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Desperate Evangelicals
The American Prospect is calling Romney a joke of a candidate—all hair. But, meanwhile, in Newsweek's version of the "The Evangelicals Have No Candidate" story, we find this:
The Bush family seems to be moving its chips to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Several of Jeb's gubernatorial staffers have signed on with Romney, and Jeb's sister, Doro Bush Koch, is cohosting a fund-raiser for him. Mom and Dad are reportedly telling friends he's a fine man and the class act in the race. With front runner John McCain faltering and Rudy Giuliani an unlikely fit with Republican primary voters, Romney looks like the Bush Dynasty's best bet.
Suddenly it's the Republicans floundering for a half decent candidate! And in another echo of bad Democratic moments past, evangelicals are threatening to throw the vote. Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, told Rolling Stone in its "The Evangelicals Have No Candidate" story, "It's true we have nowhere else to go, except to stay home. [But] we would rather go down on our principles. We lose? You lose!"
Predictably, the evangelical groups are blaming the media (these guys actually compare the influence of the liberal media to slavery!) for making a deal out of Romney's Mormonism. But The Nation documents some instances of religious groups calling Mormonism a cult.
The truth is, and I've said this before, Romney made his own bed by running on a holier-than-thou platform. And then there's the simple fact that it's really cool to watch the religious right Goliath fall.
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No way under god's green earth will the evangelical back a mormon...ever. This isn't the same as Kennedy and Catholism back in the 60's.
They may hem and haw about it now, but when the rubber meets the road, forget it. Romney won't when the nomination.
This is coming from someone who used to be on the inside of the evangelical world. I've heard what they say about the mormon faith. (You have to admit, some of their stories are a little batty)
The most interesting thing about this will be watching Loose-fitting Mitt accept Bush family support while at the same time acting as if he has nothing to do with the Bush family.
Christ said that his Kingdom was not of this world, so why are these followers trying to bring it on earth? Christ said to preach the Gospel, not try to change the government. Some Jewish leaders were the ones that were collaborators with the Roman government and Christ denounced them because they were corrupt. The same applies to those individual followers of Christ that like to associate and be in the company of Caesar. Usually when the Church was associated with the governement(e.g. Roman Catholic Church with European governments in the past) there was corruption. A Christian can vote, and run for office as individuals but they should not seek the approval of men by associating with Caesar. These ministers belong on the street preaching the gospel like this street preacher to change the morality of the nation,not through laws.
Paster Bob...I can be you and I don't agree on most theological points, but I do agree with you here.
We need to clense politics of the religious right.
It's so nice to watch these self-righteous fanatics claw over each other to reach the top of the dung heap that they reside in. When these religious groups began to fight each other and leave the rest of us to think for ourselves for a little while, we are able to evolve a little bit more as a country. It takes no more than a quick look at the Bush regime of ignorant followers espousing torture and lies to further their narrow agenda to realize the value of a "wall of separation" between church and state. That is the wall that keeps mass thought control at bay, and is arguably the most valuable concept that our founding fathers created and developed for us. We need to thicken that wall at every given opportunity, since there are always those who are pulling it apart piece by piece.
Pastor Bob - I notice that you use the same email address when posting as Tyrone. What an amazing coincidence!!!
Tyrone is a fine young man that works for me. He is like my Timothy. I thank God for him, as I am sure that you all do.
Why the vilification of the Evangelicals?
"It's so nice to watch these self-righteous fanatics claw over each other to reach the top of the dung heap that they reside in."...matts30
I like it too, but it reminds me of the people who laughed at the funny Nazi lunatic fringe with their silly uniforms in the 1920s.
If people like Brownback or Romney ever get in charge it is no more boyfriends and blue jeans!! Your daughters will be wearing nuns habits and being forced into arranged marriages with evangelical leaders like something out of Margaret Atwood's nightmare science fiction book; Handmaiden's Tale
We cannot let the evangelical right get any power. it is life and death. In Chris Hedge's book American Fascists we are reminded that even libertarian philosophers like Martin Heidegger started their college classes with the Nazi salute. I do not want to live in a world where people go to prison for refusing to say a prayer to Jesus at the begining of each college class.
The religious right hates freedom.
Why the hate by some of these posters? Jesus loves you too.
