It's the most wonderful time of the year...
That's right, folks, it's beginning to look a lot like The Holidays. We have Holiday greeting cards sent out by the President, Holiday sales, Holiday--er--Winter break. And people are upset. There's an amazing article online all about it, but there were so many horrible and ridiculous things said in it I had to reprint some of them here (the link to the full article is at the end of the post).
In a stunning competition for Dumbest Protest Ever by People Who are Christians, we have the folks who hate the President's greeting cards, those who are mad about Holiday sales, and the ones who can't stand Winter break. Let's dispense with the Winter break folks first. Hello, anti-Winter break folks. I have been in school for the past 17 1/2 years of my life. I don't just get Christmas Day off. I also get New Year's Day off, plus two to four weeks of Other Days that are in fact not Christmas Day. I would want/need this time off between semesters even if Christmas were in June. Christmas is not the reason school gets let out. So don't get your shorts in a knot.
Now for the kids in the "I hate Bush's greeting cards" corner. Here's a fun quote: "Bush "claims to be a born-again, evangelical Christian. But he sure doesn't act like one," said Joseph Farah, editor of the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com. "I threw out my White House card as soon as I got it." " Well Joe, I would throw it out, too, but that's because I really don't care about impersonal cards from people I don't know. I used to get birthday cards from my parents' life insurance agent. I threw those out, too.
Check this out: "At the Catholic League, Donohue had just announced a boycott of the Lands' End catalogue when he received his White House holiday card. True, he said, the Bushes included a verse from Psalm 28, but Psalms are in the Old Testament and do not mention Jesus' birth." Right. Because we never use Old Testament passages to refer to the birth of Christ. I mean, I can't think of any, ISAIAH can you?
Fortunately, we have the voice of a well-reasoned Democrat: "I think it's more important to put Christ back into our war planning than into our Christmas cards," said the Rev. Bob Edgar, a former Democratic congressman. Um, because Jesus is really big on war planning? Is this guy thinking Crusades, or what? I'm not even a pacifist and this comment has me completely disturbed.
And of course the big man from Liberty weighs in on the card debate: "To some religious conservatives, [including an Old Testament verse in the card] makes all the difference. "There's a verse from Scripture in it. I don't mind that at all, as long as we don't try to pretend we're not a nation under God," said the Rev. Jerry Falwell."
Although it's hard to resist commenting on that last, I will for the sake of space, because I still have to mention some tidbits about Holiday sales. "Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss....has called for a consumer boycott of Target stores because the chain issued a holiday advertising circular that did not mention Christmas." I am not making this up. People are upset about the names of sales. Not only that, Christians are angry because this makes it appear as though CHRISTMAS IS BECOMING LESS COMMERCIALIZED!!! Horrors. We can't actually celebrate the Incarnation, when God the transcendant Creator broke into the world in an entirely new and different and unique way by becoming human. We can't rejoice that Jesus began with his birth down a path that would ultimately lead to his sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection, and the availability of salvation to the whole human race. No! That's not good enough! We must have sales!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10355980/
In a stunning competition for Dumbest Protest Ever by People Who are Christians, we have the folks who hate the President's greeting cards, those who are mad about Holiday sales, and the ones who can't stand Winter break. Let's dispense with the Winter break folks first. Hello, anti-Winter break folks. I have been in school for the past 17 1/2 years of my life. I don't just get Christmas Day off. I also get New Year's Day off, plus two to four weeks of Other Days that are in fact not Christmas Day. I would want/need this time off between semesters even if Christmas were in June. Christmas is not the reason school gets let out. So don't get your shorts in a knot.
Now for the kids in the "I hate Bush's greeting cards" corner. Here's a fun quote: "Bush "claims to be a born-again, evangelical Christian. But he sure doesn't act like one," said Joseph Farah, editor of the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com. "I threw out my White House card as soon as I got it." " Well Joe, I would throw it out, too, but that's because I really don't care about impersonal cards from people I don't know. I used to get birthday cards from my parents' life insurance agent. I threw those out, too.
Check this out: "At the Catholic League, Donohue had just announced a boycott of the Lands' End catalogue when he received his White House holiday card. True, he said, the Bushes included a verse from Psalm 28, but Psalms are in the Old Testament and do not mention Jesus' birth." Right. Because we never use Old Testament passages to refer to the birth of Christ. I mean, I can't think of any, ISAIAH can you?
Fortunately, we have the voice of a well-reasoned Democrat: "I think it's more important to put Christ back into our war planning than into our Christmas cards," said the Rev. Bob Edgar, a former Democratic congressman. Um, because Jesus is really big on war planning? Is this guy thinking Crusades, or what? I'm not even a pacifist and this comment has me completely disturbed.
And of course the big man from Liberty weighs in on the card debate: "To some religious conservatives, [including an Old Testament verse in the card] makes all the difference. "There's a verse from Scripture in it. I don't mind that at all, as long as we don't try to pretend we're not a nation under God," said the Rev. Jerry Falwell."
