Religions > Atheism > Alienate Your Conservative Congregation, Get Praised in the NY Times
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
03 Aug 2006 05:03:09 AM |
| Object: |
Alienate Your Conservative Congregation, Get Praised in the NY Times |
Alienate Your Conservative Congregation, Get Praised in the NY Times
http://newsbusters.org/node/6671
[excerpts]
On Sunday morning, no less, comes New York Times religion reporter Laurie
Goodstein with a favorable front-page profile of a Minnesota pastor by the
name of Greg Boyd who is proudly alienating his conservative membership:
“Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock.”
Predictably, the liberal Times readership loves the Times’ jab against the
“Christian Right,” pushing it to No. 1 on the Times’ most-emailed list.
Goodstein begins:
“Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev.
Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing -- and the
church’s -- to conservative political candidates and causes.
;snip]
“After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said.
Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called ‘The
Cross and the Sword’ in which he said the church should steer clear of
politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United
States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military
campaigns.
[snip]
Goodstein continues:
“Mr. Boyd said he never intended his sermons to be taken as merely a
critique of the Republican Party or the religious right. He refuses to
share his party affiliation, or whether he has one, for that reason. He
said there were Christians on both the left and the right who had turned
politics and patriotism into ‘idolatry.’
“He said he first became alarmed while visiting another megachurch’s
worship service on a Fourth of July years ago. The service finished with
the chorus singing ‘God Bless America’ and a video of fighter jets flying
over a hill silhouetted with crosses.”
More Boyd:
“America wasn’t founded as a theocracy,’ he said. “America was founded
by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a
Christian theocracy where it wasn’t bloody and barbaric. That’s why our
Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.
“‘I am sorry to tell you,’ he continued, ‘that America is not the light
of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope
of the world is Jesus Christ.’”
Sounds like a religious leader the Times and its readership can support.
For more New York Times bias, visit TimesWatch.
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
.
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