Clifton, well said, and Handmaid's Tale is well cited. That story gives me the creeps, especially as the right has moved more and more towards this extremism since the book came out and Bush has done what the book fortold: weaken the distinctions between state run police systems and the CIA and military. Another story, less popular, but that dealt with this idea is called "The Fifth Sacred Thing" by Starhawk.
And I encourage all thinking people to begin to ignore both Tyrone and Pastor Bob, on all posts, as they are obviously either plants from the right to fracture our construction dialogues, or silly little boys having some fun.
What bothers me, is how all the religions are batty, and yet surveys show that an Atheist or an Agnostic wouldn't stand a chance in a primary, I don't even know of a politician who is openly atheist or agnostic, not that I've looked into it, anyone know the stats?
Don't worry, the Jews dominate the media, and 60% of the political contributions come from us not to mention that both California Senators are Jewish. There is no way that the religious right can take over. They will be completely defeated in 20 months.
As an antitheist, I can state very simply that the reason for the hate that Pastor Bob/Tyrone/Troll has noted is that RELIGION KILLS FOLKS DEAD.
Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, IRA, World Trade Center, abortion clinic bombings, shootings of doctors, and many of the stories of genocides in the bible are just some of the examples of the types of violence perpetrated by people in the name of religion. Even the holocaust could not have happened without the pre-existing background anti-Semitism of the Christians in Germany at the time, regardless of Hitler's questionable beliefs which went back and forth between hating religion and Catholicism.
Ari, I can't believe either that the Jews control the media or that you are truly Jewish. I suspect you are an anti-Semitic troll. Is Ted Turner Jewish? Walt Disney? Get over it. If you are truly Jewish, you should be very careful about propagating this myth. If you are the anti-Semitic troll I believe you are, please leave this blog for serious conversation.
dandaman, I agree with you that it is a terrible thing that non-theists don't stand a chance in American politics, despite the fact that our founding fathers were as non-theistic as one could possibly be in that day and age. Further, there are numerous studies showing a high correlation between violent crime in society and religiousity of said society. In short, among the developed and democratic nations of the world, the higher the religiousity, the higher the rate of violent crime.
I don't believe there is enough to prove causality. However, it certainly defeats the old assumptions that religion increases morality or that our morals originate from religion.
My source for the Jewish domination of the media comes from my brethren, J.J. Goldberg "Jewish Power... Pg 280, There are also numerous other cites. The New York Times, is also dominated by us. We are proud of our accomplishments. Do not belittle our accomplishments. We came from nothing 100 years ago, broke to this country, we make up 1 % of the population and now have a big impact on our society through the media, the large contributions to the political parties and society as a whole.
Well, Ari, if I cared enough about the truth of your comment, I guess I'd have to read the source. Either way though, given the way the statement is used by anti-Semites, I'd suggest that this is a meme that should not be propagated. When people believe these sorts of statements, it tends to inflame ill-will. It will not endear anyone to the Jewish people to believe this meme.
What does it mean anyway? IME, I can't find any more agreement among Jews than any other group. Yes, I'm culturally Jewish. I just find the religion as abhorrant and self-contradictory as any other. So, if Jews don't agree with each other on most topics, what does it mean to state that the Jews control the media? Which Jews? Liberal ones? Ultra-orthodox ones? Reformed? Conservative? Atheists that merely remember their heritage? Do all of these various Jews have a coordinated plan to put forth a specific agenda? If so, why is it so ineffective at countering the radical Christian Right that is attempting to create a theocracy in this country?
Misanthropic Scott, you've said it beautifully. I've oftened scoffed at the absurbity of this idea that Jews control the media, but never thought of your last point specifically. Likely the Christian Right would splinter like a Babel of their own making as they tried to build their kingdom on the ruins of our democracy. But I keep hoping [and last election felt a little like this to me] for a Capra-esque finish to this dark chapter, something where people reach out with shining eyes for the real core values of fair-square dealing and charitable neighborliness. Hokey, I admit, but nice.
Many evangelicals support Israel (Christian Zionists), unlike the mainline churches. Read Jimmy Carter's book. They are very important in that regard. Take the good with the bad.
The evangelicals are as diverse as the Jewish community that Scott talks about. There is no more a power block of evangelicals than there are Jews. I know that in our society, many groups like to talk big to sound bigger than what they are. As an evangelical I am pro environment and for worker's rights(I am a union organizer). Jimmy Carter is also an evangelical. There is diversity amongst evangelicals just like amongst the Jews. Please do not categorize us anymore than you would Jews or Mexicans.