An Open Letter To The "Respectable" Evangelical/Republican Party Leadership
You evangelical leaders have a choice before you: rejoin American society as it is and love the actual country you're part of, or stick to your mythical Disney remake of a Little House On the Prairie fantasy and fade away -- forever.
To you "moderate" and "respectable" evangelical Christians and you "middle-of-the-road" and "ordinary" Republican fellow travelers -- as distinct from the extreme fundamentalist lunatic fringe and far right of both of your groups -- a word of warning.
You know me and you knew my late father Francis Schaeffer. Without his (and my) work evangelicalism and its close tie to the Republican Party would not exist as we know it. You also know that some 30 years ago you were giving me standing ovations in your biggest meetings, from the Religious Broadcaster's annual convention to the Southern Baptist annual convention. I preached in your leading churches from Falwell's church to Dr. Kennedy's. Now I'm like a pebble in your shoe that you wish would just go away. And believe me, I'd like nothing better than to forget my past. But before stepping back to the reality-based community I offer you a few words of warning.
The bubble of unreality and mythology you have chosen to live in is now coming back to haunt you. American "believers" are out there arming themselves, comparing our president to Hitler, saying that reform of health care would lead to "death panels." You respectable evangelical leaders -- and I'm talking about the editors of Christianity Today magazine, the people running the Billy Graham Association, you presidents of the evangelical universities and colleges from Wheaten to Gordon College and, yes, and you too Rick Warren -- you know perfectly well that the "birthers" and the "deathers" and all the rest represent the equivalent of your very own evangelical village idiot.
But how did your "village idiot" get so damned crazy? What did you do to contribute to this insanity where people get in the face of senators and congressmen and scream: "God will judge you"?! And if violence is used against our leaders because of the ramping up of the rhetoric who is to blame?
You respectable leaders are! Your silence is to blame! Your complicity in preaching myths is to blame!
Who is Glenn Beck's and Fox News' audience? Who are those 20 million Americans on the fringe of the fringe sucking up every lie told by Rush Limbaugh? They're mostly some of your people and you know it.
How did they get this way?
Because if you live in a mythical universe and parallel society you eventually begin to believe your own bullshit. If you divide the world into "lost" and "saved" and say God will punish the lost -- forever -- your hate of the "other" will someday explode.
How long did you think you could go on telling people that because of the legalization of abortion the federal government is your sworn enemy, before someone would take you seriously and kill an abortion provider thinking they are doing "God's will"? How long was it before people would entirely abandon reality and facts after they'd been weaned on your creationist anti-science myths? What about all your groups, such as the so-called Reconstructionists, that so many of your leaders quietly have been either part of or followers of that have a deeply embedded racism in their "theology?" What of the bizarre C-Street gang, and your tie-ins with them through such exercises in getting close to power like the Presidential Prayer Breakfasts? When have you all -- the respectable leaders -- stood up and denounced and called out your haters?
You the "moderate" evangelical leaders and "respectable" Republican leadership have nurtured the beast of ignorance in your bosom. Now it's about to bite you -- big-time. Your willfully ignorant followers are inflicting the rest of this country with the image of hate, intolerance and sheer stupidity on a level that is hard to believe. One of your own idealized leaders, a member in good standing for 25 years of the Assemblies of God denomination -- your very own fellow evangelical Sarah "Death Panel" Palin -- is what's left of the evangelical movement that used to follow sane writers like CS Lewis.
If you want to salvage anything of the movement that my father helped you build and that I contributed to (back in the day when people like James Dobson were giving away 150,000 copies of my book A Time For Anger), you'd better wake up and smell the coffee.
Here's the reality: by unhooking yourself from our culture, through your own hermetically sealed mirror image imitation culture, with your own TV stations, radio stations, publishing houses, bookstores, homeschool curriculum and on and on you've been living in an unreal universe. While you've been away there have been changes.
Let me bring you up to speed: The United States of America is a diverse, multicultural, multiethnic multireligious society. It doesn't belong to white middle-aged men yelling at meetings surrounded by their ignorant equally dumb rube women. This crap may have worked for 1920s lynch-mobs, but we've moved on.