Although it's hard to resist commenting on that last, I will for the sake of space, because I still have to mention some tidbits about Holiday sales. "Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss....has called for a consumer boycott of Target stores because the chain issued a holiday advertising circular that did not mention Christmas." I am not making this up. People are upset about the names of sales. Not only that, Christians are angry because this makes it appear as though CHRISTMAS IS BECOMING LESS COMMERCIALIZED!!! Horrors. We can't actually celebrate the Incarnation, when God the transcendant Creator broke into the world in an entirely new and different and unique way by becoming human. We can't rejoice that Jesus began with his birth down a path that would ultimately lead to his sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection, and the availability of salvation to the whole human race. No! That's not good enough! We must have sales!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10355980/
posted by Joni at 5:35 PM
12 Comments:
We must have sales!!! I can see the crusaders advancing as we speak.
So I'm curious, what do you have to say about our favourite person, Rev. (I'm gagging as I type that) Falwell?
To be honest, the first time I skimmed through the article, I was shocked because I thought Jerry Falwell had said something semi-reasonable. Then I realized I had missed the "not" in his statement. The double negative here ("as long as we don't try to pretend we're not a nation under God") means he thinks we ARE a nation under God. I initially thought he said that we weren't.
The thing is, if he meant "under God" in the sense that all of creation exists under God's sovereignty, I could go for that. But I'm pretty sure Jerry would go beyond that and claim that the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation, which is patently false. Quite possibly the most annoyingly persistent historical fallacy ever.
I found myself really wishing that at some point, perhaps in the distant past, Jerry Falwell was actually more interested in being a follower of Christ than in religiopolitical demagoguery, so I checked online for bios of the man. No such luck. Not that such a time definitively didn't exist--just that nobody's talking about it.
However, I did come upon this site from fundamentalists who don't think he's fundamentalist enough. You guys will enjoy this, I promise:
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/falwell/general.htm
Also, check out this article (not exactly objective news reporting, but the part about meeting his wife is entertaining, plus let's all give a shout out to Pat Roberson!): http://hypocrisytoday.com/falwell-2.html
And finally, here's a great quote from the Moral Majority years: "I listen to feminists and all these radical gals... These women just need a man in the house. That's all they need. Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home. And they blew it and they're mad at all men. Feminists hate men. They're sexist. They hate men; that's their problem."
Any comments to that? It could be fun to hear from the men on this...;)
I thought about writing this last night, but I didn't. Then Joni mentioned the Moral Majority, and I had to share.
Back in the fall of 1999, I started my first semester at Huntington College, and I was enrolled in a small group chapel. I don't remember the name of the group, but we read a fascinating book that I highly recommend. It is called Blinded by Might, and it was written by Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson (no relation to Dr. James Dobson). The authors were part of the Moral Majority during the rise of the religious right in the 1980s, and the book is about all (well, maybe not all, but many) of the the things that are wrong with the religious right. There is a chapter entitled, "Focus on the Family, Not on Politics" that is critical of Dr. James Dobson and his organization. When I read it back in 1999, I was shocked that a Christian would criticize Dr. James Dobson! Coming from a very conservative church, family, and community, reading that chapter made me feel that little twinge of guilty excitement like what young children feel when they are getting away with something. Anyway, I highly recommend the book if you can find it. It appears to be out of print, but amazon.com provides it through third parties.
Guys! I did it! I have a blogspot bloggy thing!! Come visit my site and leave me fun comments! WEEEEEEE!
Joni, that Moral Majority era quotation about feminists just about makes me wet my pants with the sheer hilarity. how delightfully ridiculous!!!
-Erinn Caley
So I went over and checked out that first site you posted, and now I'm really curious. If the SBC is too liberal, who in heaven's name do these people think have it right? I really don't even know what to say.
On the moral majority quotation; that's funny, I didn't realize that being for universal suffrage and equal pay for equal work made me a man hater. Also interesting is the fact that I need a man to, "tell me what time of day it is." Funny, I thought I learned to read a clock back in elementary school.
On Blinded by Might; why is it that discussing issues like that leads to the "hand in the cookie jar" syndrome in so many people? Growing up, many people told me not to always believe what even Christian leaders say without thinking about it first, but I still experienced that "naughty" feeling several times at HC. The best answer I can some up with is that people are told to think and study about things, but never really learn how to go about it. What do you out in internetland think?
Thinking back to the particular situation I mentioned--when I said that I had the "hand-in-the-cookie-jar" syndrome, as Victoria put it (well put, by the way)--it wasn't because I was discouraged from thinking for myself growing up. I think it was more the subconscious knowledge (or at least belief) that everyone I grew up respecting and learning from in church would be taken aback by a Christian criticizing Dr. Dobson, who I perceived was held in highest regard by all of said persons. In other words, I was sure that everyone in my church back home would either disapprove or be surprised that we would even go there with the discussion. That's one reason why I loved that small group chapel and Huntington College in general: they pushed me to think outside of the context of my upbringing in the area of religion. I would have pondered those topics eventually, but it was great to have it integrated into my college education. That answers Victoria's first question for my situation, I think. Perhaps a broader answer would be that many churches do not encourage questioning of religion. Or, they are OK with questioning and discussion as long as, at the end of the day, you come around agree with the church. Of course, this is just my totally-not-supported-by-any-actual-evidence hypothesis. As to Victoria's best-answer-she-could-come-up-with, I think that this is where we need other people to bounce ideas of from, but even more importantly, this is where we need others to challenge our own hidden assumptions. That's why small group chapels were so great. They were one answer to the "how" question Victoria mentions. The weighty ones provided the perfect atmosphere for vigorous discussion and debate in a non-threatening environment. It was a crying shame that they were discontinued, and I never understood the reason for that action.
