What is most confusing to me is what the founder and chairman of an ultra-conservative Prison Ministry is doing analyzing from such a distance the inner workings of the United Church of Christ. While denying any coordinated attack on liberal denominations like the UCC, he finds himself directly allied with a UCC renewal group (BWF), and the principle attack machine of Mainline Christianity (IRD). His commentary is filled with misinformation about the UCC - most likely fed to him by someone from within the BWF or the IRD, who each have a long track record of distortion and revisionist history concocted to stir up dissention within the ranks of otherwise content congregations. Please do not misunderstand me: congregations within the United Church of Christ argue and fight with each other, and with their sister congregations, often. We always have. This is in part due to the fact that there is a lot at stake in our arguments, our dialogue, and our conversation. What I mean to say is that there is no structure within the denomination that forces choices upon us. Each congregation is it's own fully autonomous and governing body. Each Association and Conference of churches is also free from the constraint of choices forced upon them from local churches or our National offices. No one voice represents the whole. And so local churches, Conferences, and National bodies all have something at stake in each and every debate.
It is also due in no small part to the simple fact that we are not a "Liberal" denomination - whatever that might mean. Though always characterized as such by those who, from the radical right, perceive anyone who uses anything other than a literal interpretation to read the Bible, the United Church of Christ - like many Mainline churches - has conservative, liberal, and moderate members in EVERY one of our churches. Our collective choices are not often the same ones demanded by our all or nothing, one way or the highway covenantal partners in the Biblical Witness Fellowship: but that does not prove the accusation that we are a "Liberal" church. The kind of vitriol and animosity engendered by the Chuck Colson's of our time alter the reality of life in our local churches by quite a bit. In his address, Colson asks why the UCC continues its "effort to drive out conservatives from Mainline churches." No body, no institution, no entity within the United Church of Christ has ever done anything of the sort. In fact, throughout its history the UCC and its predecessor bodies have stood at the front of the ecumenical movement, embracing unity with all partners in faith and believing that theological and ideological differences can be overlooked for the sake of Christian unity (which should never be confused the kind of Christian uniformity demanded by the radical right). Colson goes on to chastise John Thomas for blaming outsiders on the demise of his denomination rather than "examining its own mistakes." And he offers this criticism as if it is a given that because John Thomas publicly named the IRD as an attack agent on our churches, it can only mean that John Thomas sees that as the only cause of a net loss in members in the UCC over the last decades. How sad for Chuck that his world can so easily be reduced to such simplicity; and how sad for all of us that he cannot countenance the possibility that an ecumenical partner - which has indeed been losing members on a steady decline like all Mainline churches - would not have exhausted every possible and reasonable explanation and remedy for that decline. Would that we could reduce the whole matter to a few choices we have made in recent years that Chuck and others are offended by - but we all know and believe that our world, that our church, is so much more complex than that. And shame on Chuck for making such a public and ill-founded attack on a partner in mission and ministry. Finally, Chuck asks whether as members of the church in our time we ought follow the Bible, or rewrite our beliefs to be culturally relevant - implying that what the UCC has done is abandon fundamental principles of scripture in order to create the church in a way that, while culturally relevant, is Biblically errant. Well, the United Church of Christ is, and will always try to be, relevant. The word cultural is a canard used by the right to imply "secular" as opposed to biblical, or faithful, or spiritual. It is a red herring, meant more to distract than advance a rational debate. If faith, if the church, if Biblical interpretation cannot remain relevant then it becomes meaningless. Chuck knows this. There is no such false choice as the one proposed by him, that one either interpret the Bible literally or become dependent for one's meaning and purpose on a culture that does not know God. His prison ministry is a noble effort to be relevant. He should acknowledge that the United Church of Christ's campaign to tell all that "no matter who you are or where you are in life's journey, you are welcome here" is not only relevant - it is reflective of a Gospel message preached often by the one we know as the Christ. So shame on him for this new attack. And shame on The Biblical Witness Fellowship for abandoning their covenantal partner and giving voice to one more intent on its demise.
Colson coddles with BWF | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)
Colson coddles with BWF | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)
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Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series
on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)
Palin: "A Natural Choice" for Catholics?
