We offer only the finest of snackin' blog in this latest edition of Late Nite Snackin' Blogs on the Religious Right. Alas, if we had had snackin' blogs twenty years ago, the religious right would not be where they are today, and we would not, as a group, find ourselves so radically undernourished in this regard. But fortunately, help is one the way! Our ingenious Chefs du Blog have fortified
Talk to Action's snackin' blogs with theraputic doses of Knowledge and Understanding.
Tonight's Sampler:
Jonathan Hutson has discerned the top ten signs that "the end neareth" for the political career of Christian Rightist
Ralph Reed, who is running in the GOP primary for Lt. Governor of Georgia.
Joan Bokaer has a report on a rally of 25,000 young evangelicals called "BattleCry," held in San Francisco last weekend. "The purpose of BattleCry," she writes, "is to save today's youth from a "sinister enemy" that is "ravishing their hearts."
A sinister enemy marches across our land leaving in its path the ravished hearts and minds of America's youth. Giant corporations, media conglomerates, and purveyors of popular culture have invested billions of dollars and endless hours of effort to seduce and enslave the souls of our youth. And so far, they have succeeded.
"Last weekend's event," Joan continues, "had strong military overtones as in this slogan on a T-shirt: Christi's Righteously Equipped Warriors. "I attended the Battlecry event," wrote Debra Hubert of the War Resister's League in an email to me, "and witnessed its military metaphors, completely ignoring Jesus' prohibition of violence. I saw Navy Seals pumping up nationalism and the wars in the middle east."
As reported in The San Francisco Chronicle
Military metaphors abound in Luce's descriptions of the struggle. He tells young people of how "an enemy has launched a brutal attack on them." At a pre-Battle Cry rally Friday afternoon on the steps of City Hall, Luce told his mostly teenage audience that "terrorists of a different kind" -- advertisers -- were targeting them and that they were "caught in the middle of the battle."
"Are you ready to go to battle for your generation?" he asked, and the young people roared "yes!" and some waved triangular red flags flown from long, medieval-looking poles.
Much more.
In the latest in Moiv's series on the abortion ban in South Dakota, and the religious right figures behind it, she discusses some of the leading legislators driving the campaign, and suggests contacting them because all they want to do is help.
"Sure, its a big job, but these folks are on record. They not only have volunteered to make your choices for you, but they insist on it. Their words of Godly wisdom will be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path - so when you have a big decision to make and just aren't sure of what to do, remember that they all want to help you."
John Dorhauer reflects on the "Twisted Christianity" that drives the attacks on the mainline churches.
"I finally realized how Christianity had been twisted into something very cold and unloving..."
I am quoting from a young man who wrote to me some weeks ago. He grew up in a United Church of Christ congregation outside of Kansas City. Among his Junior High classmates were those whose own UCC church was one of the first to vote itself out of the denomination. He describes how at school those classmates kept "...giving me trouble because we weren't biblical because we were still UCC." With a profound sadness he remembers how "It could be confusing to a Jr. High student."
Indeed.
And
I have an essay about the way the TV networks exclude mainstream Christian perspectives in favor of the political leaders of the Christian Right. I posted it at
Talk to Actionand at
The Daily Kos. And the comment threads are very different.