What is wrong with churches these days; specifically, what is wrong with Conservative, usually Baptist, churches and their embrace of guns and violence as part spreading the Good News? Where in the Bible do they find the justification for this? Sure, there’s a lot of smiting in the Old Testament, but no one in their right mind could say that is a reason to advocate violence; moreover, Jesus Christ certainly didn’t preach a ministry of violence. That’s why I find it so frightening, no disgusting, that a church would use a semiautomatic rifle giveaway as a means to attract young people to their ministry. Why in the world would they ever want to put such a dangerous weapon like that in the hands of young men or women? WWJD?
I don’t know what this means for the future, but the federal appeals court in New York City told the FCC to fuck off when it comes to their arbitrary decisions and subservience to a small (and I do mean small) portion of the country who gets upset every time a naughty word is uttered on television.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think broadcast television should be filled with bad language and sex. I’ve always felt there should be a strictly enforced family hour of television (say 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern/Pacific), but beyond that I think the FCC should butt out as the evening progresses. By the 10pm hour (Eastern/Pacific) I see no problem with a Nip/Tuck-type series airing. If you’re a parent and allowing your children to watch a show like that, then you only have yourself to blame. Yes, yes, I know parents cannot watch their children 24/7, but is that any different than the current state of affairs? I’m not looking to turn broadcast television into a version of the England’s Channel 4, but the FCC’s nanny-syndrome and their willingness to listen only to small, vocal group needs to end.
Nothing gets on my nerves more than when religious fanatics attempt to get books banned from schools. Sometimes the protests can be so stupid and this is an example of that stupidity. A mother attempted to get the Harry Potter novels banned from a group of Georgia public schools because reading about a boy wizard will indoctrinate children into witchcraft! This is something I’ve never understood about some religious fantastics: why do they fear knowledge? Is it because with knowledge comes questions and questions are not wanted? I think so, but that’s me. The stupidity of this women’s case becomes quite clear when on one hand she attempts to get the books banned because witchcraft is a religion and so the books violate the separation of church and state, and then other hand hopes that God will be “welcomed” back into schools. What hypocrisy! What crap! These are children’s adventure stories; people need to get over themselves and move on.
I was not a huge fan of Jerry Falwell. I disliked the way he politicized religion and I have grown to dislike the movement begun with his Moral Majority. However, I never once doubted Jerry Falwell’s strong faith; moreover, of all the ring-wing religious leaders who grew out of the movement he started he was the most, for lack of a better word, palatable. Later in life he was more willing to hear a side different from his own without sinking to the fire-and-brimstone of his compatriots. Say what you will about the man, the movement started by Jerry Falwell lost one its most powerful voices.
After weeks of, to coin a phrase, flip-flopping on the issue of abortion rights it looks like Rudolph Giuliani’s campaign will a stance in favor of abortion rights. As Mr. Giuliani himself says, “Ultimately, there has to be a right to choose.” So what will this mean for Guiliani’s campaign? Right off the bat he’s lost the far right in the party and Conservative Christians who vote on a small number of issues, abortion being a big one; however, that also makes him more attractive to moderate Republicans who agree with him.
I’m not a fan of Rudolph Giuliani. I think he used the tragedy of September 11, 2001 to make a crap-load of money and to secure a political future that was beginning to fade in the final month of his mayorship. However, I think it’s brave of him to take this stand, especially among a group of candidates who, for the most part, will mercilessly attack for taking that stand.
New Hampshire became the third state to approve civil unions between same-sex couples. Of course, it was along party lines with Democrats voting yes and Republicans trotting out the old traditional values red herring to justify a “no” vote. I just don’t understand why allowing same-sex couple in a committed relationship to legalize that relationship is an attack on traditional values. Isn’t the whole idea of committed relationships a traditional value?
This article is a shining example why I’ve always been unhappy with the intersection of faith and politics. Among other things, Focus on the Family’s James Dobson accuses former Tennessee senator and current Law and Order actor, Fred Thompson, of not being a Christian. As further explanation, a spokesperson for Focus on the Family states when they refer to Christians they mean Evangelical Christians! That statement alone speaks volumes about the kind of “christian” James Dobson is, and the kind of bigoted religion he promulgates. Volumes! I’m no fan of Fred Thompson. I don’t like his politics and I’ve never liked him on Law and Order, but these kinds of attacks by supposed leaders of the Christian faith are wrong and the polar opposite of what Jesus Christ stood for.
Nothing gets people going these days than the idea of teaching religion in schools; and most often what their talking about is teaching the Conservative Evangelical view of Religion in school. Time has an interesting cover story about this subject, but the what they discuss is the idea of teaching a Bible “literacy” course that discusses the teaching of the Bible in an historical context.
