Troy Stouffer, one of the most respected and talented correspondents on gather, recently posted an article which asked the following question:
"I Am An Evangelical. Why Does That Scare you?"
In the article he revealed his beliefs, but did not address what may be the most important answer to his question. Many of the commenters did, however.
The following quote from today's LA Times, I think, represents the "sum of all fears," regarding this extremely important question that Troy has raised.
"...the Rev. Wiley S. Drake, pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park (south of L.A.), urged his supporters to use Psalm 109 to focus prayers directed at the 'enemies of God' - including the leaders of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
"Drake was urging the use of imprecatory prayer - prayers for another's misfortune of for vengeance against God's enemies..."
This may be an extreme example, and perhaps it does not meet the approval of many evangelists, but sometimes it takes an extreme example to make a point, and that point provides a perfectly clear answer to Troy's question.
Another question it raises, however, is: Why do many evangelicals - who purport to love our freedoms, even to the extent of exporting them to other countries - represent the major obstacle to "Freedom of Religion" in this country?...
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Comments: 42
Evangelicals want to spread their beliefs just as does every other religious organization. All have some elements of truth and all have some elements of "miss spoke" and triditions.
Freedom of religion means other religions can grow. They don't want that they want only their own brand of religion to grow. No religion is tollerant of another. It is only natural.
I also think that if they are praying for the destruction of any of their neighbors -- and, yes, folks from People for the Separation of Church and State ARE their biblical neighbors -- then they are by definition un-Christian hypocrytes. After all, Christ did not say, "Love thy neighbor, unless he belongs to a group you disagree with."
The only thing scary about evangelicals is that their self-centered, small-minded actions toward whomever they deem to be "non-believers" often hurts others. Like those nut jobs who travel the country protesting at the private funerals of service men and women, claiming that they are upsetting these dead soldiers' families because, and I am paraphrasing here, "this war is God saying that the U.S. has strayed from his teachings."
Yeah, thanks Evangelicals...when I want to know what God wants, will I be asking people too cowardly to let anyone outside their belief system simply follow their own path? I don't think so. That's not scary, that's just pathetic.
The question I ask myself is why are they like that? Devine inspiration, marketing ploy within a sermon, paranoia, insecurity, following some orders from their superiors within that particular sect? "Normal" people, do not go out to the public and wishes anyone harm unless they themselves have been hurt in someway.
As I say "THE GREAT SPIRIT LIVES" or if you please "THE EVERYWHERE SPIRIT LIVES"
I refuse to recognize those "eastern" religions. That is from an EX baptist fundamintalist preacher. I didn't spend my Whole life in the Army.
B: THERE IS ABSOLUTE CONFIRMABLE EVIDENCE THERE ARE EVANGELICAL FUNDAMENTALISTS.
Since the Fundamentalist evangelical MUST see the wrath of his fearsome god fall on someone, and since god never, ever, falls with full fury on the people who deserve it, the evangelical tasks himself to fall like a ton of bricks on the people HE decides are deserving the wrath of god.
NOW IF THAT DOES NOT SCARE THE BRITCHES OFF EVERY NOT EVANGELICAL FUNDAMENTALIST, COURAGE OR STUPIDITY IS THE ONLY EXPLANATION.
So as much as I have a visceral reaction against those who consider themselves the guardians of some eternal Truth and who readily condemn the rest of us to hell, I think we need to realize that there are all sorts of good people who are lumped together under the Evangelical label.
What I see the Evangelical movement as trying to do at its core (let's forget the extremes for a moment) is provide some sense of security and an anchor for those who feel their world spinning out of control. Just think this, do that, and remember the other thing and your life falls more or less into place. Lose your job do to outsourcing? God is testing you. Your spouse left you? As god for the strength to get through it. Some sicko kidnaps and murders a child? The devil is at work. Simple answers for complex and often uncontrollable situations.
Remember too that the evangelical community is a tightly knit bonded group within the chaos of modern life. The rules are all there. You have just to follow them (excuse the apparent pun) religiously. Inside this group, as long as you follow the rules, you belong. People care. Your life has a focus and a meaning. The us against them mentality reigns.
