Tonight on GRITtv, what does a belief in evolution have to do with the economy? Quite a bit. With John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, the question of religious fundamentalism and its role in America politics is on the table in a major way. Environmentalist Chip Ward wrote recently that a Palin vice presidency would be, "the equivalent of launching a ’surge strategy’ in the Republican war on the environment."
Here to address the role of the evangelical right—their impact on the economy, nature, and science are Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, Heather Rogers, author of Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, Esther Kaplan, investigative editor at the Nation Institute and the author of With God on Their Side, and on the phone Congresswoman Diana DeGette.
We also have an interview with Michael Zweig, Director of the Center for Study of Working Class Life at Stony Brook University. An update on tomorrow’s protest on Wall Street from Code Pink’s Jodie Evans. You can find out more about what’s going on in your city at truemajority.org. Bring your junk to Wall Street. Finally, a performance and interview with singer/songwriter Leni Stern. All that and more on GRITtv.
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The discussion has brought up the subjects of the “climate of fear” in the U.S., and that Barack Obama should be pushed to confront some issues more forcefully. His “timidity” may be because of his own fears of assassination for obvious reasons. I’d say he’s being courageous in the face of near constant intimidation from forces we may not be aware of.
Laura, I beg for someone to bring to light the difference between “Evangelical Christians” and Fundamentalist Right-Wing Evangelical Christians.
Sarah Palin probably scares the bejeebers out of me more than she does people who do not understand where she is coming from. Fundamentalist Evangelical Christians, to put it simply, believe in an angry Jesus, who is coming at a time when we are in a Great War. Fundamentalist Christians believe they are the only true believers and the rest of us are wrong and will pay the price. (This group usually consists of Southern Baptists, Penticostals (which the Church of God is one and a whole host of non-denominational Churches, (but not all non-denominational churches). They rely on the Book of Revalations, which is confusing to even ministers. They try to take it literally and it is written in Code or something and is mind-boggling. The Fundamentalist Far Right-Wing Christians believe it is their duty to bring this final War to fruition and they believe it will be in the Mid-East. They have Religion, patriotism, and the role of the military all confused. People like Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, a lot of religious channels, et al, play into these people. In other words they are brain-washed. That is why the all speak the same language and I can pick them out when the use the right buzz words. They are the ones that still believe that Obama is a closet Muslin with a hidden agenda. I have to admit that some mainline Evangicals buy into that theory. They listen to Fox News, et al themselves. I think it would be helpful to them if more of the Evangelical leaders were interviewed. They will probably not trash the hardliners, because liberal and moderate Christians do not believe in trashing any other Church even if they don’t agree with them.
Mainline Christians and Catholics (I think) believe in a loving Jesus as shown in the Four Gospels of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). The only time Jesus was angry and violent was when he threw the money-changers out of the temple. That anger was because they were fleecing the poor people. He never advocated War to further his views. People were to accept or not accept. He stressed non-violence.
So, it would be helpful (which no one seems to want to do because it is not exciting) would to bring some mainline Evangelicals to express their views (maybe Methodists, United Church of Christ (that would be good because I understand the head of the United Church of Christ was once the leader of those Churches in the US and was thrown out of office when the Fundamentalists took over the Southern Baptists. The Southern Baptists have always been racist, but they were more liberal. Also, I believe the Catholic Church is more liberal, except on the issues of sex and abortion for no reason. Not all Evangelicals believe the same.
Some Evangelicals do not believe the same , but more liberal or moderate ones believe everyone has a right to choose their own belief or non-belief in this country because of our rights under the Constitution. I, along with others, believe that no one religion has all the answers and that most faiths have the same core beliefs, which includes Muslim, Hindu, Buddism, etc.
I know it is a pain, and you may not belive in God, I don’t know, but if you can learn these differences, people will not be afraid and fearful of the term Evangelical Christians, which basically means, they are followers of Jesus Christ. The differences are in the interpretation of what that means.
Lila, you mean “Islam, Hinduism, Buddism,etc.”