When I was in college I took an elective course called “Religions of the World” and simply loved it. It was taught by this former hippie history teacher and was my first introduction to other faiths. I enjoyed the course so much that I took two other electives just for the heck of it: “The Old Testament” and “The New Testament.” These courses were taught by a Baptist minister who would, in today’s terms, be defined as a Conservative Evangelical. The thing of it was, he never taught the class as a religion course per se; he taught the Bible from an historical perspective and he even exposed us to creation and flood stories that predated the Bible. I just loved these courses, and I really enjoyed the instructor.
I remember one time I was in his office discussing a paper I was writing comparing the Biblical flood story to other flood stories such as those mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Epic of Atrahasis. I asked him why he didn’t bring more religion into the course and said there were two reason. First, the university required that he teach the course in that manner. Second, while he would prefer to teach a course that was more faith oriented, the fact that he could discuss the Bible with young college students was good enough. Looking back, I have no illusions that he would have preferred a more faith-based approach to the class, but I respect that he never tried to push Christianity, never got all fire and brimstone, never made anyone who disagreed with him seem less of a person or less of a Christian. I know for a fact he never changed that way of teaching until the day he retired from the university about six years ago because both family and friends have taken his courses over the years.
Time’s article discusses this same concept, but in a new imitative to bring Bible literacy course to high schools. On the surface, I see no problem with teaching a course like this from a literacy, or historical, perspective as an elective course. I would prefer a curriculum that included other faiths, but this is a beginning. My concern is how these course will be taught. We live in a different time. It’s not easy to find Conservative Evangelicals who are even willing to discuss the Bible from an historical perspective, are even willing to compare and contract evolution vs. creationism in an intelligent manner. My concern is these courses would devolve into little more than proselytizing. Religion has become such a toxic subject these days, and I think we can blame Conservative Evangelicals for that. As a group, they can be so close minded to any thought or opinion that deviates from what they believe to be God’s word. No, not all Conservative Evangelicals are like and I’m lucky enough to call some them my friend, but it’s an unfortunate fact that too many are like that. Any course like this should be monitored closely.
Every time I read a speech by Pope Benedict I come away with the impression that he wishes for the good old days when the Catholic Church controlled most of Europe through their chosen monarchs and decided who would live or die on the whim of the day. I’m not a huge fan of the Catholic Church and I’m not Catholic myself, but I know many Catholics of both Conservative and Liberal persuasions and very few of them agree the church should have the kind of control over their lives Pope Benedict seems to believe it should. There is such a striking difference between Benedict and John Paul. The late pontiff always seemed to strike a welcoming, if not conciliatory, pose in his speeches. Benedict, on the other hand, always seems to go on the attack. Is this the way to draw people back into his church?
Christian groups are disappointed in the box-office returns of The Nativity Story and worry it means Hollywood won’t make more faith-based movies, and they should be. Hollywood is, above all, a business and they want to make money. If Christians believe Hollywood makes "extremely bigoted, anti-Christian movies’ because they do well at the box office" (an asinine statement, by the way), they need to support the good faith-based films that are released.
This year we saw the release of two high-profile faith-based films: One Night with the King and The Nativity Story. I’ve seen both of these films. One Night with the King was over-wrought, poorly acted, and badly adapted; it’s no wonder the film was a flop. I also saw The Nativity Story, which I liked. As films of this nature go I thought it was beautifully filmed and well-acted. I think the reason Nativity’s box-office was so meager is that it presents absolutely nothing original. Everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike, knows the story of Jesus’ birth. The film was a faithful adaption of the Bible story, so why should hard-working families spend upwards of $50 to take their family out to see such a film? I mean, are Christians Biblically obligated to support all faith-based entertainment?
As usual, The Passion of the Christ is brought up as ruler by which all faith-based films should be measured. That’s just silly. In this article, Ted Baehr cites how Mel Gibson sought out churches to begin drumming up interest in the film. Yeah, he used a made-up controversy to convince a group of vocal church leaders that Hollywood, and those nasty Jews who run it, were trying to keep his film from being released. Bullshit, of course, but churches turned themselves into moneychangers in the Temple and helped make Mel even richer than he already is — good job! He also mentions Disney’s campaign for The Chronicles of Narnia. Again, this is a bad example. Narnia is a film that can be viewed without understanding, or even caring about, any of C. S. Lewis’ religious themes. It’s a fantasy film featuring fantastical creatures and settings; I doubt seriously it was Christians that drove the film’s box office. More likely it was a post-Lord of the Rings desire that drove people into the theater.
Quite frankly, I think television is a much better medium for faith-based films and entertainment. The costs are less and more people will be willing to watch since, for the most part, it’s free. In fact, television has been a medium very friendly to faith-based entertainment and has seen much success in the area. In it’s heyday Seventh Heaven was watched by millions of people; Joan of Arcadia was also well-received for a short time; every year ABC shows The Ten Commandments and millions watch; the Hallmark Channel has had a lot of success adapting Janette Oke’s award-winning faith-based novels (Love Comes Softly, Love’s Enduring Promise, Love’s Abiding Joy).