God Guns and Gays

[akaoni 0]

It appears that Dobson and company may be losing their grip on the flock:

 

A struggle for control of the evangelical agenda intensified this week, with some leaders declaring that the focus has strayed too far from their signature battles against abortion and gay rights.

 

Those issues defined the evangelical movement for more than two decades — and cemented ties with the Republican Party. But in a caustic letter, leaders of the religious right warned that these "great moral issues of our time" were being displaced by a "divisive and dangerous" alignment with the left on global warming.

 

A new generation of pastors has expanded the definition of moral issues to include not only global warming, but an array of causes. Quoting Scripture and invoking Jesus, they're calling for citizenship for illegal immigrants, universal healthcare and caps on carbon emissions.

[...]

The signatories — most of them activists, not theologians — expressed dismay that an evangelical emphasis on global warming was "contributing to growing confusion about the very term 'evangelical.' "

 

In religious terms, an evangelical is a Christian who has been born again, seeks a personal relationship with Christ, and considers the Bible the word of God, to be faithfully obeyed.

 

But Dobson and his fellow letter-writers suggested that evangelical should also signify "conservative views on politics, economics and biblical morality."

 

So Dobson and his ilk are looking to continue to politicize religion, but more and more evangelical Christians seem to be branching out. Issues like poverty, social justice, and environmental stewardship are becoming increasingly important to them. Further, it appears that many evangelical Christians have felt rather ill used by conservative forces they've supported recently. Personally, I think Dobson and Co. are feeling just a bit of panic. They've grown wealthy and influential piggybacking on the growth of the evangelical movement. But naturally as the group grows, people with more diverse perspectives enter the movement and diffuse it. It's a pretty natural progression if you ask me. Of course it won't make the politial Christianists happy...

[Jeremy 0]

Issues like poverty, social justice, and environmental stewardship are becoming increasingly important to them.

 

[MDC 5,896]

A growing number of evangelicals are against torture, too.

 

Christians actually reflecting Jesus' teachings - imagine that!

[akaoni 0]

 

I'm with you, I think that in part because of Dobson, Falwell, etc., evangelical Christians have become the target of alot of bashing. Although I disagree with many evangelicals on a number of issues, recently I've been finding more common ground with some of my Christian acquaintances. Personally, I think that it's a better option than the kind of polarizing debate that we've been having in this society for the past 20 years. And more common ground on issues like poverty reduction, etc will hopefully lead to a better understanding of each other's positions...and who knows, maybe a little more civility in the discourse as a whole...

 

 

...(that said, with the kind of mud flung from both sides, I'm not holding my breath)...

[Fumbleweed 426]

I like Dobson. It would be my personal wish that he would stick more to helping families, parents, etc.,...because I think that is his strength. When he dips his hand too heavily into politics, I think it takes away from that and I also don't agree with him on many things politically and otherwise. But, I respect the passion. He just needs to realize that not everyone is passionate about the same set of "moral" issues that he is passionate about. I applaud his efforts in a general sense, but I also applaud those who truly feel that environmental and benevolence issues are where God has called them to do their work. People see things differently.

[paulinstl 295]

People see things differently.

 

 

Amen Brother and pass the ammo!