Tuesday, December 19, 2017
The religious right isn't doing much for religion
Peter Wehner, a prominent #NeverTrump conservative, has disowned the evangelical label. He says that the “support being given by many Republicans and white evangelicals to President Trump and now to Mr. Moore have caused me to rethink my identification with both groups. Not because my attachment to conservatism and Christianity has weakened, but rather the opposite. I consider Mr. Trump’s Republican Party to be a threat to conservatism, and I have concluded that the term evangelical - despite its rich history of proclaiming the ‘good news’ of Christ to a broken world - has been so distorted that it is now undermining the Christian witness.”
The close association with Trump has alienated nonwhite and women who have identified in the past as evangelical, The New York Times reports.
Now, we are NOT saying that Christians should refrain from participating in the political life of the country, nor are we saying that Trump and this particular generation of evangelical leaders are solely responsible for the decline in religiosity. However, what we are saying is that obsession with political power and cult-like followings of secular political leaders do not preserve faith or create a religious revival. To the contrary, this breeds anger, resentment and obsession with politics, not faith. The notion of Christians as victims in America, martyrs in a culture war, is both at odds with reality and an example of blame-shifting. To cultivate a more religious society and one more in tune with their own values, faith leaders might consider spending less time licking envelopes for Roy Moore and more time tending to their spiritual flocks.
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2017/12/15/jennifer-rubin-the-religious-right-isnt-doing-much-for-religion/
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Wake up, John Doe. You're the hope of the world.
American Rhetoric: Movie Speech
"Meet John Doe" (1941)
John Doe Delivers National Radio Address
If anybody should ask you what the average John Doe is like,
you couldn't tell him because he's a million and one things. He's Mr. Big and
Mr. Small. He's simple and he's wise. He's inherently honest, but he's got a
streak of larceny in his heart. He seldom walks up to a public telephone
without shoving his finger into the slot to see if somebody left a nickel
there.
He's the man the ads are written for. He's the fella
everybody sells things to. He's Joe Doakes, the world's greatest stooge and the
world's greatest strength.
Yes, sir -- Yes, sir, we're a great family, the John Does.
We are the meek who are -- who are supposed to inherit the earth. You'll find
us everywhere. We raise the crops; we dig the mines, work the factories, keep
the books, fly the planes and drive the busses. And when a cop yells:
"Stand back there, you!" He means us, the John Does!
We have existed since time began. We built the pyramids. We
pulled the oars for Roman emperors, sailed the boats for Columbus, retreated
from Moscow with Napoleon and froze with Washington at Valley Forge.
Yes, sir. We've been in there dodging left hooks since
before history began to walk. In our struggle for freedom we've hit the canvas
many a time, but we always bounced back! Because we're the people -- and we're
tough.
They've started a lot of talk about free people going soft
-- that we can't take it. That's a lot of hooeyl A free people can beat the
world at anything, from war to tiddle-de-winks, if we all pull in the same
direction.
I know a lot of you are saying "What can I do? I'm just
a little punk. I don't count." Well, you're dead wrong! The little punks
have always counted because in the long run the character of a country is the
sum total of the character of its little punks.
But, we've all got to get in there and pitch. We can't win
the old ballgame unless we have teamwork. And that's where every John Doe comes
in. It's up to him to get together with his teammates. And your teammate, my
friend, is the guy next door to you. Your neighbor -- he's a terribly important
guy that guy next door. You're gonna need him and he's gonna need you, so look
him up. If he's sick, call on him. If he's hungry, feed him. If he's out of a
job, find him one.
To most of you, your neighbor is a stranger, a guy with a
barkin' dog and high fence around him. Now, you can't be a stranger to any guy
that's on your own team. So tear down the fence that separates you. Tear down
the fence and you'll tear down a lot of hates and prejudices. Tear down all the
fences in the country and you'll really have teamwork.
I know a lot of you are saying to yourselves, "He's
askin' for a miracle to happen. He's expectin' people to change all of a
sudden. Well, you're wrong. It's no miracle. It's no miracle because I see it
happen once every year. And, and so do you -- at Christmas time. There's
somethin' swell about the spirit of Christmas, to see what it does to people,
all kinds of people.
Now, why can't that spirit, that same, warm Christmas spirit
last the whole year around? Gosh, if it ever did, if each and every John Doe
would make that spirit last 365 days out of the year, we'd develop such
strength, we'd create such a tidal wave of good will that no human force could
stand against it. Yes sir, my friends, the meek can only inherit the earth when
the John Doe's start lovin' their neighbors.
You better start right now. Don't wait till the game is
called on account of darkness.
Wake up, John Doe. You're the hope of the world.
View from the culture war’s front lines
View from the culture war’s front lines
Q: What about overall? If you had to say where things are at
today, in terms of church-state separation, compared to when you took over at
Americans United in 1992, where are they?
A: Overall things have advanced. I don’t believe this
administration’s negative view will prevail very long because it’s inconsistent
with what the American people want. They don’t believe government money should
go to promote religion. Their hearts and minds are far, far moved from where
they were 25 years ago…I think there is an enormous growth in tolerance…Once
you make a certain amount of progress, you never get back to the same starting
point. People have become more tolerant, more accepting.
It’s only a bad time because the Supreme Court looks to be
at genuine risk of falling into the hands of a majority of so-called
Originalists.
I do this sermon called ‘The Two
Worst Ways to Make Policy: Constitutional Originalism and Biblical Literalism.’
The Bible is a wonderful book, but it’s not an ethics
textbook, that’s not how it was created. And Constitutional Originalism depends
on the fiction that you can tell exactly what the first Congress meant when it
passed the Bill of Rights. Most of that is lost to history.
Q: But you came from a pretty conservative part of the
country [he grew up in Bethlehem, Pa.]
A: I remember in high school going to a debate between
Buckley and [Socialist leader] Norman Thomas. I thought: Man, this is going to
be fun! My Dad and I were big Buckley fans. I can still remember the feeling,
sitting in the bleachers, thinking: ‘I think something life changing is
happening’ to me. Buckley was talking about himself, and Thomas was talking
about community, and how you have to take into account concerns of everyone, and
I’m thinking: ‘This is kind of like what I learn about in Sunday school!’ Years
later I was with Buckley and I said: ‘Your failure that night created me.’
I
realized that night [that] this super-conservativism is just inconsistent with
moral principles. Because you can’t live a life that doesn’t touch everybody
else’s.
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