Unscrubbing the IRD's Past
Frederick Clarkson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Thu May 08, 2008 at 01:56:38 PM EST
The notorious Institute on Religion and Democracy recently launched a new web site. Some changes naturally, do not necessarily acknowledge aspects of the organization's past. But it is also fair to say that the site changes, have the effect (intended or unintended) of scrubbing and sanitizing some aspects of its past it would probably prefer we not remember.

For example, the organization once featured prominent conservative Catholics and Jews on its board and advisor board -- until many of them quietly disappeared after Andrew Weaver  exposed their involvement. (There are still a number of Catholics, but not as many as before.) Also missing is the Association for Church Renewal, which was organized under IRD's auspices in 1995 and whose membership included leading Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist and UCC "renewal" groups. Fortunately there is a terrific searchable internet archive called the Way Back Machine. It is not comprehensive, but it is a helpful research tool.

For our purposes, it unscrubs some important dimensions of the not-so-way-back past of IRD and its affiliates.

People who are concerned about what IRD & Friends have been up to, may want to go back and check out some of the unscrubbed history.

For example, in a few clicks we can learn:

How in 1999 the Accociation for Church Renewal called for the dissolution of the National Council of Churches

"There are signs of new movements toward Christian cooperation and understanding, including the Evangelicals and Catholics Together statements, the Celebrate Jesus 2000 movement, and emerging grassroots ecumenism.  The NCC is entirely irrelevant to the new ecumenism," said David Runnion Bareford of the Biblical Witness Fellowship (United Church of Christ).
 

And we see here, as of 2002, the list of member organizations in the Association for Church Renewal.

And here, in 2002, is the IRD board of directors, which included no less than six prominent Catholics:

Mrs. Mary Ellen Bork, Dr. J. Budziszewski, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Robert George, Professor, Princeton University, The Rev. Richard J. Neuhaus, The Institute on Religion and Public Life, Mr. Michael Novak, George Frederick Jewett Scholar, American Enterprise Institute, Mr. George Weigel, Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center

As noted above, Andrew Weaver reported that these, and other neoconservative Catholic leaders have been the leading faction in IRD from early on; helping goad conservative factions in the liberal protestant churches to the point of schism.  Weaver writes:  

IRD constitutes the most grievous breach in ecumenical good will between Roman Catholics and Protestants since the changes initiated by Vatican II.

But even as we take a look back, it is worth observing that things have not been going well for IRD and thier allies lately.

IRD et al, suffered some big losses at the recent Methodist General Conference; and one long time Methodist renewal leader has been exposed as not only a crack-pot, but apparently a crook as well. The shocking views and activities of IRD/Anglican hero Peter Akinola are increasingly coming to the fore.  And, of course, the film Renewal or Ruin? The Institute on Religion and Democracy's Attack on the United Methodist Church continues to receive a wide audience, and it has been easy to rebut their sputtering propagandistic responses.

The truth is that the jig is up.

The IRD's campaign to disrupt and divide the mainline protestant denominations over the past generation is becoming increasingly well-understood by those who have been most affected by it. And while the IRD's patrons will no doubt continue to underwrite the war of attrition against the mainline churches, their efforts are at long last, being met with widespread resistance.




Display:
You are really great to share unscrubbing and exposed losses of methodist church and it continues with australianwritings review responses. That all you must follow to start campaign in the latest generation churches.

by Eikooz on Wed Oct 21, 2020 at 11:51:12 PM EST


WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (375 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (203 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (111 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (251 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (65 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (177 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (109 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (166 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (164 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (180 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (331 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (149 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.