

[KamaAina]

11. Yup, those lefty Christians sure have politicized their faith to the Nth degree

"Christians from both sides of the political spectrum, left as well as right, have made the mistake of politicizing faith," the manifesto declares.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[gratuitous]

14. That jumped off the screen at me, too

What's this "both sides are to blame" nonsense? Where is the "left" equivalent of Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority? The "left" equivalent of GOP presidential candidate Pat Robertson? The "left" equivalent of the Christian Coalition? The "left" equivalent of James Dobson, Focus on the Family, John Hagee, the Left Behind series, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, and on and on?

Even as the scales fall from their eyes and they realize at long last that the Flag and the Cross do not go together, they can't resist one last lie as self-justifying cover.

[BrklynLib at work]

16. Not too many "lefties" pushing for public money to subsidize religious indoctrination,

or threatening to excommunicate those who don't follow the political lines, or assassinating doctors who refuse to perform abortions. Are there any "leftist" televangeli$t$??
Which group fights against sexism, racism, and pollution while the others are still busy denying the existence of global warming? The latter's motives are truly what makes it so reprehensible...purely profit, the bottom line...always.
Darwinian Socialism...if they fall down, they don't deserve to survive.
Which side promotes thinking for oneself and which side promotes blind allegiance to whatever narrowminded ideas they are currently supporting?
What a crock of crapola that false equivalency is!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AnneD]

22. Most of us....

left leaning Christians were too busy fighting aid to the poor cutbacks, CHIPS, WIC, working our food pantries, and marching in anti war rallies that we forgot to push for public subsidizing for religious indoctrination. DAMN, I knew we were forgetting something. :eyes:

My right wing brethren will not get off the hook so easily, and Bush won't see his library and think tank at SMU either, if we can help it.

[BrklynLib at work]

29. As far as I recall, your description is what it is supposed to be all about....

[pegleg]

33. Amen

[PassingFair]

42. Maybe a thinly veiled jab at ....

black churches?

[zehnkatzen]

20. Nobody wants to take the blame ... there is no shame ...

Yeah ... "a pox on both their houses" ... my arse.

It's conservative Christian fundamentalists on this one. May that albatross never leave their necks.

:nopity: :rant:

[tanyev]

12. "so that followers would not become 'useful idiots' exploited for partisan gain"

Too late.

[crim son]

41. Yep. They're back to being "useLESS idiots." n/t

[bow-tie]

13. I hope there is a cliff

behind them when they "step back".

[kineneb]

15. Render unto Caesar...

has taken on a whole new meaning. Maybe they are getting a clue (but I wouldn't bet money on it).

[noonwitch]

17. One of the things I like about Hillsong is that they are Aussies

Yeah, they are AOG and pretty conservative, but in Australia, they don't get political. They do their thing without imposing on others.

I watch the show sometimes because I like the music, and the teaching is very different from most american evangelicals, in that it stresses social justice and helping the poor. Not just "send us money to help the poor", but come and do it with us.

[mikeytherat]

18. "The Democrats are coming! The Democrats are coming! Reign in the flock!"

mikey_the_rat

[ljm2002]

35. Egg-zackly! n/t

[zehnkatzen]

19. Well, you're late to the party, fellahs ... RECOMMENDED!

I mean, what's the matter? When being useful idiots for republicans got you into power you had no problems with it.

You know, I've drifted away from even calling myself Christian anymore. What's the point? The church these days is no more than an interested power bloc, looking to take over the country for their own, rolling over every vulnerable person that gets in its way, and finding poor, gay, and non-Christian people to destroy as scapegoats.

Seriously, I don't understand why more people see this. Christianity used to be about service, about teaching service to your fellow man without judgement. The root of the word church, "ecclesia", refers to community. We were once enjoined to serve our community and our neighbor and not judge them by their lifestyle.

So, hey, thanks you evangelical/republican types, thanks for finally waking up. However, the hell with you for waking up about thirty years too late; as I'm sure you've noticed by the increasingly tattered economy and environment and the increasingly fascist and authoritarian bent this country has taken (thanks, in no small part mostly to support by people like you). So, in some cases, it's not better late than never. You've ruined government in this country, turned neighbor against neighbor, made building community in this country all <i>but</i> impossible, but hey, at lest the queers can't get married, yes?

In the end, if I do become an atheist, it's not because any atheist convinced me, it's because a great many modern Christians have convinced me (by their actions and results – by their fruits ye shall know them, yes?) that the church has become a fraud, and the republican party's simple continued existence suggests that Christ probably died in vain.

[Megahurtz]

21. Good post.

I too, feel the same.

[AnneD]

24. I felt the same way for the longest....

but believe me, there are like minded Christians out there...and when you find them, it renews your faith and give you strength to carry on. Took me over 20 years to take back my faith from these hypocrites.

[IsItJustMe]

23. The fundamentalist Christians are no more than whores for the Republican Party, in my view.

[HopeforChange]

25. I have seen great wrongs done by evangelicals under the name of God

Some Evangelicals put themselves above the poor and disadvantaged people.
I have seen horrible crimes done in the name of God.
I have never liked the word "Evangelicals"

[MinneapolisMatt]

26. Someone call the waaaaahmbulance.

Oh noes, they are viktims again!!

[Zorra]

27. Those "useful idiots" put the devil in the White House, and it immediately

set about it's business of creating hell on earth.

[Wednesdays]

28. Well, look who they have as a presidential nominee...

they don't like McSame anyway. This is like them calling on everybody to avoid eating turnips.

[The Backlash Cometh]

30. Wow. They get it. I'm impressed. No, really I am.

I'm not kidding.

[stubtoe]

31. A little slow on the uptake, but it does appear they finally do get it.

They enjoyed the closeness to power so much, it blinded them to the fact that they were being shamelessly played for votes.

[The Backlash Cometh]

32. But I really do like the way they can't take it completely on the chin.

You know, where they said that it was ALSO the left's problem? As if religion was ever a problem for the Left.

[zbdent]

34. getting afraid that a Dem win would mean that someone would actually start

investigating the finances of churches and religious groups who campaign for a candidate "without actually campaigning" for a specific one? (Like - "Vote for rhymes with Tush")

[ToughLuck]

37. IMHO the main reason for some of this is that they know the

micrscope is coming for them now..like Haggee, since the microscope went after Wright. I would hope some of them are doing it for the right reasons.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

38. yeah, whatever... Call me when

they drop this rapture stuff that makes them want to meddle in our foreign affairs and bring on the nuclear fire, and the end of the world.

[girl gone mad]

39. Bwahahahaha!

Eight. Years. Too. Late.

Sorry, fundies. You hitched your wagon to the wrong horse and now you'll have to go right off the cliff with him.