Suggested articles for coping with all this right-wing Christianity...

[checks-n-balances]

There’s been some discussion lately on DU about RW Christianity, and I don’t think it’s for the purpose of proselytizing or division among us. But the influence of evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity is heavy in our culture (and government), so I think we should know about the religious alternatives – for the sake of argument. Most of us know bad theology when we hear it, but we all feel at a loss at how to counter it with something more decent and humane. So for anyone who’s interested, I have found some good articles about progressive Christianity for this thread about the Frontline show on W’s religious beliefs. But it was too late to post them on the thread I was following, which can be found at:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1642817

so I decided to start another thread! For those who are interested, here’s some reading from progressive/liberal websites to keep you busy. Of course, I wish people from certain OTHER message board sites could be reading them too...

BTW, feel free to post discussion underneath this, although this will already be an old thread by the time it takes to read just one article. (Is there a solution for that?)

Dangerous Religion: George W. Bush's theology of empire
by Jim Wallis (interviewed in that Frontline program)
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?ction=magazine.article&issue=soj0309&article=030910

The Democrats’ Religion Problem by Jim Wallis
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0402&article=040251

Short articles from beliefnet.com – a great website, lots of info about many religions -
What Christians can learn from the skeptics’ search for the historical Jesus
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/22/story_2293_1.html

What would Jesus think of all our speculation about who he is? http://www.beliefnet.com/story/22/story_2281_1.html

Jesus for Non-Christians
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/106/story_10618_1.html

Prisoners and Other Strangers: why Christian ethics demand we treat prisoners as we would the Lord
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/146/story_14623_1.html

Jesus the Jew By Rabbi Michael Lerner
http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/index.cfm/action/tikkun/issue/tik0405/article/040511a.html

Christians Must Challenge American Messianic Nationalism
1. False Theological Idea One: God chooses one nation above all other nations.
2. False Theological Idea Two: The United States is God's uniquely chosen nation.
3. False Theological Idea Three: Evil is socially located in the enemies of the United States.
4. False Theological Idea Four: Evil can be conquered by external coercion, ultimately by military force.
http://www.witherspoonsociety.org/2004/ruether_call.htm

How Islam-Bashing Got Cool: President Bush no longer seems able to restrain anti-Islamic rhetoric
By Deborah Caldwell
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/110/story_11074_1.html

Martin Luther King Jr. made his first public statements against the Vietnam War in the summer of 1965. But harsh attacks from the White House and the press, coupled with lack of support from most of the civil rights community, initially led King to downplay his anti-war stance. After nearly two years of wrestling with the issue, however, King could no longer stay quiet, and he plunged deep into the difficult and controversial work of drawing out the connections between war, racism, and poverty. This excerpt from the forthcoming book, To the Mountaintop: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Sacred Mission to Save America, gives a glimpse of King's transformative journey.

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0401&article=040110

The Search for Jesus, an 8 week mini-course through beliefnet.com:
http://secure.agoramedia.com/index_jesus2.asp?promo=6F4BA31E-7423-4988-8D79-4CDAD7A09F2A&email=

Would Jesus Love a Liberal Christian? You bet!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/liberalchristians.htm

Also very good:
http://www.liberalslikechrist.org

"Christian Zionism" and the Myth of America
http://www.cmep.org/theology/2003May9.htm

[ezee]

1. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I've been needing this info.

[Grins]

4. Then you'll want this one!

Something even more scary. Produced by "TheocracyWatch", a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy at Cornell University. Very detailed, good reading, lots of references and links.

<http://www.4religious-right.info/index.html>

[DeadHead67]

2. Here's one more. . . .

. . . . And from the Episcopal Church, no less, which claims among it's members Carl Rove. As a member of this particular branch of the universal church, I prefer to think he is the exception rather than the rule. http://www.thewitness.org/ (not sure how to add links to this forum, so you may have to cut&paste the above)

[amber dog democrat]

3. I will need to read these links in depth when I have more time.

I agree with you 100%. There is that quote that goes " Patriotism is the last refuge of scandals " and I would add Religeon to that as well.

The Born-Again, evangelical, Revealation-based, Jesus cults worry me the most.
I got to hear an interview of one of the authors of the Left Behind books, and I came away with the conclusion that this is a spinoff Christian Cult that bears some resemblance to Christianity but also seems to be a form of organized crime.
I don't believe in a creed that requires that kind of obediance to doctrine -uncritically.


Give me Erasumus, The Srewtape Letters, ....whatever.

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

5. Bush just doesn't get it...

It bothers me that there's such a push to do things for the whole of this country in only one direction, when that clearly isn't the right thing for everyone. Not everyone in this country is a right-wing conservative, Bible-toting kind of person. It appalls me that there's actually someone in office who tries to represent our country as a whole in that way, and it couldn't be further from the truth. Our beauty and our strength as a people is in our diversity, and that includes our personal beliefs. Bush's policy risks sending our social system spiraling back 50 years, and that would be a terrible thing.

[Pale Blue Dot]

6. Hi ordinaryaveragegirl !

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[amber dog democrat]

7. This is not about respect for diversity or personal beliefs...

Its about POWER. pure and simple. Bush just jumped on the bandwagon that offered the longest free ride. I am very, very leery about these Faith based initiatives replacing the federal social welfare programs. I agree with you completely.