Now we're really screwed: Evangelicals Target New England

[NewHampshireDem]

From the Union Leader
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=46747

<snip>
People haven't given up on God. They just gave up on the institution that was trying to be God to them," added Johnsick, 41, a former Roman Catholic who lives in Mont Vernon.

Not just New Hampshire, but New England in general — long known in clerical circles as the land of the "chosen frozen" — is seen by evangelicals as one of one of the most fertile missionary fields in the country.

Evangelical Protestants — some with financial backing from independent churches in the Midwest and South — are training their sights here in hopes of spreading Christ's message to New Hampshire's large number of non-church goers and its new ethnic and immigrant groups.

"The Northeast is the greatest mission field in the United States," said Pastor Frank Reynolds of Manchester Christian Church.

"Our mission is to change New England by turning ordinary people into extraordinary followers of Christ," added Reynolds, 55, a Virginia native who came here in 1980.

<more>

Don't it turn your blue states red? :mad:

[cornermouse]

1. Not really.

Because what alls said and done, evangelicals don't really have the numbers. What they do have is the willingness, obedience, and dedication to their cause that makes them more likely to turn out and vote when they are convinced that it is in their interests.

I don't believe that the plethora of maerriage amendments was a "happy" accident. If we're smart, we'll tack an amendment or two of our own next time.

[whathappened]

2. all they can do

is witness to them , the jesus freaks have no mandate , jesus alone can be your only way to the lord , no man has the power

[cornermouse]

4. Case in point.

My suggestion is to slam the door in their face.

[ClintonTyree]

3. New Englanders..............

are VERY wary of people invading their space and trying to sell them snake oil. I wouldn't give them a big chance of success there, New Englanders do their own thing in their own time. Pushy Fundies aren't going to be welcomed with open arms.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

9. Religion is very private in New England

displays of faux religious fervor will be looked upon with disdain, and these people will be avoided like the plague.

[Dogmudgeon]

5. What can we do? Oh, what can we do?

DE-vangelize them.

They are not Christians; they are Lifestyle Christians, practicing a form of paganism with Jesus' picture pasted on front. They don't practice anything Christ commanded, but their behaviors are extremely close to the nastier strains of pre-Christian Indo-European paganism ("paleopaganism" and "mesopaganism" in the definitions of Isaac Bonewits).

The Gospels tell us to stop worrying about spiritual matters; the negative paganisms are based on fear and dread of esoterica. And so is Lifestyle "Christianity". Negative paganisms are big on hero-worship, and George Bush fits into the mold of a Christian Thor (or, more accurately, Loki).

Our own "mission field" should be the site of our own vigorous evangelism. With faith in Christ it's no longer necessary to live in fear of Terrorism, Democrats, taxes, the BATF, evolution, Halloween, Ouija boards, and the rest of the Lifestyle Christian pantheon of fear.

--bkl
The Temple. The Moneychangers. What to do? Add Jesus and stir!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. They have been trying here for years.

But you know what? In the most cases, it just doesn't work. Sure, you get get some who cycle in and out, some who stay, but nowhere near the numbers.

You want values, I got values: As our traditional values go, a paternalistic church, invasive in its control of parishionaers, is alien to here.

But that does not mean go to sleep. For this is truly about control. Not religion. That's just the paint job.

[NewHampshireDem]

7. Evangelicals are acting as the first wave of the coming Corporatist state

See my post on "Ownership Society, Corporatism, Facism" http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2627031

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. First they went after Africa, then they went after South America.

And now they're going to New England.

Get them the same way we got Al Capone. Through the taxes, stupid.

[masshole1979]

10. The Truth about the Fundies...You don't think they could hit Maine?

This is a great article by B. Ehrenreich about how Fundamentalism is like the new social safety net in horribly poor communities. If you're in need, they'll help. Seriously, could you turn to your neighborhood Catholic church and ask for a payday loan? My God, when my brother was little he called the parish priest to try to sell him his school's fundraising candy, and the guy practically shouted him off the phone about how the church needs the money more...

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041129&s=ehrenreich


I'm worried about Maine. Not the part we know, but the really really far away part. There's so much poverty tucked away up there among the maple trees and meth labs.

[FightinNewDem]

11. More Catholic-bashing

Even in a thread discussing Evangelicals. someone managed to get in a slam against Catholics.

FYI, the Catholic Church has the most extensive network of community and social services of any denomination. In Manchester, Catholic Charities and the Diocese of Manchester run the state's largest food bank; administer a program of free and reduced-fee mental health services for low income patients; assist in the operation of the city's largest homeless shelter; provide a free medical clinic for the homeless and near-homeless. These are just the Diocesean/statewide programs. Individual parishes also operate their own food pantries and needy-family funds. In addition, the Hibernians, an Irish-Catholic fraternal organization, conducts a major effort to provide food and gifts to underprivilleged children every Christmas.

But isn't it more fun to indulge in tired old canards about the nasty, greedy, mackerel snappers?