>>>>You wrote: "I found myself really wishing that at some point, perhaps in the distant past, Jerry Falwell was actually more interested in being a follower of Christ than in religiopolitical demagoguery, so I checked online for bios of the man. No such luck."
Hey, guess what? The same thought has often crossed my mind. I was reading a book by Marsden this summer (Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism), and he actually mentions a time when Falwell was more or less apolitical. Apparently, in the 1960s, many politically conservative dispensationalists stuck to their separatist principles. [by the way, that was completely plagarized from Marsden]
As Marsden put it,
"...many fundamentalists...seeing communist threats and American delines as signs of the times and keeping away from politics or at least keeping politics from a major role in their ministries. So Jerry Falwell in 1965 was still typical of this apolitical fundamentalism."
At one point, ironically enough for all of us Falwell observers today, he actually stated as much:
"I would find it impossible to stop preaching the pure saving gospel of Jesus Christ, and begin doing anything else--including fighting Communism, or participating in civil-rights reforms."
I figured you might be interested. Also, because I know you love fundamentalism, I felt this was the most appropriate opportunity for me to comment on the sweetsuite, even if it was only a Paff style post (I used only quotes and plagarized sentences...I rule, just like him).
oh yeah, the guy trying to be just like paff? that was me, rick. you probably figured as much.
Victoria, come on now. You might not hate men, but you're obviously compensating for something when it comes to telling what time of day it is ;) I mean, what kind of self-respecting woman owns and can read a binary clock!?!?! Most men probably would not even know what they were looking at if they saw one.
And don't forget the BACKWARDS clock! What do you have to say about that one, Victoria?! ;)
Yes, Rick, I knew it was you. The Marsden/Paff combo definitely gave it away! [Also, nice Michelson impression with the "you wrote..."]
Contra Jay, I have not experienced the "hand-in-the-cookie-jar" syndrome. Maybe that's because we have somewhat different temperaments. However, I think we may also have had some different interaction with the folks at church. The first person I ever heard say "Jim Dobson used to do good work back when he focused on the family" was Larry Wait. (Yeah, I know that statement will be meaningless to most of you. Think conservative and old guard, in my parents' generation. Wise like my dad.) I sensed discomfort (at least) from some of the adults at church with Dr. Dobson's political shrillness while I was still in high school. [This would've been when Jay had started college, so that might make a difference.] I have to admit, when I arrived at HC and was immersed in the evangelical cultural bubble, I was a little surprised about what a big deal Dobson still was. Sure, he wrote "Dare to Discipline," "Preparing for Adolescence" and ran Focus on the Family (I always enjoyed Adventures in Odyssey), but this was old news. Back home we had totally moved on to Dr. Kevin Lehman as our favorite Christian psychologist.
Small group chapels were awesome. My freshman year I was in Woodruff's on Kierkegaard. It was amazing. The whole chapel system is not exactly stellar, but it went WAY downhill when they nixed small groups.
And since Rick brought up Marsden, I get to bring up Mark Noll. :) Dwight will roll his eyes, because I've already told him about a dozen times, but you all need to read "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind." It's really excellent. I'm about half-way through it, and haven't been this excited about a non-fiction book since...I don't know. Maybe Thomas Merton's "The Seven Storey Mountain"? Anyhow, it's great. Check it out. Then we could post about it. The end.
Yeah for binary clocks! It's true, most people don't even know what it is when they see it. I do have to give Dr. Lehman props for immediately recognizing the beauty of the binary clock... Thank you, Victoria, for the inspiration to obtain my own binary clock. :o)
Ok, as for the "hand-in-the-cookie-jar" syndrome... Some of us were, sadly, raised in uber-conservative anti-intellectualism-like homes (it's almost as bad as being homeschooled). I always believed there was something horribly wrong with what my parents and the church were shoving down my throat, but I wasn't really able to find resources supporting my ideas. Everywhere I turned, it was the same crap. When I got a little older and a little braver, I was ridiculed for actually expressing my ideas. So, coming to college and finding resources and people that actually agree with my ideas may leave me feeling a little naughty at times. I will admit that I feel like a rebel sometimes, but for the most part, I am overjoyed to know that there exists another side to the story. I guess the naughty feeling, for me anyway, stems from all those years of being told that my ideas were "naughty."
Maybe most people aren't directly told not to think a certain way, but there is an underlying atmosphere, especially in the church, against such "heretical" thoughts...
I feel cheated because I have to sit through sub-par chapels and don't get to have small group chapel. Maybe we should have a campaign... We need buttons! :o)
Sorry I was kind of long-winded. Props to those of you who actually read the whole thing...
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