Pamela@unc.UUCP (07/17/83)
This article is written partly in response to a recent article by
Larry Bickford. In his article, Larry sought to prove that them ol'
debbils Secular Humanists are trying to take over the nation in an
active campaign against religion. His evidence is several quotations
from certain Humanists, who apparently have unusually militant
opinions about Humanism.
In my article, I am going to provide some quotes which "prove"
(a la Bickford) that Christians are involved in a nefarious plot of
world dominance. I am also going to discuss what I feel is a rather
dangerous attitude prevalent among some born again Christians.
I want to make it clear from the first that in spite of their own
statements to the contrary, I am aware that the Moral Majority and
their ilk do NOT represent all Christians. These quotes are from a
radical minority who have achieved a certain amount of power and
publicity. No, I do not really believe that Christians in general
wish to seize control of the country or the world. These particular
Christians, however, make their intentions quite clear:
"It's time we returned to the McCarthy era and we
stamped Communists on the head and sent them back to
Russia."
Jerry Falwell
Sermon, Thomas Road Baptist Church
October 23, l977
"This is not just another skirmish with the enemy.
This is a major confrontation, perhaps one of the last
strategic battles on earth for the souls and minds of
men... For the first time in the history of world
evangelization, C.B.N. will bombard the nation with
the good news in newspapers and magazines, on
billboards and on radio and television... In the next
five years, if Jesus tarries, we expect to see thirty
percent of the Japanese population won to the Lord
through this massive campaign."
From Christian Broadcasting Network Brochure
"Programs to Change the World"
"It is now time for moral Americans to band
together in a collective voice, and make the
difference in America by exerting an effort to make
their feelings known. The Godless minority of
treacherous individuals who have been permitted to
formulate national policy must be made to see that
moral Americans are a powerful group who will no
longer permit them to destroy our country with their
Godless liberal philosophy."
Reverend Rich Zone
Vice-Chairman for Christians for Reagan
l980
"And this book (the Bible) by the way, is Jesus
Christ in written form. That means that anyone who
denies the verbal inspiration, the absolute
infallibility of this book is the spirit of the Anti-
Christ."
Jerry Falwell
Morning Service
May 27, l979
"We must remove all Humanists from public office
and replace them with pro- moral Christian leaders."
Tim LaHaye
From the introduction to his book, "Battle for the Mind"
"I'm for censorship of anything that is not fit
for our children to see... People like Hugh Hefner
and Larry Flynt ought to be in the penitentiary."
Jerry Falwell
At a Moral Majority Rally in Richmond Virginia
"I'm sick and tired of hearing about all the
radicals and the perverts and the liberals and the
leftists and the Communists coming out of the closet:
it's time for God's people to come out of the closet,
out of the churches, and change America! .... If
necessary, God would raise up a tyrant, a man who
might not have the best ethics, to protect the freedom
interests of the ethical and the godly."
Reverend James Robison
from his television show, "Wake up, America, We're all
Hostages!"
l980
"You know, most of the people who are leading
Anti-family efforts in America today are failures. If
you will just check up on them personally, you'll find
that most of them are wipe-outs and failures and are
trying to bring everybody else into their position of
misery and failure."
Jerry Falwell
Morning Service
December 2, l979
I could go on and on, but that would not really be necessary.
Anyone who regularly watches "The Old Time Gospel Hour", "The 700
Club", or "The P.T.L. Club" will hear similar rhetoric in different
styles. I have printed these quotations to make a point about Larry
Bickford's use of quotations. I have included that last mean little
dig by Falwell because it ties in with what I really want to discuss
here. All of these excerpts reflect a radical, hostile attitude
rarely encountered outside of politics. This attitude is expressed
less obviously in the witnessing of some born again Christians. It is
the subtler incarnation of this viewpoint that I am going to deal with
here.
Several months ago I watched a Phil Donahue show on which he
interviewed three born again Christians, the most vocal of whom was a
lovely, bright-eyed woman who sat next to him. At one point, Donahue
mentioned the fact that many unbelievers feel that born again
Christians condescend to them. The woman's reaction was interesting.
"Noooooooo," she crooned, laying a tender hand on Donahue's arm like a
nurse calming a delirious patient. The fact that she was proving his
point did not seem to occur to her. Later in the interview, she
denied stoutly that she disliked unbelievers. "We just feel sorry for
them," she said "We just pity them."
Pity. What a convenient substitute for dislike! It endows the
pitier with a cozier sense of virtue, it is infinitely more degrading
to whomever it is directed, and it is every bit as destructive as
hatred. I owe that woman a debt of gratitude for helping me clearly
identify something which has bothered me for years in my relations
with some born again Christians.
When missionaries knock on my door I generally invite them in for
a chat, because religious beliefs have always interested me.
Unfortunately, with many of them, I find myself regretting the
gesture. Not that my guests are hostile or rude; quite the contrary.
What gets on my nerves are the liquid glances, the commiserating
tones, the distinct sense that I am being perpetually forgiven for the
unspeakable misfortune of not being like them.
