Monday, November 08, 2004

Inflamatory Material--read at your own risk!

So, here's a snippet from "Falwell Confidential," which I receive, though I'm not sure how I got signed up. (I like to keep the subscription, just to keep tabs on ol' Jerry.) This is the kind of stuff that distresses me, because it's civil religion--deliberately associating love of Jesus with a specific political agenda. Civil Religion is heresy. We should be political, surely, because we are given that right in this country. But as believers in Jesus' death and resurrection we are first citizens of his Kingdom, then citizens of earthly kingdoms. There's my first cent. My second cent is that Falwell quotes a verse at the bottom of his essay that I believe is popularly misquoted in this country by evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. God was talking to His people Israel, not his people the Americans. At best, God's promise applies to all of his children through Jesus, including we Gentiles. But it doesn't apply to nation-states.

Have fun. And please, post your reaction, if you can slog that far.

From: Jerry Falwell
THE LEFT THREW ITS BEST PUNCH... AND FAILED.
Tuesday’s re-election of President George W. Bush and the election of a number of new conservative lawmakers across the nation astonished liberal newsmen, pundits and handlers who, hours earlier, had believed allegedly rigged exit polls and were confidently whispering that a new mandate was going to sweep the nation.
So what happened? After more than 25 years since I formed the Moral Majority and began mobilizing evangelicals to participate in the political process, I actually realized the fruit of my labors nationwide as Macel and I watched the election returns into the early hours of Wednesday. I could not hold back the tears of joy. Hour by hour, we observed a "slam dunk" as the Church of Jesus Christ made the difference in initiating the return of this nation to moral sanity and the Judeo-Christian ethic.
The so-called political experts had forgotten to count a significant voting bloc, namely the millions of evangelical voters who went to the polls in droves to “vote Christian.” Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Chris Matthews started Tuesday night with the firm belief they were presiding over the demise of social conservatism in America.
I’m not suggesting that we elected a bunch of fire-and-brimstone evangelists to office this week, but Christians collectively determined which candidates most closely held ideals that parallel our own biblically-based moral values and we went to the polls to support those candidates.
I believe evangelical Christians are about 33 percent of the electorate today and are as powerful a voting bloc as there is in this nation. The so-called mainstream media will never give the proper credit for what we accomplished this week, but the fact is that evangelical Christians joined together in spirit at polls across this nation and are the reason a record 115 million persons actually voted. This was the most exciting day politically since the same day in 1980 when we first arose to sweepingly elect President Reagan to the Oval Office.
I saw this coming weeks before the election and tried to hearten believers through my columns by recounting the incredible energy I witnessed among Christians in my many trips across the country. There was a palpable vigor among believers who could hardly wait to charge to the polls on Tuesday. Thousands of pastors were stirring their congregations to distinguish the issues, know the combatants and be geared up to vote.
And boy, were they!
We should all feel a sense of accomplishment and thankfulness to God for blessing our efforts. We must never forget that people of faith in this country, joined by political and fiscal conservatives, successfully withstood Hollywood, Springsteen, Affleck, Baldwin, the Dixie Chicks (now called the French Hens by some), billionaire George Soros and his ilk, all the 527s, most of the national print and broadcast media, the gays and lesbians, the abortionists, the entire liberal establishment... and about $2 billion of hate-inspired media and campaign expenditures.
The left threw its best punch and George Bush and social conservatism are alive and well. To God be all the glory!

“If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14).

That verse is more powerful than any exit poll. And it will sustain us against any rising political tide that seeks to counter biblical morality, if we remain true to that verse’s unique guidelines.



2 comments:

Kevin said...

When I read the article I got this feeling in the pit of my stomach that is hard to describe. Disgust, anger, indignation.....i don't think that quite descirbes it. The best would be that it makes me feel depressed. It grieves me that people like Falwell make the assumption that by electing Bush we are returning to a "christian nation".

The part that probably hurts the most is this:
We must never forget that people of faith in this country, joined by political and fiscal conservatives, successfully withstood Hollywood, Springsteen, Affleck, Baldwin, the Dixie Chicks (now called the French Hens by some), billionaire George Soros and his ilk, all the 527s, most of the national print and broadcast media, the gays and lesbians, the abortionists, the entire liberal establishment... and about $2 billion of hate-inspired media and campaign expenditures.
The left threw its best punch and George Bush and social conservatism are alive and well. To God be all the glory!

I don't like that in this view Bush and social conservatism have the exclusive rights to what Gods will is. Apparently Hollywood, the entrie liberal establishment gays and abortionist are all evil and apart from God's Work. This illustrates the growing divide in our country and it is depressing to say the least.

Finally, when the "liberals" spent 2 billion on "hate-inspired" media it is evil, but when the Bush campaign does the same thing what is it called then? Righteousness?

Seth said...

It's truly amazing to me how God can bless a man like Jerry Falwell with so much zeal and yet so little brains. I guess you have to take the one out of the other to keep the universe in balance.