I'm no fan of Cal Thomas, but his column of 5-3-07 caught my interest:
The Beginning of the End of the Religious Right?
Thomas wrote:
One of the major players in what came to be known as the "Religious Right" in the 1980s has shut its doors. The Center for Reclaiming America, based in Ft. Lauderdale, part of Dr. D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries, has decided to close. It will also shut its Washington, D.C., office known as the Center for Christian Statesmanship.......
Thomas continues:
Nearly 30 years after religious conservatives decided to re-enter the political arena -- after abandoning it as "dirty" and leading to compromise -- what do they have to show for it? The country remains sharply divided and the reconciling message they used to preach has been obscured by the crass pursuit of the golden ring of political power. In the end, they got neither the power, nor the Kingdom; only the glory and even that is now fading, as these older leaders pass from the scene.........
To paraphrase a verse familiar to most Christians, what shall it profit a man if he gains the White House, but loses his own soul?
Thomas' column includes his predictable slams at Democrats, yet I wonder if he might be realizing the kind of destruction wrought in America by certain power-drunk right-wing preachers. It's probably too much to hope that Thomas might take an inward look at his own fundamentalist Christian beliefs, his homophobia, his Islamophobia, his unwavering support of Bush's invasion of Iraq.
Regardless, I'm not sorry to see the demise of The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ.
According to their website:
Our Mission: To inform, equip, motivate, and support Christians; enabling them to defend and implement the Biblical principles on which our country was founded.
The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, established by Dr. D. James Kennedy is an outreach of Coral Ridge Ministries, providing non-partisan, non-denominational information, training, and support to all those interested in positively affecting the culture and renewing the vision of our Founding Fathers, as expressed in America's founding documents..........
As a means to accomplish this mission, the Center focuses on the key fronts of the modern-day culture war: Religious Liberties, the Sanctity of Life, the Homosexual Agenda, Pornography, Creationism, and Judicial Tyranny, in addition to exposing organizations which oppose Biblical standards of decency.
Yes, we all know about the "Biblical standards of decency" modeled by the Bush Administration and many of its supporters. Therefore I say unto thee, O Center for Reclaiming America, good riddance!