Apparently this sense of irritation is something that people who
like to call themselves "soul-winners" encounter a great deal. They
usually dismiss it as jeolousy. On that same Phil Donahue show,
Donahue was accused of envy by several born again Christians in the
audience, and in my encounters with born again Christians in which I
allowed my annoyance to show, I have been told that what I was REALLY
feeling was a sense of loss and unhappiness because I "knew" that they
were telling the truth about my spiritual condition. These people
seem incapable of acknowledging that anyone with a modicum of self-
respect resents being patronized.
It is a matter of common decency to give others the benefit of the
doubt when they discuss their own feelings or beliefs, and to assume,
until evidence shows otherwise, that they are telling the truth.
There is almost nothing more arrogant than announcing to somebody you
hardly know, "Well, you know your REAL reason is..." or "I know that
your REAL feelings are..." Even if you disagree with someone, you
should initially assume that they are sincere in their beliefs. Yet
many born again Christians hold, practically as part of their
doctrine, that anyone outside of the Judeo-Christian system has
something wrong with them, and are being dishonest or deluded when
they say they are happy and at peace with themselves.
In a pamphlet entitled "Personal Evangelism" by John R.W. Stott,
this attitude is encouraged. The fact that someone could have moral
or rational reasons for rejecting Christianity is not touched upon; in
fact, it is actively denied. In a section of the pamphlet which
discusses various reasons given for not converting, Stott describes
the condition of the unbeliever:
"Our friend might call it 'indifference'. He feels
no need of Christ. He claims to manage well without
him, but WE CANNOT ACCEPT HIS STATEMENT. It is just
not true." [emphasis mine]
It has been my experience that intolerant people tend to justify
themselves by denying that anyone could feel differently. I have
known racists who have declared that everybody is really a racist, and
that those who deny it are hypocrites. In the same way, some born
again Christians assume that because they personally have the need for
a "relationship with Christ", everybody else must have the same need.
Unbelief is routinely spoken of in terms of sickness. Stott comments
tenderly in his pamphlet, "Just as those four friends brought the
paralytic and laid him at Jesus' feet, so we must bring our
[unbelieving] friend into His presence in prayer." On that same
Donahue Show the woman said, when asked about the morality of
proselytizing, "Well, if you're sick, and I have the means to cure
you, don't you think I should?"
The question is, of course, who is she to say that anybody else is
sick or unhappy simply because they hold different beliefs? This
tenet comes dangerously close to Soviet psychiatry in its belief that
rebelliousness and independant thought are an aberration. (Tim has
asked me to point out that, in practice, the methods of Christian
"deprogrammers" are virtually indistinguishable from those used by
Soviet psychiatrists.) Nobody has the right to decide for me what my
needs and motivations are. It is disturbing and annoying when
somebody is patronizing in this fashion in normal conversation. It is
frightening when these same people start talking about seizing the
reins of power in this country.
Pamela Troy
__________________________________________
c/o The overworked keyboard of Tim Maroney
duke!unc!tim (USENET)
tim.unc@udel-relay (ARPA)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hillholt@parsec.UUCP (07/23/83)
#R:unc:-557100:parsec:45700001:000:2262
parsec!holt Jul 21 17:33:00 1983
Tim and Pamela:
It is indeed refreshing to see two well written articles which
point to separate but very real problems with christianity. I think
that Pamela's article deals with the direct results of people
subconsciencely (sp?) dealing with the kind of god described by Tim.
A two-faced god, who on one hand preaches about love, and on the
other promises hell and damnation if you don't "believe" in him is
not for me. Why would a great omnipotent being care one tiny iota
whether I, a mere mite upon the face of this planet acknowledge his
greatness??? Similarly, why would he want to be worshipped rather
than be admired as a role model or some such thing. Your other points
showing the ambiguities between his supposed compassion and all of
the starving people in the world are also well taken. I JUST HOPE
HE STEPS IN AND STOPS ICBMS IN FLIGHT!!! Christianity is obviously
the result of human minds over many generations and is meant to be an
institution for gathering power, like any other. Just watch TV preachers
and see if that's not true...
Of more concern than a wrathful god is the problem discussed by Pamela.
People acting on behalf of "GOD" have done atrocious things throughout
the centuries, and mass media religion sure has potential for
more of the same. As a rule I can't stand watching those shows, but the
other day I turned on the 700 club. It was pure politics, all in the name
of "GOD", mind you. Kill commies. Don't kill fetuses (let the mothers die-
it's god's will). Get those "humanists" out of our schools! Let's make
America a "God Fearing" country again...... ("god fearing"?? that says
something right there). It seems to me that these people conveniently forget
that this country was created in large part due to the desire for religious
freedom on the part of the colonists.
I say let's keep it free.
Just a little support from the right.....
Dave Holt
{allegra,ihnp4,uiucdcs}!parsec!holt
P.S. We should stop supporting the tobacco industry with government
subsidies. If people want to kill themselves with tobacco,
it's ok with me, I just don't want to pay for it. I also
don't like breathing their excess smoke.
( Well,........ I don't agree with you on everything.)