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MineralMan

(146,320 posts)
Sat Nov 3, 2018, 02:21 PM Nov 2018

God's Red Army

Since this is the Religion Group, I thought it would be interesting to see what some Christians are doing about the election. They're working hard to get like-minded people elected is what they're doing. Other groups of Christians, who might not be a conservative as the ones described below, are doing virtually nothing as a group.

And yet, nobody in the more progressive groups of Christian organizations seems to be coming out to say, "Hey! This isn't right. We need to counter this crap." Christians aren't supposed to judge, see, so they don't judge their fellow religionists. They don't speak out against this kind of campaigning from the pulpit. It's all good, see, because they're Christians, too.

So, I'll say it: "Hey! This isn't right! Get off your butts and mobilize your progressive memberships to vote for progressives, damnit!"

More at the link...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/opinion/midterms-christian-right-election-day.html


The Republican Party hopes to beat back the Democrats on Tuesday with a big push from the Christian right.

Nov. 2, 2018

If Democrats fail to realize their dream of a blue wave in Tuesday’s midterm elections perhaps the biggest factor will be the organizing power of the Christian nationalist movement. “If we do our jobs,” Ralph Reed of the Faith & Freedom Coalition boasted at the Values Voters Summit in September, “they are going to be more shocked than they were the last time.”

Among leaders of the Christian right, conversations about 2018 tend to begin with happy memories of 2016.

{snip}

The Christian nationalist turnout machine relies heavily on an extensive network of conservative pastors. The Family Research Council, for example, runs “pastor briefings” through its organization Watchmen on the Wall, which claimed 28,000 members in 2014. At a Watchmen pastors briefing in Unionville, N.C., on Oct. 4, Mr. Perkins said: “The members of your congregation need to vote. As pastors, you need to — I’m not going to say ‘challenge them’ — you need to tell them to vote.”

{snip}

The Family Research Council offers pastors comprehensive tool kits, including a 36-page ivotevalues.org resource guide and instructions for establishing “Culture Impact Teams” within churches, which aim to turn out congregants to vote their “biblical values.” Mr. Church’s Awake88 group offers a “Church Voter Lookup,” which essentially marries a church database with a voter database. The Faith & Freedom Coalition is working with 30,000 churches and aims to distribute millions of voter guides by Tuesday.
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OneBro

(1,159 posts)
1. Un-Christ-like "christians"
Sat Nov 3, 2018, 02:28 PM
Nov 2018

Today’s “christians” have little, if anything, to do with Jesus Christ, and it has become all but impossible to distinguish them from any other hate group.

MineralMan

(146,320 posts)
2. Well, as someone is sure to tell you, you're preaching to the "choir" here.
Sat Nov 3, 2018, 02:34 PM
Nov 2018

Some people excuse almost anything from their fellow religionists. They don't speak out about people who "believe," for some reason or another. Instead, they make strange, logic-free arguments and cast all religion as a "good for society" sort of thing.

Any argument to the contrary results in accusations of "ganging up" on religion by those who disbelieve. You won't find those people saying that those conservative, right-wing Christians are wrong, even. They won't fight their destructive ideas, but will make some sort of generalized argument in favor of religion. Any religion. Whatever religion. It's all "good," see.

Actually, such folks are outnumbered in this open forum designed for the discussion of Religion, but they're vocal as can be about their "tolerance" for anything religious in nature. Some regular visitors to this Group point that out to them, and get called names for doing so.

Thanks for stopping in. Pull up a pew and have a seat. Join in the conversation. We have openings in the "choir," too, if that interests you.

gtar100

(4,192 posts)
3. So much for separation of church and state.
Sat Nov 3, 2018, 02:42 PM
Nov 2018

They don't hide it anymore.

But take away their tax exempt status and you can bet they'd scream to high heaven.

MineralMan

(146,320 posts)
4. Yup. They carefully vet the materials they use to just slip between the lines.
Sat Nov 3, 2018, 02:46 PM
Nov 2018

It's all well-engineered this campaigning from the pulpit. They know exactly where the lines are and exactly how to stay within them, while making their message crystal clear.