The problem occurs when people within these communities lust after power and are too frightened or too insecure (or god help us too arrogant) to realize that they have no right to force their beliefs onto anyone else, any more than others should be able to force their beliefs onto them.
Other than for this extremist group, my feelings toward evangelicals is more often on the side of pity than fear. I don't hate them. Hate is too strong an emotion to waste on people I find pathetic most of the time. On the other hand, I am more than willing to live and let live where they are concerned. As long as they leave me alone, I will defend their right to be left alone as well to believe and live as they choose within the confines of their own beliefs. Isn't that what this country is really all about anyway?
Why I bring this up is that, if these diametrical opposites can stand next to each other and peacefully coexist, then one wonders why some nuts are so spiteful.
I wrote a story a while ago about my trip to my Uncles house at thanksgiving, with my three cousins and their spouses all born again christians, and homosexuality was brought up. My son had fun with it. I was never asked back.
I do fear self righteous christians. Number one, they are so far from the teachings of Christ that it baffles me how they got there and then justify their remaining. The other thing was a very real happening here in Maine maybe twenty years ago, when a gay young man was thrown from the Bangor bridge by teenagers from fundamentalist/evangelistic homes. The lad was not even twenty years old. He kept screaming that he could not swim. But he was thrown because of his sexual orientation. Faldwell, around that same time, had come into maine and had taken over a church in Bangor. Soon there were picket lines outside of the Portland Court house where these murderers were being tried, as well as in Bangor.....The killers were doing the work of God by ridding this earth of heinous sinners! How bloody christian is that! I actually become enraged when I hear homosexuality is a sin, let alone that it should be atoned for unto death. But anyone pointing their finger and saying sin toward another being is way out of their own territory. I do believe that Christ once said, "what is it to you?' when a disciple's attention was on someone else. And I love this line....'if they are not against us, they are for us." I have heard churches change that around deceptively...'if they are not for us, they are against us.' God forbid anyone in a church would pick up a bible to check out of their master at the podium was correct. And I thought Christ came here so we can go directly to God and not through a man. So what are these clowns doing up there? Yes i am afraid of them, and too many people sit on their laurels rather than put the stops to the foolishness. six or so years ago, the civil rights for gays to not be descriminated against was overturned. Not because the state itself believes in that. But because the left wing phobos pulled themselves together and the rest of us were compacient never thinking that a common sense law for humanity would be overturned but it was. I was also guilty. I don't shut my eyes on this anymore. Hatred is hatred, and thoughts, as one person said, have tremendous power. I myself am heterosexual and gain nothing by gay rights. Hate prayer is not directed at me. Why should I care? Because I do believe in the original message of the Christ. I also believe in the original essenses in all movements that proclaim peace and unity. Phew...sorry.
Many heinous things have been done by people in the name of religion and equally as many against religions. None of the Christian travesties were done with an actual undersdtanding of a proper Scriptural application. Instead of applying the spiritual principles, these principles are too often applied solely on a physical level to the natural world. This results in the basest and vilest of human results. All were done with the idea that the perpetrator was right in doing so, no matter whether they were fueled by religion, science, politics or just plain greed. In the end evangelism and all other Christian belief means nothing if is not the central focus of one's life. And if it is, then one must learn to approach it in the proper balance with everything else in order to truly determine and act on what one perceives God's will to be for each person individually. But every application when dealing with another MUST be done while remembering the Golden Rule above all else: Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31).
Colonel George W., Aug 25, 2007, 8:52pm EDT
Christ was definitely not western, are willing to recognize Middle-eastern religions?
I'll take my Bible...whole, thank you.
I am totally against censorship; however, the moment you step over the line by trying to force your believes on another, it's wrong and the person needs to be held accountable. The fact is too many people don't have lives of their own or know how to mind their own business. Frankly, if you stick your nose into someone else's business uninvited, you deserve to have it verbally bloodied.