Aren't we forgetting to be liberal? Re: Christian Beliefs

To all of the posts saying we should say this or that to the Right-Wing conservative Christians....

They have a right to their interpretation and beliefs just like you and I. Equal rights don't just apply to people who believe the same way you do. (READ NEXT SENTENCE PLEASE)

Our job is to make sure their beliefs (and ours) don't infringe on anyone elses rights. That is the ultimate injustice.

Liberal Christians, let's don't forget to be Christan AND Liberal at the same time.

of course.

Yeah... I know.. I meant this for the Liberal Christian set. Should have been more clear.

As for the RW conservative Christians, they are free to say whatever the hell they want. That's what free speech is about, right?

I just like to make fun of them because they sound so absurd.

I make fun of them as well. It's awfully hard not to.

I'm referring to the 'They've kidnapped your faith, you should take it back' set of BS.

They're not keeping me from being a Christian.

to be moderate in elections when the other side has tape after tape of them talking looney---i.e. Tom Delay "teaching evolution causes school violence"

Then again I hear he blamed Columbine on the pill.

many liberal christians are just as imposing and silly as their right-wing counterparts.

<big sigh> Oh well. I tried.

-- cajones, the "BS" in your post boomerangs, I believe.

If it's cool with you liberal Christians that Jim Dobson man-hunts gay cartoon characters, or tries to overrun the public schools and the judicial system itself, then I believe it's entirely reasonable for others to ask why mainstream Christians let this happen.

I'm not suggesting there's a lightswitch you can pull to change it overnite. But you've got some work ahead of you and the work is yours. It's your faith. It's being hijacked and misrepresented.

Do nothing if you please, or do whatever you're doing. But the call by secular progressives which asks why mainstream Christians by and large are doing nothing, saying nothing, is very pertinent and timely, IMO.

of the RW Christians is a little asinine.

It's as if we're being looked at like a mother with a misbehaving child, in a "Can't you do ANYTHING about them?" kind of way.

I don't like the way all non-Christians act, but I can't ask you to do something about it. It's not your place.

---------------

Like I said before, I will continue to fight where it is appropriate. I have shown the SpongeBob video to everyone I know, and have discouraged everyone's patronage of Dobson and Focus on the Family at every turn.

I also go to bat for kids in my school who have been beaten down because they are not Christian.

I'm doing everything I can do without infringing on SOMEONE ELSE'S right.

Christianity is a diverse faith, asking me, I am Catholic FYI to fix the problems with the fundamentalists is IMO yes assine.

-- Christian tenets, as recorded, in Greek, in the New Testament, John.

I decry the silence from mainstream churches to such an invasion by far-right conservatives.

I don't frankly think that's an asinine position.

They hate and look down on us. Hell those sons of bitches don't consider me a real Christian because I am Catholic, how the hell do we get them to listen to us when they spew that kind of shit at us. Anyhow Ive decided I am gonna withdraw from this. Carry on.

-- and elsewhere as well.

It's rather better to have good minds like yours IN the discussion rather than OUT of it.

Our loss, I'm afraid.

I just am a liberal who has strong faith in Christ.

-- in fact has influence on someone, perhaps on many.

Historically, Margaret Meade and others remind us, it is often the singular voice who sets the stage for revolutionary change.

We disagree on the history here, zuni. Not on the sensibility.

Liberal Christians who speak out will encourage those who believe the same, but are currently silent, to speak up also....

Am I getting you right here?

A critical mass of public denunciation of the Far Right will get results. Whether it has to be in the form of media saturation or another so-many theses on the Church Door, is up to y'all.

But I think the (almost) socialist agenda of the ministry of Jesus deserves a far better mouthpiece than say, Jim Dobson or Fred Phelps.

Shift away from that for a moment and understand that I'm talking about the roaring silence coming from mainstream Christian churches. Most have their little mouths taped shut, afraid of challenging those who are debasing their faith.

That's the point I'm making and I stand by it.

In my part of the country Christians are 90% right-wing. LIberal Christians are in the abject minority.

-- but it reinforces my respect for the liberal faction.

Sorry, I like the liberals and I accuse the mainstream of a frightened silence.

doop-de-doop

-- for my news sources.

So you have assumed something that is incorrect.

SOME mainstream church leaders have spoken out against the fundamentalists, yes, and I and others have praised them accordingly on DU and other forums.

Really.

Did you know that the leaders of every mainstream Christian denomination came out against the Iraq War before it started? Did you know that every anti-war march I attended had delegations from churches?

No, you wouldn't know that, because our "liberal media" never reported it.

Right now in Minnesota they're lobbying state legislators not to cut the social services budgets.

and purposefully ignore all information provided to you that shows ideas like the one you express above to be misguided. Hint: just cause it ain't on your TV set don't mean it ain't happening. Fox TV is not reality.

Lots of people have given you information to the contrary, but you choose to disregard it. That is entirely your choice, but don't make unfounded statements that reveal only your decision to learn as little about the subject as you possibly can.

-- Christian calendar day.

You might just be surprised what others know about Christianity.

You might actually find that there's plenty for you to learn on the subject.

-- by the same Constitution that we are.

But as I wrote in another post, their right to believe what they want stops at their impulse to impose it on us, on others.

It stops at the school house door, it stops at the library shelf, it stops at the local media (such as it is), and so forth.

Most certainly it stops inside our underpants, as many of these rightwingers want control over others' genitals.

It stops there.

Under the same Constitution, it would not hurt at all for mainstream Christians to call the nutcases for what they are and break away from them if necessary.

It's been done before to great effect.

I got into a big discussion yesterday here and I've had my quote for the week.

and its stressin me.

I don't think this is the place to claim that Christianity is ostracized. There's enough of that everywhere else in the round world. I just felt like something needed to be said.

You're right and to be honest this "take back your religion" stuff is nonsense how teh fuck is a Catholic supposed to fix the bullshit that the southern baptists like robertson and falwell spout.

I'm gonna try

A religious holiday. Fundamentalists rising up due to a social/legal event. A lot of accusations on both sides in that particular matter. It all builds up. A lot of stress that has to go somewhere.