The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-eight Is Governor Sarah Palin really "a natural choice" for Catholics as Fidelis's Brian Burch suggests? The answer is obviously,...... By Frank Cocozzelli (4 comments)
Major Christian Organization Endorses the Military Religious Freedom Foundation
With all the attention being given to the radical fundamentalist brand of Christianity espoused by churches like that of Sarah Palin -- a brand...... By Chris Rodda (0 comments)
Palin's Church Promotes Gay Conversion
The Associated Press reports that the Wasilla Bible Church where Sarah Palin is a member is promoting a conference on the crackpot notion of...... By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Palin's Pastor: God "Is Gonna Strike Out His Hand Against... America
On July 20, 2008, the pastor of Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's home church, Larry Kroon, delivered a sermon called "Sin Is Personal To...... By Max Blumenthal (1 comment)
Sarah Palin and the Servant Heart
<small>Senior Analyst, Political Research Associates (author info)</small>Sarah Palin's references to the Servant Heart comes from the idea that Jesus of Nazareth asked his...... By Chip Berlet (5 comments)
Short Takes: Sarah Palin Edition
Religion Dispatches: Kathryn Joyce profiles Palin -- as McCain's mad pander to the Religious Right continues to unfold. Gay City News: The accumulating evidence...... By Frederick Clarkson (2 comments)
Palin's Churches and the Third Wave
Part Two This posting documents the extensive involvement of several of Sarah Palin's churches in the Third Wave Movement, also known as the New...... By Ruth (2 comments)
Palin's Churches and the Third Wave
Part One History and Theology of the Third Wave Sarah Palin has refused to acknowledge belonging to any specific denomination or any particular religious...... By Ruth (3 comments)
What is Dominionism? Palin, the Christian Right, & Theocracy
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EVENT CANCELLED Speaking in Philadelphia on September 27th
Update [2008-9-5 12:26:36 by Frederick Clarkson]: Buzzflash has announced that the event has been cancelled, but that the themes will continue to be pursued...... By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Sarah Palin's Theocratic End Times - UPDATED
I have never believed that the evangelical views of George W. Bush ran deep -- at least as far as relating interpretations of the...... By Frederick Clarkson (4 comments)
Dobson and the Religious Right Rally for McCain/Palin
It was not so long ago that pundits were busy telling us that the Religious Right is dead, dying or irrelevant. The selection of...... By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
At Palin Church, Jews For Jesus Head Says Terrorism vs Israel Is God's Punishment
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Theocrats to Pray for McCain's Death
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Rest Assured New Orleans, I'm Sure Lt. Gen. Van Antwerp is Praying for You
For those who don't know who Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp is, he's the Commanding General of the Army Corps of Engineers --...... By Chris Rodda (2 comments)
Future links to upcoming documentaries on Palin's Churches
Will live here, at this URL address. ...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches
Over the past few days, I've done reporting on Sarah Palin's extensive dominionist connections--including the attempt to run her as a "stealth" dominionist candidate and her connections to some scary dominionist groups including not...... By dogemperor (1 comment)
Palin Steals Hockey Mom Joke from John Hagee?
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The Irony of Sarah Palin's "Choice"
Republican operatives and religious conservatives are ecstatic over Sarah Palin. Most of all, they are ecstatic that she is a "pro-life" mother who chose not to have an abortion after she found of she...... By tacitus (0 comments)
New revelations re "stealth dominionist" Sarah Palin
A few days ago, I wrote one of the first articles out there regarding Sarah Palin's VP nomination as a "stealth dominionist"--a "stealther" with extensive Assemblies connections (and to particularly scary segments of the...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
Sarah Palin: Dominionist Stalking Horse
The big news, obviously, in the blogosphere today is John McCain's surprise pick for the Republican veep nominee--a relative unknown by the name of Sarah Palin, whom--at least in the more conventional political circles--would...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
Richard Land Picks Republican Veep Candidate
Yesterday the media was all atwitter about Karl Rove's supposed Republican V.P. pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. However, it seems that instead SBC President Richard Land, well known among readers of Talk2Action for his...... By ulyankee (1 comment)
"Yes on 8" RSVP? Need your advice.
Schubert Flint Public Affairs has been hired to run the Yes on Prop. 8 ("Protect Marriage") initiative. If you've happened to notice the names Jennifer Kerns, Frank Schubert, or Jeff Flint in media coverage...... By Chino Blanco (2 comments)
Alabama PSC Cantidate Matt Chancey: His Views on Suffrage, Women, Marriage, etc.
