War on Christians: finally over
| By AnnikaCarlson - Mar 30th, 2006 at 10:15 am EST |
| Also listed in: Undercover at the "War on Christians" conference | Campus Progress Blog |
With a couple good nights of sleep under my belt, I'm ready to offer final reflections on the "War on Christians."
The conference wrapped up with a duo of hyper preachers: Janet Parshall and Alan Keyes. Parshall started things off talking about how she got saved, and how important John 3:16, that famous end zone verse, is to Christians. "I understood unconditional love when I heard it," she recalled. Of course, it doesn't seem that she's understood or heard much about unconditional love since, because she went on to lump all non-Christians into one group of misguided, Bible-hating, freedom-restricting heathens.
She calls the war on Christians a culture war, in which two "mutually exclusive worldviews" battle for the hearts and minds of Americans. Based on her speech, those two groups are Christians and, again, everyone else, with the former spreading love and the latter sowing discord. "This war is as ancient as when we stepped out of the Garden [of Eden]," she said, proceeding to give us a lesson in Biblical history to prove her point. I'm not really sure how there could be a war on Christians before Christianity existed; that was probably too complicated for her to tackle in a 40 minute speech.
She wrapped up with a long story about the prophet Elijah, emphasizing that "Elijah was upsetting the status quo! That's what Christians do--upset the status quo!" And even though they'd been fighting against change and booing progress the whole conference, the audience loved that one. They gave Parshall a standing ovation. Surprise.
Parshall was followed by Alan Keyes, who is likely certifiably insane. His speech focused on the God-given rights of humans, referencing our beloved Declaration of Independence and repeating that humans are "endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable Rights."
Curiously, he also spoke of "terroristic Islamic clerics" who are "spilling blood" in the name of the Allah. By reducing Muslims to bloodthirsty savages, it doesn't seem like Keyes recognizes them as equal creations of God. Of course, Keyes was only applying God-given rights to Christians, not to any of the other groups reviled at the conference, like homosexuals, feminists or atheists. And never mind the fact that nearly all the conference's policy advocacy flies in the face of ANY sense of inherent human equality and dignity.
Working himself into a fist-pounding, arm-waving fervor, Keyes somehow condemned everything un-Christian and pushed the idea that a country ruled by Christians is like a country ruled by God. He also had a tendency to lapse into a British accent when speaking more quietly, and a tendency to hurt my ears when yelling into his microphone. And then he got a standing ovation or two.
What was missing from all this, and the conference in general, was any true discussion of God and Jesus. It must be handy to know the will of God and the intent of the Savior and be able to translate it into concrete policy like abortion bans and traditional marriage bills. I was struck by the decisiveness with which all the speakers declared their agenda the intent of God, the will of God incarnate in their bill or program or radio show or whatever. The whole thing just seemed so reductive--no discernment, no questioning, just rhetoric confirming that God supported their agenda.
Thankfully, I somehow made it through without revealing that I think Jesus was a counter-culture hippie. I would have been tarred and feathered for sure--and the original GW would have been there to oversee. One of these days I'm going to have to change my name for doing things like this--who knows how many fiery conservative Christianist mailing lists I'm on by now.
The conference wrapped up with a duo of hyper preachers: Janet Parshall and Alan Keyes. Parshall started things off talking about how she got saved, and how important John 3:16, that famous end zone verse, is to Christians. "I understood unconditional love when I heard it," she recalled. Of course, it doesn't seem that she's understood or heard much about unconditional love since, because she went on to lump all non-Christians into one group of misguided, Bible-hating, freedom-restricting heathens.
She calls the war on Christians a culture war, in which two "mutually exclusive worldviews" battle for the hearts and minds of Americans. Based on her speech, those two groups are Christians and, again, everyone else, with the former spreading love and the latter sowing discord. "This war is as ancient as when we stepped out of the Garden [of Eden]," she said, proceeding to give us a lesson in Biblical history to prove her point. I'm not really sure how there could be a war on Christians before Christianity existed; that was probably too complicated for her to tackle in a 40 minute speech.
She wrapped up with a long story about the prophet Elijah, emphasizing that "Elijah was upsetting the status quo! That's what Christians do--upset the status quo!" And even though they'd been fighting against change and booing progress the whole conference, the audience loved that one. They gave Parshall a standing ovation. Surprise.
Parshall was followed by Alan Keyes, who is likely certifiably insane. His speech focused on the God-given rights of humans, referencing our beloved Declaration of Independence and repeating that humans are "endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable Rights."
Curiously, he also spoke of "terroristic Islamic clerics" who are "spilling blood" in the name of the Allah. By reducing Muslims to bloodthirsty savages, it doesn't seem like Keyes recognizes them as equal creations of God. Of course, Keyes was only applying God-given rights to Christians, not to any of the other groups reviled at the conference, like homosexuals, feminists or atheists. And never mind the fact that nearly all the conference's policy advocacy flies in the face of ANY sense of inherent human equality and dignity.
Working himself into a fist-pounding, arm-waving fervor, Keyes somehow condemned everything un-Christian and pushed the idea that a country ruled by Christians is like a country ruled by God. He also had a tendency to lapse into a British accent when speaking more quietly, and a tendency to hurt my ears when yelling into his microphone. And then he got a standing ovation or two.
What was missing from all this, and the conference in general, was any true discussion of God and Jesus. It must be handy to know the will of God and the intent of the Savior and be able to translate it into concrete policy like abortion bans and traditional marriage bills. I was struck by the decisiveness with which all the speakers declared their agenda the intent of God, the will of God incarnate in their bill or program or radio show or whatever. The whole thing just seemed so reductive--no discernment, no questioning, just rhetoric confirming that God supported their agenda.
Thankfully, I somehow made it through without revealing that I think Jesus was a counter-culture hippie. I would have been tarred and feathered for sure--and the original GW would have been there to oversee. One of these days I'm going to have to change my name for doing things like this--who knows how many fiery conservative Christianist mailing lists I'm on by now.
!
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