2008 Woodie Awards
'Christian right' aren't right Christians
Kevin Major
Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Anyone who has ever picked up a copy of the Bible and spent any time at all glancing over the New Testament knows that Jesus himself was adamantly against hypocrisy. This can only lead to one conclusion: evangelical leader Ted Haggard never read the Bible.
I'm sure by now most everyone has heard about the allegations against Haggard, claiming that he paid a male prostitute for sex and drugs. While this was occurring, Haggard himself railed against gay marriage and being gay in general. The blatant hypocrisy however is not the most pressing issue about this whole debate.
Over the weekend I noticed a slew of disturbing headlines popping up all over internet news websites. These headlines asked questions about what the evangelical movement would do now following the wake of this scandal. My response would be that they hopefully would wake up. For years our country has been torn apart by so called "Christians" who choose to exploit the differences of our nation to promote their own personal agendas.
Evangelical leaders such as Haggard, Jerry Falwell, and my personal favorite Pat "God sent the hurricanes to kill the gays" Robertson have polluted the minds of thousands upon thousands of otherwise decent Americans with their twisted religious views. Every one of these people that I've mentioned (and many others I haven't) have also been found to be less than forthcoming about their own morals.
Now I don't mean to say that all Christians or all Christian leaders are immoral, because by far the vast majority of them are great people. But the problem lies when someone, or some movement, is given so much power and influence over a nation. The religious right in America has long been in bed with the Republican Party, but its power and influence is starting to reach epic proportions. Even one time rational thinkers like Senator John McCain who previously refused to fall whim to the religious right has now begun singing their praises.
As much as I would like to blame politicians like McCain or President Bush for their religious pandering, I can't solely place it on them. The fact is, all politicians are politicians first and therefore do what they need to do to win. Republicans are now so entrapped with the religious right that for any Republican to win, it seems that he or she must kneel before the church. And not just any church will do. It needs to be one of the ultra-conservative, ultra-out of the mainstream, ultra-whack evangelical churches that are gripping hold on this nation.
There is hope however. Every time that one of these church leaders is exposed for what they truly are, it enlightens more people to what these evangelical mega churches really stand for. Instead of trying to love, serve and unite everyone (which are real Christian beliefs), it's shown how these churches are nothing more than a stake being used to drive us apart as a people.
Instead of focusing on all of the aspects of the Bible and religion that tear us apart, maybe all of us should start trying to live out the positive message of religion. The country and the world would be a far better place if instead of attacking each other's morals and beliefs, we chose to see our common ideas and try to live positive lives.
I'm sure by now most everyone has heard about the allegations against Haggard, claiming that he paid a male prostitute for sex and drugs. While this was occurring, Haggard himself railed against gay marriage and being gay in general. The blatant hypocrisy however is not the most pressing issue about this whole debate.
Over the weekend I noticed a slew of disturbing headlines popping up all over internet news websites. These headlines asked questions about what the evangelical movement would do now following the wake of this scandal. My response would be that they hopefully would wake up. For years our country has been torn apart by so called "Christians" who choose to exploit the differences of our nation to promote their own personal agendas.
Evangelical leaders such as Haggard, Jerry Falwell, and my personal favorite Pat "God sent the hurricanes to kill the gays" Robertson have polluted the minds of thousands upon thousands of otherwise decent Americans with their twisted religious views. Every one of these people that I've mentioned (and many others I haven't) have also been found to be less than forthcoming about their own morals.
Now I don't mean to say that all Christians or all Christian leaders are immoral, because by far the vast majority of them are great people. But the problem lies when someone, or some movement, is given so much power and influence over a nation. The religious right in America has long been in bed with the Republican Party, but its power and influence is starting to reach epic proportions. Even one time rational thinkers like Senator John McCain who previously refused to fall whim to the religious right has now begun singing their praises.
As much as I would like to blame politicians like McCain or President Bush for their religious pandering, I can't solely place it on them. The fact is, all politicians are politicians first and therefore do what they need to do to win. Republicans are now so entrapped with the religious right that for any Republican to win, it seems that he or she must kneel before the church. And not just any church will do. It needs to be one of the ultra-conservative, ultra-out of the mainstream, ultra-whack evangelical churches that are gripping hold on this nation.
There is hope however. Every time that one of these church leaders is exposed for what they truly are, it enlightens more people to what these evangelical mega churches really stand for. Instead of trying to love, serve and unite everyone (which are real Christian beliefs), it's shown how these churches are nothing more than a stake being used to drive us apart as a people.
Instead of focusing on all of the aspects of the Bible and religion that tear us apart, maybe all of us should start trying to live out the positive message of religion. The country and the world would be a far better place if instead of attacking each other's morals and beliefs, we chose to see our common ideas and try to live positive lives.