And the rest of Christendom doesn't protest any of it. For me, that makes them complicit in it, frankly.

I'm sure I'll get an argument, but it's been going on for years without any protest from the denominations that don't engage in such activities. "Thou shalt not judge."

Permanut

(5,617 posts)
5. Reed, Perkins and let's add Pat Robertson..
Sat Nov 3, 2018, 04:51 PM
Nov 2018

are leading the charge to create a fascist talibornagain theocracy. Won't work though, the billionaires and Nazis will discard them when their usefulness is gone.

The Genealogist

(4,723 posts)
6. Quite obvious who is the junior and who is the senior partner in that unholy alliance.
Wed Nov 7, 2018, 08:50 PM
Nov 2018

When the billionaires find that the religious kooks are no longer useful, and jettison them, it is going to be one ugly divorce.

guillaumeb

(42,641 posts)
7. A misleading narrrative.
Wed Nov 7, 2018, 10:27 PM
Nov 2018
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1218296355

But the phrase "virtually nothing" is meaningless. Many progressive theists were in fact organizing, but this contradicts the narrative that you and a few others prefer to see.

guillaumeb

(42,641 posts)
10. The claim:
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 08:18 PM
Nov 2018
And yet, nobody in the more progressive groups of Christian organizations seems to be coming out to say, "Hey! This isn't right. We need to counter this crap." Christians aren't supposed to judge, see, so they don't judge their fellow religionists. They don't speak out against this kind of campaigning from the pulpit. It's all good, see, because they're Christians, too.


A regular reader of this group can see many posts highlighting progressive theists doing what the poster claims is not being done. So the claim is an exercise on construction with straw.

MineralMan

(146,320 posts)
9. The story at your link is about ONE PERSON standing
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 10:24 AM
Nov 2018

Last edited Thu Nov 8, 2018, 11:04 AM - Edit history (2)

up and making a statement. It does not contradict what I said in my OP at all. Perhaps you can address some of the things I raise in my post and in the New York Times article, rather than simply referring to a post you made that has little to do with what I said.

The influence and cooperation between conservative, organized Christian groups and conservative politics is extraordinary. If you are not aware of it, then you're not paying enough attention.

What you said does not contradict what I wrote. In fact, it has little or nothing to do with my position, nor to the NYT article I excerpted.

If you want to make a point, at least try to write something substantial in the attempt. Your one-liners and links to irrelevant posts are not responsive.

guillaumeb

(42,641 posts)
11. Given how much you post here,
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 08:19 PM
Nov 2018

if you have not seen many such examples that disprove your attempt at analysis, you are not looking.

Mariana

(14,858 posts)
13. I think Gil has his own personal, unique statistics
Fri Nov 9, 2018, 12:27 PM
Nov 2018

the same way he has his own personal, unique definitions of words. In Gil's world, one progressive theist outnumbers multitudes of conservative theists.

MineralMan

(146,320 posts)
14. Well, clearly he keeps count of some things.
Fri Nov 9, 2018, 01:09 PM
Nov 2018

The number of posts I make, for example, in the Religion Group. He apparently thinks I post too much, since he sometimes writes down the number of my original posts that appear on on the Group's thread list, as though that has some sort of meaning.

It's an odd sort of statistical record-keeping, I think.

MineralMan

(146,320 posts)
15. What does my post count have to do with anything, Guy?
Fri Nov 9, 2018, 04:21 PM
Nov 2018

You keep bringing that up. What do you think the significance of my posting frequency is? You, too, are a frequent, prolific poster. What should I assume, based on that?

I have been posting here since 2008. That's seven years more than you have, unless, of course, you posted under a different name before that. I don't know about that. Seven years from now, no doubt, your post count will be much higher than it is now, assuming you continue to post here.

References to the number of posts a DUer has are always suspect, whether it's a low or high number. It's, you know, sort of rude and irrelevant to do that.

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