| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"johac" |
| Date: |
19 May 2004 01:32:54 AM |
| Object: |
Apocalyptic Politics |
Rub a dub dub
Three men in a tub
Foolwell, LaHate, and Dub
We're in very deep troub!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4988491/site/newsweek/
---
Religion: Apocalyptic Politics
Ties That Bind: Bush and LaHaye have a history, and share a sense of
mission
By Howard Fineman
Newsweek
May 24 issue - In 1974 an obscure 40-year-old Baptist minister from
Lynchburg, Va., traveled to California to preach in the church of a
popular pastor, the author of a Christian best seller about how faith
builds character. But when Jerry Falwell arrived at Tim LaHaye's San
Diego church, he had a lowercase revelation: LaHaye wasn't just a lively
preacher and writer, he was a powerful political operative. LaHaye's
organization, Californians for Biblical Morality, had mobilized
evangelical Christians and, in doing so, had helped elect Ronald Reagan
governor. "I realized I wanted to do the same thing on a national
basis," Falwell recalled in an interview with NEWSWEEK. "Tim was my
inspiration."
Of such moments is history made. Since the mid-'70s the rise of
religious conservatives in pop culture, publishing and politics has been
a profound trend in American life, reaching its zenith, perhaps, in the
"Left Behind" series‹and in the pastorate-presidency of George W. Bush.
In politics, Falwell went on to found the Moral Majority, which helped
elect Reagan president‹and George H.W. Bush as vice president‹in 1980.
LaHaye and his wife, Beverly, were players in Reagan's Washington,
too‹he as a founding board member of the Moral Majority; she as head of
Concerned Women for America. Until the heady '80s, Protestant
evangelicals largely had shunned electoral politics. Now they were full
partners in the conservative movement.
Which is where Bush the Younger enters the scene. He and LaHaye aren't
close, but they go way back. By the late 1980s, Bush and Karl Rove had
decided that the key to establishing "Junior's" political base in Texas
was to reach out to evangelical Christians. Conveniently enough, Bush's
job in his father's 1988 campaign was to focus on those voters
nationally. A key leader in that constituency was Falwell, who was for
Vice President Bush; LaHaye went with Jack Kemp, but was eased out of
that camp for some anti-Roman Catholic statements he'd made. The Bush
campaign took LaHaye in, inviting him to an event at the veep's home.
"I'm pretty sure I introduced Tim to George W," Falwell says.
By that time Bush II had become an earnest Christian, a double helix of
faith and ambition. Ever since, and with growing confidence, he has
spoken the Biblical and political language of the evangelicals. In 1999
LaHaye was among the religious conservatives with whom the then Governor
Bush met as he prepared to launch his candidacy, telling them he felt
"called" to run and to serve. As president, Bush has had his best
speeches written by Michael Gerson, a graduate of Wheaton College in
Illinois (known as "the evangelical Harvard"). In spare, Biblical
cadence, they proclaim Bush's central themes of individual compassion
and faith-based strength and, since 9/11, an Armageddon-like struggle
between good and evil.
The White House won't say whether the president has read the "Left
Behind" books. But Bush doesn't need to have read them to speak to the
hearts of their readers, says Cal Thomas, a columnist who worked for
Falwell years ago. Even if they don't take the Book of Revelation as
literal truth, most evangelicals have been reared on tales and debates
about the End Times. For fans of Bush‹and LaHaye‹it's the backdrop of
life its own self. "It's not a secret code," says Thomas. "It's our
shared experience."
2004 Newsweek, Inc.
---
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Men become civilized not in their willingness to believe, but in
proportion to their readiness to doubt." - H. L. Mencken
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| User: "SReeseMe" |
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| Title: Re: Apocalyptic Politics |
19 May 2004 06:27:28 AM |
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Subject: Apocalyptic Politics
From: johac
Date: 05/19/2004 2:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id: <jhachm-8B3BE8.23325418052004@news-60.giganews.com>
Rub a dub dub
Three men in a tub
Foolwell, LaHate, and Dub
We're in very deep troub!
No argument there. Scary part is the 3 stoogies are less crazy than Bin Laden
and his band of merry terrorists.
And people wonder why I'm an atheist.....
- Stephen
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Apocalyptic Politics |
20 May 2004 12:30:41 AM |
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In article <20040519072728.10600.00000576@mb-m24.aol.com>,
(SReeseMe) wrote:
Subject: Apocalyptic Politics
From: johac
Date: 05/19/2004 2:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id: <jhachm-8B3BE8.23325418052004@news-60.giganews.com>
Rub a dub dub
Three men in a tub
Foolwell, LaHate, and Dub
We're in very deep troub!
No argument there. Scary part is the 3 stoogies are less crazy than Bin Laden
and his band of merry terrorists.
And people wonder why I'm an atheist.....
I'm starting to wonder when the sane people are going to land and take
us to their planet.
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Men become civilized not in their willingness to believe, but in
proportion to their readiness to doubt." - H. L. Mencken
.
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