"The Family"?

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by JCricket

This really is the case. They are such strong believers(I hope), that they do not realize what they are doing. I have several very good friends who will openly state they subordinate all of their beliefs to the church. Simply put, if it does not follow what the church teaches, it MUST be wrong. There is no ability left in them to question. Yes, this worries me. But, they are good people tying their best.
Do we need to fix this? Only if it tries to intermingle with the government, you know the seperation of church and state.
And yes, that is a big issue dividing us americans now. But how would one fix this? We can blame falwell and pat roberts and the right wing power mongering politicains, but that doesn't fix it.

Maybe the question is, when did the war start? Where are its roots?

Originally Posted by finnbow

For the most part, it started in the mid '70's in Virginia with Falwell and Robertson. Yes, Virginia, the land of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.

The Religious Right coalesced around Reagan because he (not a religious man) was willing to give them a seat at the table with regard to policy-making in the GOP (with respect to cultural issues) in exchange for their support and grass-roots political efforts.

This is absolutely and utterly correct. I live not two miles from Robertsons Regent University. To give you a small example of the mentality; My sisters car broke down one day, a man pulled over and asked if we needed help. We tried his jumper cables, but alas the car wouldn't start. So he said; "Hop in I'll give you a ride." Once we started rolling he leaned over towards me and asked; 'Have you found Christ?". Jokingly, I replied; "Didn't know he was lost."
He pulled right back over and said, in a calm, yet chiilingly stern tone; "Get out."

Nice enough to offer help, but fanatical enough to throw us out once he decided we were infidels.

Reagan was a brilliant propagandist and consummate politician. His tapping into this sector of the populace was a smart move politically. He recognized fanatical, unquestioning followership when he saw it and knew it would be an invaluable asset to have these nuts on his side. A great many of these people really do think a vote for a Democrat is a vote for Satan and a vote for a Republican is striking a blow for God and Country. The only problem is he set the country on a course bound for where we are today, and where I fear we are headed in the future.

A future where you are "thrown out" once they've decided you're an infidel.

Dave

[Boreas]

Two things about the Family.

First, they teach that they're pretty much exempt from any obligation to behave in a moral fashion because they're God's Chosen. As a consequence, whatever they do is just dandy. It's why John Ensign and Mark Sanford can be such a couple of rutting goats and believe they're still "right with God".

Also, the Family has tentacles and members all over the world. They're the driving force behind Uganda's law prescribing the death penalty for homosexuals.

Great bunch of guys.

John

[d-ray657]

I suppose Sam Brownback is part of the Family too. He made trips to Africa on the Federal dime to make sure that everything they did was "family friendly."

Regards,

D-Ray

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

I suppose Sam Brownback is part of the Family too. He made trips to Africa on the Federal dime to make sure that everything they did was "family friendly."

Regards,

D-Ray

I believe so.

John