Colorado Springs, where I live, is the home of over 300 Christian non-profit "ministries", including Focus on the Family. Focus on the Family is a large Evangelical organization founded by James Dobson that, among other things, seeks to influence politics in the US on all levels. It is especially notorious for its attacks on the rights of LGBT folks, but its activism doesn't stop there. It pushes a broad social and political agenda.
Some long time ago, I came across a chilling quote of Dobson's in the local newspaper. It was from around the time when he founded Focus on the Family. I can no longer recall the exact words he used but I believe this is an accurate paraphrase:
Now, I don't suppose everyone who is younger than about 40 these days is fully aware of how Christianity and Christian morals were most often thought of by most people back before James Dobson and other Evangelical leaders changed the public perception of the religion. However, I've heard more than one person my own age or older speak with regret about the "old days".
You see, back in the old days, the most popular view was that Christians -- if and when they lived up to their ideals -- had exemplary morals. In fact, it was not uncommon to think and speak of "true Christians" as the most moral people in any given community -- even the most moral people possible.
To call someone a "True Christian" in most communities was to say in effect that they treated everyone, regardless of their background (such as race, social and economic class, religion, etc) with fairness, dignity, and respect. It was to say that they were a gentle person who rigorously avoided unnecessarily hurting anyone, who readily forgave any slights against themselves, who ever sought to see the best in others (even people considered grievous sinners), and who strove to be the most humane person they themselves could be.
And that was just the start of it. In the popular imagination, a true Christian was the peak, the acme of human moral excellence. The phrase, true Christian, even at times was applied to people who were not Christians, as in, "He's Jewish, but he's more of a True Christian than most Christians".
Of course, there were people who didn't hold such a positive view of Christian morals, but they seemed to me a relatively small minority at the time. The main criticism you heard of Christians was that they didn't always live up to their ideals, not that their ideals were bad or evil.
I think it's very different today. The custom of praising someone for being a true Christian is almost unheard of now. So many people these days find that they disagree with what passes for core Christian values now -- anti-choice, anti-LGBT rights, anti-evolution, anti-climate change, pro prosperity gospel, and even willing to condone such evils as racism, sexism, sexual molestation, wealth inequality, and so forth if it is politically expedient to do so. Political power at all cost. That's what Christianity -- in moral terms -- has come to mean for so many people today.
I think Evangelicals -- the folks who by all accounts led this change -- were deeply unwise to do so. I suspect that the coming years will see interest in their brand of Christianity wane with most morally healthy people while it yet increases with the morally insane.
But what do you think?
For further reading: The Death of Christianity in the US. An angry, but I think fairly accurate condemnation of today's Evangelical values.
Some long time ago, I came across a chilling quote of Dobson's in the local newspaper. It was from around the time when he founded Focus on the Family. I can no longer recall the exact words he used but I believe this is an accurate paraphrase:
"People have got it wrong. They think Christian morals are about old ladies being nice, sweet, treating everyone fairly. But that's only the velvet glove of Christianity. We are going to show people the iron fist. We are going to change how people view Christianity. We are going to make sinners fear us."
Now, I don't suppose everyone who is younger than about 40 these days is fully aware of how Christianity and Christian morals were most often thought of by most people back before James Dobson and other Evangelical leaders changed the public perception of the religion. However, I've heard more than one person my own age or older speak with regret about the "old days".
You see, back in the old days, the most popular view was that Christians -- if and when they lived up to their ideals -- had exemplary morals. In fact, it was not uncommon to think and speak of "true Christians" as the most moral people in any given community -- even the most moral people possible.
To call someone a "True Christian" in most communities was to say in effect that they treated everyone, regardless of their background (such as race, social and economic class, religion, etc) with fairness, dignity, and respect. It was to say that they were a gentle person who rigorously avoided unnecessarily hurting anyone, who readily forgave any slights against themselves, who ever sought to see the best in others (even people considered grievous sinners), and who strove to be the most humane person they themselves could be.
And that was just the start of it. In the popular imagination, a true Christian was the peak, the acme of human moral excellence. The phrase, true Christian, even at times was applied to people who were not Christians, as in, "He's Jewish, but he's more of a True Christian than most Christians".
Of course, there were people who didn't hold such a positive view of Christian morals, but they seemed to me a relatively small minority at the time. The main criticism you heard of Christians was that they didn't always live up to their ideals, not that their ideals were bad or evil.
I think it's very different today. The custom of praising someone for being a true Christian is almost unheard of now. So many people these days find that they disagree with what passes for core Christian values now -- anti-choice, anti-LGBT rights, anti-evolution, anti-climate change, pro prosperity gospel, and even willing to condone such evils as racism, sexism, sexual molestation, wealth inequality, and so forth if it is politically expedient to do so. Political power at all cost. That's what Christianity -- in moral terms -- has come to mean for so many people today.
I think Evangelicals -- the folks who by all accounts led this change -- were deeply unwise to do so. I suspect that the coming years will see interest in their brand of Christianity wane with most morally healthy people while it yet increases with the morally insane.
But what do you think?
For further reading: The Death of Christianity in the US. An angry, but I think fairly accurate condemnation of today's Evangelical values.
