USATODAY.com - Christian movement moving in: "We're not an extremist group,' he said. 'What we are doing is reacting to the extreme marginalization of Christianity in America.'"
Does anyone outside the Exodus movement actually believe that?
3 comments:
Anonymous
said...
In relative terms, yes, I think I can understand it if I separate issues of political dominance and cultural hegemony. We are a nation ruled by self-professed Christians in all three branches of government. We can argue whether their Christianity informs their public policy (or more frighteningly, whether it informs the secret acts carried out in our name), but it is clear that Christians, as Christians per se, have perhaps unprecedented access to those in power.
At a social/cultural level, I think there are other movements challenging the cultural centrality of Christianity, at least in the public square. There is a fundamental struggle over how we are going to live together and what the relationships between the various ways we can define ourselves might look like. It's part of a growing awareness and acceptance of cultural differences and a macro-level struggle with how to express that.
Bill O'Reilly's War on Christmas was complete bs, but clearly he tapped into an anxiety. In my mind, it's like when affirmative action and feminism take public beatings in times of high economic anxiety. Of course, if you can tap into fear, people can be convinced to be complacent as great crimes are committed in their name.
Real Christianity, the servant-kind, not the success/power/money driven Christianity of North America as always been marginalized.
I wonder how many biblical principles this Burnell fellow uses in his job as a financial advisor. I'm guessing that, "sell all you have and give it to the poor" is left out of his program.
ubub, you've hit the nail right on the head. Cultural religion has placed institutional Christianity at the head of the table. It's lost its priviledged place and now some Christian leaders are getting whiny.
For me a red flag goes up when the leading line is, "We're not an extremist group." Interesting place to start when stating what you aren't.
Does a daycare director start with, "We're not child molesters. We're a daycare."??? Do you enter your doctor's office and hear, "We're don't trade in body parts, we're a doctor's office."???
3 comments:
In relative terms, yes, I think I can understand it if I separate issues of political dominance and cultural hegemony. We are a nation ruled by self-professed Christians in all three branches of government. We can argue whether their Christianity informs their public policy (or more frighteningly, whether it informs the secret acts carried out in our name), but it is clear that Christians, as Christians per se, have perhaps unprecedented access to those in power.
At a social/cultural level, I think there are other movements challenging the cultural centrality of Christianity, at least in the public square. There is a fundamental struggle over how we are going to live together and what the relationships between the various ways we can define ourselves might look like. It's part of a growing awareness and acceptance of cultural differences and a macro-level struggle with how to express that.
Bill O'Reilly's War on Christmas was complete bs, but clearly he tapped into an anxiety. In my mind, it's like when affirmative action and feminism take public beatings in times of high economic anxiety. Of course, if you can tap into fear, people can be convinced to be complacent as great crimes are committed in their name.
Real Christianity, the servant-kind, not the success/power/money driven Christianity of North America as always been marginalized.
I wonder how many biblical principles this Burnell fellow uses in his job as a financial advisor. I'm guessing that, "sell all you have and give it to the poor" is left out of his program.
ubub, you've hit the nail right on the head. Cultural religion has placed institutional Christianity at the head of the table. It's lost its priviledged place and now some Christian leaders are getting whiny.
kgp
For me a red flag goes up when the leading line is, "We're not an extremist group." Interesting place to start when stating what you aren't.
Does a daycare director start with, "We're not child molesters. We're a daycare."??? Do you enter your doctor's office and hear, "We're don't trade in body parts, we're a doctor's office."???
Later
BB
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