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Related: About this forumWe've Been Here All Along...
THE FAILED ATTEMPT TO BLUNT PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITYBy the late 1980s and continuing, the Institute for Religion and Democracy founded, funded, or otherwise influenced conservative organizations within the Methodist and Episcopal Churches and trumpeted the danger of LGBT inclusive policies to rally their troops. Dianne Knippers cut her teeth as a staffer for the conservative Methodist organization, Good News. Later, she would serve as IRD president during the height of its influence. Methodist theologian Thomas Oden was another Good News leader with ties to IRD as a member of the IRD board of directors. Current IRD President Mark Tooley is a lifelong Methodist and founder of the Methodist arm of the IRD called UMAction. The IRD also has a Presbyterian Action branch. The longtime conservative irritant within the Presbyterian Church is an organization called the Lay Committee that promotes their publication, The Layman. The self-described pillars of the Lay Committee were People of means and action. Besides being leaders in their churches, they were leaders in corporate America.* Within the Episcopal Church, Knippers served jointly as IRD President and organizer and leader of the late 1990s Episcopal group, the American Anglican Council, which served as chief conservative organizer at the virulently anti-gay Lambeth Conference in 1998 and as the opposition to the confirmation of Bishop Gene Robinson and all things gay in the early years of this century. Though the opponents of ELCA progressivism are not connected to the IRD, some Lutheran conservative commentators share neo-conservative political views (for example, Robert Benne, the author of The Ethic of Democratic Capitalism: A Moral Reassessment).
Over the years, the Republican establishment has stoked nativist, racist, sexist, anti-intellectual, anti-government, and anti-Muslim fears with a politics of scapegoating the immigrant, the black, the feminist, the queer, the academic, the government worker, and the welfare recipient. By appealing to lesser instinctsespecially of the angry white malethe party has enjoyed sufficient electoral success to continue feeding the beast, but Krugmans article suggests this bait and switch tactic may no longer work as evidenced by Tea Party primary challenges to the party favorites. Ironically, the destabilization of the Republican Party itself would appear to be the legacy of the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons and the complicity of the Reagans, Bushes, and the Republican establishment who are now being forced to dance with the one who brought you. While Republican self-destruction may not play out in the 2014 off-year elections, early portents for 2016 suggest a likely Democratic president and Congress, despite the built-in Republican advantage of gerrymandered Congressional districts. In the meantime, dysfunctional government will continue as the Tea Party insurgency in Congress will preclude any meaningful legislation.
An excellent summary of how the tide is turning. We've been here all along, if the media cared to look. Alas, the flamboyant clown-car-apocalypse antics of the water-carriers for the Oligarchs are so much more photogenic and fun to cover...
wryly,
Bright
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We've Been Here All Along... (Original Post)
TygrBright
Jun 2014
OP
intaglio
(8,170 posts)1. k&r for the Christians who are progressive
But at some point they are going to have to edit the Bible to reflect that. In my opinion the Bible is like the Curate's Egg - good in parts
cbayer
(146,218 posts)2. Another really good piece on how this all went down.
Been seeing more of these and hope it is indicative of changes on the political landscape.
It would help if progressive/liberal believers of all stripes and non-believers would work together to take it back.
Thanks for posting Bright. Nice to see you.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)3. So-called "progressive" Christianity
has always been blunt. And progressives are becoming less and less religious all the time, because they're growing out of the need for it.