Sub-groups within political factions are really nothing new - Left-Handers For Liberty, Pet Owners Practicing Political Change, whatever you can imagine, it's already out there.
For some time now in Ohio, for instance, there has been a huge push to create Patriot Pastors by the thousands who will register voters and who use military terminology to whip up the faithful into a political frenzy.
"'Sound an alarm!' he boomed. 'A Holy Ghost invasion is taking place. Man your battle stations, ready your weapons, lock and load!' In the course of the performance, Parsley promised that during the next four years his campaign, Reformation Ohio, would bring a hundred thousand Ohioans to Christ, register four hundred thousand new voters, serve the disadvantaged, and guide the state through “a culture-shaking revolutionary revival.'"
More on the players in this political framework, which is facing IRS investigation, is here from the New Yorker.
Yesterday at Nashville is Talking, discussion was fierce over the creation of "Prayer Warriors" who are mustering legions (well, more like dozens, for Jim Bryson's bid for Governor.
Some within the very Southern Baptist faith express grave concern at the co-mingling of politics and religion. Bob Shurden, Director of the Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University, spoke on the topic of religion and politics in Atlanta in June. He tells the Associated Baptist Press:
"I am suggesting that some Christian churches in our country have become political temples and that some clergy have embraced willingly the title of 'patriot pastors.' I am suggesting that theocrats have an eye on the machinery of the national and state governments, and they make no apology for it.
As for me - I doubt I'm the only one to notice the catastrophic effects the combination of Belief and Politics has had on parts of the world, say in the Middle East?
Dude, I've been ranting about that stuff for years. We're one economic disaster away from being EXACTLY like the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as these Pat Robertson types that mix hawk politics with fire and brimstone bible thumpin, people like me (and you) are getting the thumbscrews.
Uh, coherence, go...
ReplyDeleteI don't think most Americans realize how Europe had been engulfed by religious warfare for hundreds of years, which prompted many to flee to North America and establish a non-religious government.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame to see the return of this dangerous mix.
And yeah, at the least I'm likely fodder for the next Inquisition.
The worst part is the failure of the religious right to recognize the hypocracy of criticizing the religious fanatacism of Islamic terrorists.
ReplyDeleteUgh. This shit makes me want to throw right up.
...to keep forever from our shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soils of Europe with blood for centuries..
ReplyDeleteJames Madison writing about the importance of separation of church and state