Promoted from the diaries -- FC Alabama voters should be made aware that Matt Chancey opposes"one person, one vote" suffrage, apparently on religious grounds. Matt Chancey, a Republican, is running for president of the...... By CynthiaGee (2 comments)
Jews and Christians Unite against the Empire of Neo-cons and 'Christian' Zionists
Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources...Everything is justified in...... By eileen fleming (1 comment)
Patriot Follows the Money and Exposes Foreign Agents
"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official."-Theodore Roosevelt ...... By eileen fleming (0 comments)
The Alleged "Church of Liberalism"
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Hope Never Dies for Extremists
The extreme political Religious Right hasn't given up hope of getting something out of this election. Their latest ploy involves petitioning the parties for a "True Christian" in the vice-presidential slot. The Christian Anti-Defamation...... By John McKay (0 comments)
Catholic religious right wing: Legion of Christ
Frank L. Cocozzelli's weekly series of posts on "The Catholic Right" (listed here) includes quite a few posts about Opus Dei. There's another, similarly ultra-orthodox Catholic religious order he might want to examine in...... By Diane Vera (3 comments)
Prosyletization in Iraq: A threat to national security
As amazing as it sounds, dominionists may in fact be fomenting terrorism--not just the domestic terrorism like bombings of women's clinics we normally associate, but the very "Islamist terror bombings" that the GOP loves...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
Proselytization in Iraq: A minor history
The recent incident where a Marine was recently found distributing "Bible coins" promoted by a fundamentalist "Bible church" is, sad to say, far from the first incident of overt prosyletisation in Iraq. The truth...... By dogemperor (1 comment)
Source of "Bible coins" distributed by USMC in Iraq discovered
In what is--sadly--yet another case of the extent of which blatant prosyletisation is tolerated in the modern US military, a recent incident where members of the US Marine Corps were handing out coins to...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
What Does the Religious Right Fear the Most?
A poll that one of the giants on the right, Coral Ridge Ministries, sent to their members gives a revealing insight into their world view. ...... By John McKay (3 comments)
UK Abortion Limit Stays at 24 Weeks Despite Washington Think Tank's Tactics
IN GOD'S NAME is a revealing documentary about how the Alliance Defense Fund is using its tactics to try to restrict abortion in Europe as well as in America. Watch this trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeTfW8-dCNE ...... By TMurray (3 comments)
'Christians United For Israel' Joyfully Sing of Israel's Invasion and Destruction
An open letter, from Ray McGovern, a 27-year intelligence analyst with the CIA, to Admiral William J. Fallon, warns of an impending US attack on Iran. If such an event occurred, the resulting war...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
The Petrification of John McCain
We are very pleased to welcome Frederick Lane as a guest front pager. He is the author of several books,most recently, The Court and the Cross: The Religious Right's Crusade to Reshape the Supreme...... By Frederick_Lane (3 comments)
More Biblical Precedent for Allowing Abortion
This is a follow up to my most recent diary entry. ...... By TMurray (3 comments)
John Hagee Says God Made AIDS and Bird Flu But Lord will Protect Him Personally
John Hagee claims 1) that he knows with absolute certainty the will of God (as he told a BBC interviewer in 2003), is 2) sure that he, John Hagee, has a place in heaven...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Biblical support for abortion, who knew?
It turns out that our present legal understanding of when a life is entitled to legal protection is consistent with the Old Testament Biblical understanding of when a fetus becomes a 'life' warranting legal...... By TMurray (2 comments)
2001 John Hagee Film Shows Gangsterish Rabbi, Foppish Catholic Priest In League With anti-Christ
The following somewhat satirical video is built around a brief excerpt from Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee's 2001 55-minute film "Vanished", which followed the prophetic, premillennial plot line of Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkin's...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
PBS "Carrier": A Mixed Blessing
Watching the PBS miniseries "Carrier" was a revelation, but not always a pleasant one... ...... By bughouse square (0 comments)
Will We Ever Learn?
Ever looked at something or did something which at the time seemed good and beneficial only to learn that it was not what you thought? If we could all have the opportunity to live...... By truthngrace (0 comments)
McCain-Endorser's Church Casts Out "Demon of Anal Fissures", Teaches Vomiting Evil Spirits
[NOTE: for a related story, see Mai Tai Dogs: Pics Show Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant] I have to admit, on one level it sounds more entertaining than a church full...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Bush 41 salutes Sun Myung Moon's effort to subdue the planet.
Sun Myung Moon's end time political front, the Universal Peace Federation had a summit from April 28 to May 2 in Washington DC. The participants took a tour of the Moon owned Washington Times...... By Lou (2 comments)
Advancing The Kingdom
Over the past four years, I've researched the darkest regions of the Christian right for the non-fiction film Silhouette City. The film tracks the movement of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the margins of American...... By MichaelWWilson (2 comments) More Diaries... |
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