As the saying goes, "the squeakiest wheels always get the most grease". It can be hard when other more dissolute, controversial voices manage to take up all the oxygen in the room. I think for a lot of Christian factions there is an uncomfortable-ness in blowing one's own horn too much. It's more of the idea of "we're here if someone is …
As the saying goes, "the squeakiest wheels always get the most grease". It can be hard when other more dissolute, controversial voices manage to take up all the oxygen in the room. I think for a lot of Christian factions there is an uncomfortable-ness in blowing one's own horn too much. It's more of the idea of "we're here if someone is interested to find out what we're about". We DO NOT tout ourselves as having all the answers, no faith does, really, but like my former rector said once, "we're all on this journey together searching for the answers and asking, largely, the same questions . . . if you want to search with us, you are welcome." Evangelicals believe it is their mission to evangelize, to spread and preach the Gospel (as they see it) and bring as many followers to the faith as they can. That's just not us, nor is it various other faiths that come to mind.
Bruce, I do get what you're saying, but just remaining quietly in the background, waiting to accept people seeking whatever you have to offer, while these authoritarians grab power, claiming to be doing so and thereby grotesquely perverting (most of) Jesus' teachings, at least as represented in the received version of the NT, is causing damage not only to Western culture but to Christianity. There must be some Christians out there who believe in reason, in tolerance, in non-violence, who recognize the danger these wackos present and who could participate in the political process and take back some of that oxygen, who can be set off against the appalling "CINOs" like Huckabee and his ilk - aren't there? There are some national leaders - Obama and Biden come to mind - who attend church and at least appear to follow in the moral teachings of Christianity as well (I mean, it isn't just performance), but where are the rest?
I don't argue that silence is complicity, but silence by rational, tolerant, non-violent Christians allows these RWNJs presenting themselves as Christian to do untold damage to our society and culture. And possibly to our bodies and homes, too - "bullets, not ballots"? When they are armed and ready to kill in obedience to their leaders? Cf, Jan 6.
And I take issue with one of your statements - I think it is apparent that evangelicals do in fact represent themselves as having all the answers - wrongly and wrongfully, of course, but that is exactly their modus operandi.
When I said "we don't have all the answers" I was not including evangelicals in that "we". I'm only speaking for myself and other Christian denominations who are at complete odds with their brand of Christianity.
My own personal belief is we will ultimately stop them through the power of the ballot box and vote them into oblivion. My church is but a small minority, several millions of us, but still a minority. We will not use violence. We can and do speak out, but our voices are covered up and never heard much beyond our pulpits. People like me and others speak up and try and keep the rhetoric from devolving into unnecessary bashing of other faiths -- or those of no faiths -- but it seems to be a losing battle. Again, I think if we use the democratic process most effectively (that's the key word) these people can be sidelined.
As the saying goes, "the squeakiest wheels always get the most grease". It can be hard when other more dissolute, controversial voices manage to take up all the oxygen in the room. I think for a lot of Christian factions there is an uncomfortable-ness in blowing one's own horn too much. It's more of the idea of "we're here if someone is interested to find out what we're about". We DO NOT tout ourselves as having all the answers, no faith does, really, but like my former rector said once, "we're all on this journey together searching for the answers and asking, largely, the same questions . . . if you want to search with us, you are welcome." Evangelicals believe it is their mission to evangelize, to spread and preach the Gospel (as they see it) and bring as many followers to the faith as they can. That's just not us, nor is it various other faiths that come to mind.
Bruce, I do get what you're saying, but just remaining quietly in the background, waiting to accept people seeking whatever you have to offer, while these authoritarians grab power, claiming to be doing so and thereby grotesquely perverting (most of) Jesus' teachings, at least as represented in the received version of the NT, is causing damage not only to Western culture but to Christianity. There must be some Christians out there who believe in reason, in tolerance, in non-violence, who recognize the danger these wackos present and who could participate in the political process and take back some of that oxygen, who can be set off against the appalling "CINOs" like Huckabee and his ilk - aren't there? There are some national leaders - Obama and Biden come to mind - who attend church and at least appear to follow in the moral teachings of Christianity as well (I mean, it isn't just performance), but where are the rest?
I don't argue that silence is complicity, but silence by rational, tolerant, non-violent Christians allows these RWNJs presenting themselves as Christian to do untold damage to our society and culture. And possibly to our bodies and homes, too - "bullets, not ballots"? When they are armed and ready to kill in obedience to their leaders? Cf, Jan 6.
And I take issue with one of your statements - I think it is apparent that evangelicals do in fact represent themselves as having all the answers - wrongly and wrongfully, of course, but that is exactly their modus operandi.
When I said "we don't have all the answers" I was not including evangelicals in that "we". I'm only speaking for myself and other Christian denominations who are at complete odds with their brand of Christianity.
My own personal belief is we will ultimately stop them through the power of the ballot box and vote them into oblivion. My church is but a small minority, several millions of us, but still a minority. We will not use violence. We can and do speak out, but our voices are covered up and never heard much beyond our pulpits. People like me and others speak up and try and keep the rhetoric from devolving into unnecessary bashing of other faiths -- or those of no faiths -- but it seems to be a losing battle. Again, I think if we use the democratic process most effectively (that's the key word) these people can be sidelined.