Scary Times, Even for a Preacher

In my lifetime, there's been one constant in American culture. We've always needed a good target — someone to blame for all our fears and unmet dreams.

African Americans, hippies, communists, Mexican immigrants, homosexuals.I missed a couple of groups, but you get the point. And the reason I bring this up is that I met with a retired preacher the other day, and he put it all in perspective.

The Rev. John H. Townsend, pastor emeritus of the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles, had dropped me a line after the election. He was grieving over what he called the current "corruption of Christian faith."

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The retired pastor began by explaining that when he joined First Baptist near the Bullocks Wilshire department store in 1962, the adjoining neighborhood wasn't yet known as Koreatown. Both the church and the neighborhood were still going through wrenching changes.

Before Townsend's arrival, the predominantly white congregation was bitterly split over the acceptance of African Americans into the parish. Some members walked away when First Baptist decided to open the doors to one and all.

<snip>
So it should come as no surprise that Townsend wasn't too happy with the role "Christianity" played in the recent presidential election. From where he sits, Christianity was used to divide and conquer.

"This is a scary time," he said. He wonders if the spreading stain of hypocrisy will drive some people away from faith, because under the guise of morality, bigotry was used to get the vote out for President Bush.
<snip>

One corruption of the faith, Townsend says, is the selective use of biblical passages by the religious right. Interpreting literally, he pointed out, you can use the Bible to perpetrate all manner of horrors.

"In Psalms, there's a passage about when the enemy comes, you should bash the heads of children against the stones," he said, going on to cite several more examples.

http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-me-lopez10nov10,1,6666487.column?coll=la-news-columns

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Here's an example of Christians taking on those that use the bible to teach hatred, intolerance and promote some very unChristian values such as lying about war and lying about privatizing social security (i.e. stealing from the poor to give to the rich) and blaspheming (i.e. claiming Bush was GOD'S pic for president)

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Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

think they are sub-human and evil. Religion is the opiate of the masses, and the whole damned world is under the influence.

This article was a fine example of a RELIGIOUS person, a minister, using his position in a faith community to combat the way that he saw his faith being twisted toward immoral ends.

I think you'd do a lot better to listen to what people like this minister, and others on the "religious left" have to say, as opposed to dismissing all religious/spiritual people collectively.

Absolutism is supposed to be the domain of Freeperville, not here. Although I wonder sometimes....

..this could be a major consequence.

"the tip of the wedge" used to divide the nation.

This kind of thing always backfires.

But, will they cowboy up and denounce it?