This country belongs to black and brown and white people, to Asians to Hispanics, to atheists and agnostics and believers, and to the folks like me who used to be Republicans and left in disgust and voted for President Obama. It belongs to gay people who have the right to live together, marry and raise families. It also belongs to people like me who consider themselves to be Christians but are ashamed to be addressed as such, given that your village idiots are the image of what our faith has come to mean: the hate-filled, anti-gay, anti-Obama party of reaction.
If you wish to save what is left of your movement, it might be an idea to begin to tell your people that you've been wrong about a lot of things. Rejoin the rest of us. Let your kids go to schools with other children instead of hiding them away like jars of last year's jam in your homeschool and Christian "school" cupboards. Watch, listen and read something once in awhile it isn't derived from your own hermetically sealed subculture. And while you're at it, get used to the idea that our black President is a great man and that he has a good chance of leading us out of the wilderness the born-again idiot Bush led us into -- if you will call off your attack dogs and allow our President to do his job.
Do any of you still follow Jesus? Would Jesus make himself the tool of the insurance companies' and lobbyists depriving the poor of care?
Frank Schaeffer is the author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back and the forthcoming Patience With God: Faith For People Who Don't Like Religion (Or Atheism)
Follow Frank Schaeffer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/frank_schaeffer
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Keep 'em comin', Frank!
Thanks, Frank. I was very much a follower of your father and in fact my wife and I largely based the structure of our family on his teachings. However, over the years I've come to realize that the neo-Evangelical movement has become the haven of nuts and left it in disgust. My family and I supported President Obama and campaigned for him, in an area where it was not considered a good thing. Anyway, it's good to see you still stirring things up in an effort to reach those who are a little more sane.
By the way, saw you on Rachael Maddow recently and enjoyed it.
What about crazy non-evangelicals? Orthodox Christians aren't exactly icons of tolerance.
Digeridoo2 - The belief that women are second class citizens in Christianity is a complete fallacy. It is a total misunderstanding of the intent of Scripture. Jesus clearly taught men and women are equal and one in Him. Jesus elevated and honored women.
The Bible does say women shall not usurp authority over men in the church. What this means is that men and women just have different roles in the church and men are spiritual leaders. It has nothing to do with equality. It certainly does NOT mean women are second class citizens.
I believe this holds true for both evangelicals and nonevangelicals.
As far as the gay individuals go, gay people should be welcome in any church. The love of God extends to everyone.
It is a fact that as christianity is practiced now in a lot of the independen
It doesnt matter that you believe that the intent of the scripture is to make men and women equal in Jesus, because the church down the road takes a different view than yours.
My grandma in all seriousness with tears in her eyes (baptist/p
Simply Hooray and God Bless
As part of the evangelical right, I am very happy we have a multicultural multireligious society. I've only heard Limbough maybe twice. I have no hate in my heart for anyone. I have no problem with a "black" President, only his policies. I believe in honoring our national leader and praying for those in position of leadership. Mr. Schaeffer a lot of what you say is just prejudice
. If there is talk of Nazism or death panels, take a look at some of the people around him. Study the new age movement.
Kissinger has said President Obama is going to lead us into a new world order. A NWO involves "global governance" (Mr. Gore). It will undermine the sovereignty of this nation. This movement has been pushing for a NWO for decades. One of their main goals is also a severe reduction in the world's population. Mr. Holdren's comments from years past about forced abortions and the possibiltiy of putting something in the water and food to sterilize people are chilling. Some of the new age individuals believe they are a new species making it's way onto the planet "homo noeticus'. They believe they are more advanced through their spiritual techniques and homo sapiens need to die out. They virtually believe they are a superrace. Sound familiar? Euthanasia, abortion, and forced family size are things that have been promoted in NA writings to achieve a reduction in the population. There's a basis for comments.
Newcreation -
Pay attention: "Some of the new age individuals believe they are a new species making it's way onto the planet "homo noeticus'. They believe they are more advanced through their spiritual techniques and homo sapiens need to die out. They virtually believe they are a superrace.
This is simply misinformed prejudice on your part.
Nailinpalinnow-- I clearly said SOME, not all, in the new age movement believe this. My comments were completely based on what John White said to the Unity in Diversity Council years ago and this belief can still be found on the Internet if you look it up, although toned down. If you read his comments and then compare it to things said in The Spear of Destiny, you will find an amazing parallel. I think anyone should be disturbed when there is talk of a new more intelligent evolved species coming on the planet, especially if they know their history. It's even more disturbing when you read the people that share these beliefs say they have people in all levels of society---politics, education, medicine..
