There’s a reason everyone seems to be giving Bill Moyers awards these days. Every time he goes somewhere to accept one, he gives a brilliant speech, and says things that very few others dare to. His acceptance speech at the Union Theological Seminary of New York on September 10 was no exception. It’s classic, brilliant Moyers at his fundamentalist-skewering best. Check it out if you get a chance. It’s powerful stuff. (And, before you leave a comment calling him a Christ-hating Islamic apologist, read the piece. I think you’ll find that he spends as much time, if not more, going after the Islamic extremists in the world.)
…This silence on economic and political morality is deafening but revealing. The radicals on the Christian right are now the dominant force in America’s governing party. Without them the government would not be in the hands of people who don’t believe in government. They are culpable in upholding a system of class and race in which, as we saw last week, the rich escape and the poor are left behind. And they are on they are crusading for a government “of, by, and for the people” in favor of one based on Biblical authority…
7 Comments
Hey, that was a pretty good speech. I’d be offended if I were one of them religious extremists.
But how can he make the claim that the religious zealots don’t care about the poor? Haven’t we seen an immense compassionate response from the churches, or are the Evangelical fundamentalists just sitting back and letting us Baptists and Pentacostals take care of our own? I don’t think so, but I’d be open to any information.
In the case of the Scientologists, who have been flooding into New Orleans, I think they see it as an opportunity to build their base. As for extreme Christian groups, I haven’t heard much about them having a presence. Are there specific churches that you’ve heard about, Shanster?
No, that’s why I asked. I just assumed they were doing the same thing as most of us: the best we can.
I found that the Evangelicals are indeed involved, through World Relief. Who, then, are the radicals who Moyers says “marginalize the poor”?
Here’s something I received from a large Colorado-based evangelical church. It looks like they are helping by raising funds.
from the onion (for those of you who do not know this is SATIRE)
Report: More Kids Being Home-Churched
September 14, 2005 | Issue 41
Shanster, I’m sure that there are evangelicals that genuinely care about the people in the Gulf Coast. There are others, however, who’ve gone on record saying that this was divine retribution, and that they deserved what they got. And, as Teddy points out, I’m sure some are just using it an opportunity to raise funds. People, I’m sorry to say, regardless of their religious affiliation, are pretty self-serving, disgusting creatures.