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Conformity Isn't Next to Godliness
Aug. 7th, 2003 09:39 amLast night I was listening to the Sean Hannity show on the way home. I know, whey the hell was I doing listening to Sean Hannity? I do listen to talk radio. I don't agree with everything, but I do think that Hannity is one of the worst offenders of taking the Republican Party away from actual conservatism (as in keeping the government small and unobtrusive) and actually turning it into an instrument of the Christian Right.
Hannity makes no bones about his Christian "values" and that the rest of the country should tow the line. The man is also not capable of moderating a discussion without his bias appearing. So surprise, his guest last night, a bishop from the Episcopal Church (no, not Bishop Robinson) is not there so much to talk with Hannity, but to be steamrolled by the blustering thunder of professional asshole Jerry Falwell (please excuse MY bias).
So the bishop, a female, was struggling to get in more than one sentence when Hannity and Falwell threw out all of the general religious right statements about homosexuality. One of my favorites was that Falwell's ministry had changed the lives of many homosexuals who are now living happy, heterosexual lives and it was all because they found the lord (please excuse the fact that I'm not capitalizing his lord). When a gay caller called in, Falwell stated, since he was so concerned for this fellow's well being, that "He needs to find our lord and savior, and then he won't make such bad decisions."
The thing I found interesting was our Episcopal bishop had to then defend her church's decision, but also state that there was room for all in their church. What a great statement. Unlike Mr. Falwell and his group they are willing to be an umbrella for many different thoughts and people, as long as they continue to worship Jesus.
I was impressed that she was able to say that the Episcopal faith saw the Bible as divinely inspired, but still just a record of people and their relationship with God. She continued to say that the congregations celebrated God and Jesus, but not a book. Hooray for that. I'm not a religious person, but this is a much more healthy view than many Bible-based churches have.
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So Fawell then challenges this (with no word from Hannity) by stating that they have no standards, that their moral values are fluid (which of course is major bad) because they don't strictly follow the Bible. Well, Mr. Falwell, have you eaten pork? Sold your daughter into slavery? Worn a short-sleeved shirt? These are all interpretations of sin (or in the case of the slavery, proper behavior) culled from interpretations of the Bible. So where do you get that there is just one interpretation of the book that's correct? Are you the arbiter?
One of the points that Falwell kept trying to drive in is that he would be fearful of sending someone, especially a child to Bishop Robinson. Of course he was trying to drive fear into peoples hearts. you know, the pedophile angle, the recruitment thing. What bullshit. What I kept wishing for the other bishop to say that there are many other priests and bishops to see, you aren't forced to be with a priest you don't like or approve of...Freedom of Choice, baby.
Hannity and Falwell can't understand that. Conformity is their mantra.
Let's hear it for the Episcopal church that has the courage to see beyond the past and embrace that there are many different people out there who deserve the beauty of God's (or whatever power is out there) love. They are working towards ministering a diverse group and Thank God, not trying to convert everyone to one specific dogma, like Mr. Falwell, but accept the differences. Truly beautiful.
Hannity makes no bones about his Christian "values" and that the rest of the country should tow the line. The man is also not capable of moderating a discussion without his bias appearing. So surprise, his guest last night, a bishop from the Episcopal Church (no, not Bishop Robinson) is not there so much to talk with Hannity, but to be steamrolled by the blustering thunder of professional asshole Jerry Falwell (please excuse MY bias).
So the bishop, a female, was struggling to get in more than one sentence when Hannity and Falwell threw out all of the general religious right statements about homosexuality. One of my favorites was that Falwell's ministry had changed the lives of many homosexuals who are now living happy, heterosexual lives and it was all because they found the lord (please excuse the fact that I'm not capitalizing his lord). When a gay caller called in, Falwell stated, since he was so concerned for this fellow's well being, that "He needs to find our lord and savior, and then he won't make such bad decisions."
The thing I found interesting was our Episcopal bishop had to then defend her church's decision, but also state that there was room for all in their church. What a great statement. Unlike Mr. Falwell and his group they are willing to be an umbrella for many different thoughts and people, as long as they continue to worship Jesus.
I was impressed that she was able to say that the Episcopal faith saw the Bible as divinely inspired, but still just a record of people and their relationship with God. She continued to say that the congregations celebrated God and Jesus, but not a book. Hooray for that. I'm not a religious person, but this is a much more healthy view than many Bible-based churches have.
l
So Fawell then challenges this (with no word from Hannity) by stating that they have no standards, that their moral values are fluid (which of course is major bad) because they don't strictly follow the Bible. Well, Mr. Falwell, have you eaten pork? Sold your daughter into slavery? Worn a short-sleeved shirt? These are all interpretations of sin (or in the case of the slavery, proper behavior) culled from interpretations of the Bible. So where do you get that there is just one interpretation of the book that's correct? Are you the arbiter?
One of the points that Falwell kept trying to drive in is that he would be fearful of sending someone, especially a child to Bishop Robinson. Of course he was trying to drive fear into peoples hearts. you know, the pedophile angle, the recruitment thing. What bullshit. What I kept wishing for the other bishop to say that there are many other priests and bishops to see, you aren't forced to be with a priest you don't like or approve of...Freedom of Choice, baby.
Hannity and Falwell can't understand that. Conformity is their mantra.
Let's hear it for the Episcopal church that has the courage to see beyond the past and embrace that there are many different people out there who deserve the beauty of God's (or whatever power is out there) love. They are working towards ministering a diverse group and Thank God, not trying to convert everyone to one specific dogma, like Mr. Falwell, but accept the differences. Truly beautiful.