One word: Awesome. The world could certainly do with more Frank Schaeffers in it.
Great article calling out Evangelical leaders. Wish Frank would write a similar op-ed in new york times or washington post or even christianity today for a broader audience. the evangelical right will not be reading hp and this piece is too good to go to waste.
Frank, your last paragraph is the answer to the people you are addressing: you're supposed to be preaching Jesus. You remember Him, the one who made a point of healing sick and lame people, of feeding hungry people, of advocating for children. You remember, the one who encouraged husbands to love their wives and children. The one who had a heart for the marginalized of the society. He went to the ones who were cast out, overlooked, left out. Would he have spurned gay people? Did he use his power to beat people down, including the ones who attacked him? Was he ever mean spirited, vindictive, and a downright liar? Get out of the politics business and do what you are supposed to do--teach compassion, love, faith, hope, forgiveness, patience, peace, helping others, serving others--you know that stuff. Then you and your people will know how to respect the President even when you don't agree with him. You will stop the fear mongering and the hate mongering and the racism.
Preaching Jesus will not save us here. The alliance of Christianity to the party of the rich created ths mess, and not talking about the issues just makes things worse. The church delivered us to these problems, and now they want to pretend they are not involved, they are just preaching Jesus. Christianity needs to repent of what they have done, and ask the rest of the world for forgiveness.
Jim, perhaps my point was not clear. My choice of rhetorical device failed. My comment was directed to the evangelical leaders who, instead of fusing politics with Christianity, should simply preach Christianity and not use it as a tool for political purposes. To that extent, I agree with you. Moreover, by sticking to the "real" Christianity, these leaders would foster more compassion, generosity, understanding, willingness to work together for the common good. One would not witness such anger, hostility, lies, etc.
The original meaning of the word "evangelical" is "pertaining to the Gospel". For centuries, Lutheran churches, for example, have included Evangelical in their names to state that they are rooted in the Gospel.
But most of those now commonly called evangelicals exhibit little if any familiarity with the Gospel. You certainly don't see it in what they say, write, or do. They are not rooted in the Gospel. They should not be allowed to call themselves evangelical. That name should be reserved for those who know the Gospel and try to live their lives according to the Gospel.
Mr. Schaefer,
Your letter is addressed to people who don't actually exist. There is no such thing as "moderate" or "respectable" evangelists as an evangelist is neither moderate nor respectable. Think of yourself back in the day. You were neither "moderate" nor "respectable" to those that you disagreed with. You dehumanized pro-choice groups. You demonized the LGBT community.
Now granted, you came around and realized that you were wrong on many of your stances, but the fact is, you were not moderate or respectable in those days. You were the leader of the culture war.
Saying Frank was not moderate or respectable in those days does not logically support your statement that moderate or respectable evangelists don't exist now. We should give them a chance, and that is what it seems Frank is trying to do. We might not accept their theology, but if some of them are willing to repent of what they have done through their Republican alliance, then we should be ready to forgive and respect them for making that change.
Even if the so-called "respectable" Evangelica
Some of the followers are loud and locked, and they would cast off leaders who stopped feeding their beliefs as you say. There are also many followers who are not that way. At some level they are uncomfortable with the direction the Christian/
Excellent article, Frank! So well said.
Thank you, Frank Schaeffer!
A massive part of American society willfully hides from modern reality by believing the world was created in 7 days 6000 years ago; the only way to maintain such a belief in the face of all the mounting evidence and the mounting pressure from the sane part of the population is to move further and further from reality at all levels year by year. These people are lambs offering their throats to every commercial and political wolf in the land -- they are lost infants offering their loyalty to anyone with immense lack of contact with reality, combined with immense self-belief who will provide the safety and comfort of a substitute womb
Amen brother, preach it! This reminds me of Jesus's scathing comments to the Scribes and Pharisees. I hope that this letter finds its way to the leaders that you intended, and that at least one of them will find the courage to follow your advice. I could not agree more with everything that you said. You have completely outdone yourself.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
