Lefty atheists rejoice!

May 1, 2002 11:20 PM

Lefty atheists rejoice! A pretty good article.
posted by crasspastor (13 comments total)

only a lawyer could write something like this. It reminds me of the Christian lawyer (I forget his name) that is the mouthpiece for the anti-evolution movenment. No serious attempt at actually dealing with the the complexities of evolutionary biology (or in this case, theology and biblical scholarship). just sweeping generalizations about "darwinists" or "fundamentalists" and their supposed hypocrisy.

I like how after accussing fundamentalists of taking fragments of the Bible and using them out of context to support their own political agendas, he does exactly the same thing to justify his own political agenda.

finally, his contention that a belief in biblical inerrancy (whatever else its drawbacks) is somehow responsible for the enron scandal is utterly absurd. most conservative Christians aren't rich, nor do they tend to trust those that are. there's certainly nothing in the Bible that would even come close to condoning what Ken Lay and compnay did.
posted by boltman at 1:01 AM on May 2, 2002

Why are lefty atheists suppossed to rejoice?
posted by Mach3avelli at 1:46 AM on May 2, 2002

Didya click on the link Mach3avelli?

Sensational Headlines! Read all about it!

I meant it tongue in cheek, though I am now beginning to see its inanity.
posted by crasspastor at 1:50 AM on May 2, 2002

I mean, it's extremely weak, based on a poor translation. The commandment is "Thou shall not murder." Murder and killing are seen as different things in the Bible. But I suppose he's making his own article, indicating one needs to keep in mind that the Bible is composed of several books, written at different times in history, in different languages (not many, but still).
posted by meep at 2:17 AM on May 2, 2002

Are you sure the link isn't to infidels.org?

As already noted Mr. Brand's arguments are sweeping generalizations in the least. It's strange - "such ridiculous misuse of the Scripture" is obvious on Mr. Brand's part, but I wonder how many agree with his "accusations."

I think anyone with any knowledge of apologetics or exegesis, any very general knowledge in theology could show the mistakes in the article and in the caricature and/or straw man. I'm not sure it would do any good though.

The stretches in subject matter and connection are worthy of a grand conspiracy theorist.

So now that I've written this - I'm afraid this article isn't worthy of the folks at infidels.org -- they're (on the whole) much smarter than this.
posted by alethe at 3:42 AM on May 2, 2002

well, i understoof it just fine: billy graham and his ilk are self-righteous assholes whose screed supports and excuses the abuses of those who worship greed. i agree. what's so damn difficult about that? here's a generalization for ya: mefi'ers overintellectualize everything.
posted by quonsar at 5:35 AM on May 2, 2002

Attacking fundamentalist Christians is like beating the crap out of a 3-legged dog: it's too easy, and the dog likes it.
posted by solistrato at 7:53 AM on May 2, 2002

I thought this was right on:

The biggest travesty committed by the Rev. Graham and the fundamentalists of our day and age is their almost total disregard of the Biblical prophetic tradition. Biblical prophecy does not primarily deal with forecasting future events. Biblical prophecy deals with the political, economic, and religious unrighteousness of a nation's leaders. Scripture prophesies future doom and gloom because of the injustice inflicted now upon the masses by the few who govern. Biblical prophecy is not as much concerned with the "Sweet by and by" as with the "Nasty here and now!"
posted by Ty Webb at 8:43 AM on May 2, 2002

Ty Webb, you don't think that fundamentalists criticise the "political, economic, and religious unrighteousness of a nation's leaders"? Were you around during Clinton's presidency? The problem is that most Christian conservatives interpret Biblical prophecy with a huge political bias, not that they ignore it.

I personally find it tragic that modern evangelical Christianity has become so mixed up with libertarianism. It is not a logical fit with the Christian faith, and they have been combined largely due to historical accident. so, I actually agree with the author that evangelical Chrsitianity largely ignores the call to social justice and that this is a big problem for the church catholic. But the argument was so poorly constructed and so inflamatory that it's hard to separate out the good points from the dimwitted prejudice.
posted by boltman at 9:48 AM on May 2, 2002

as opposed to us radical right-wing atheists...
posted by fnord_prefect at 9:51 AM on May 2, 2002

I think self-righteousness is not a particularly "Christian" fault, judging by this guy's article. Who among us is without sin? I agree that we (Christians) have on the whole failed to address the injustices of the world. But we as a human race have also failed. Whereas Christians recognize this failure as sin, what do atheists call it?
posted by jmcnally at 12:07 PM on May 2, 2002

Ty Webb, you don't think that fundamentalists criticise the "political, economic, and religious unrighteousness of a nation's leaders"? Were you around during Clinton's presidency?

Yes, i was, and evangelical Christian leaders didn't criticize his policies as much as they did his personal immorality. There are a few evangelical Christian groups that focus on the inherent un-Christianness of our economic system, but they are, for the most part, marginalized.
posted by Ty Webb at 12:56 PM on May 2, 2002

The problem is that most Christian conservatives interpret Biblical prophecy with a huge political bias, not that they ignore it.
Or, in the case of Tim LaHaye. a huge money bias (READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!! WORLD COMEING TO AND END!!! AGAIN!!! NO, I MEAN IT THIS TIME!!!!!).
posted by jmd82 at 2:05 PM on May 2, 2002