The Ryan Rodrick Beiler: Falwell Commentary Round-Up does a good job summerizing Rev. Jerry Falwell's legacy, especially Fred Barnes.

Fred Barnes, on Fox's Special Report with Brit Hume:

[H]e spurred one of the most important transformations of modern times and basically taking a group, millions of conservative Christians who'd been apathetic about politics, really since the 1920s and turned them into an active, lively, concerned voting block, that basically joined the Republican Party and gave the Republican party rough parity with Democrats.

Originally published at Interconnectedness. Please leave any comments there.

Taken from mothersdayforpeace.com
In the United States, Mother's Day was originally suggested by poet and social activist Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, after witnessing the carnage of the American Civil War and the start of the Franco-Prussian War, she wrote the original Mother's Day Proclamation calling upon the women of the world to unite for peace. This "Mother's Day Proclamation" would plant the seed for what would eventually become a national holiday.
 
In 1907, thirty-seven years after the proclamation was written, women's rights activist Anna Jarvis began campaigning for the establishment of a nationally observed Mother's Day holiday. And in 1914, four years after Howe's death, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother's Day as a national holiday.

Mother's Day Proclamation

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have breasts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

 
From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.

It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.

As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,

Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.

 
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

 
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Originally published at Interconnectedness. Please leave any comments there.

Is America a Christian nation?

Gregory Boyd wrote a book about The Myth of the Christian Nation published by Zondervan.

The Christian Right is not the only main Christian religious/political power in America. The Christian Right only describes 12.6% of the U.S. population. The rest of the U.S. population is divided in 11 other groups, with most groups being Christian. Here is analysis of the twelve major political religious voting blocs in America, known as the 12 Tribes of American politics. Please read the article about The Twelve Tribes of American Politics.

Most of these Christians voted based on the Christian culture wedge issues of abortion and gay marriage. Only the "Religious Left"  and secularists substantially valued the issue of violence and poverty at the ballot boxes.

Based on a Pew Forum study, evangelical Christians are the most nationalist group of Christians in America.

The U.S. population as a whole trusts military leaders more than religious leaders, politicians, journalists or businesspeople.

Here is a World War II propaganda poster for Christians to join the Air Force. I have not seen posters like this up now, but now it a more covert mentality, especially with U.S. evangelicals more than any other group in America.

Christian nationalism, and nationalism in general, is most alive in evangelical Christian circles. I consider myself an evangelical Christian. Evangelical Christians are some of the most active church-goers in America. There is much work to be done to reform evangelical Christianity to serve the Prince of Peace who nonviolently died on the cross as an example of the path to reconciliation among all nations.

Originally published at Interconnectedness. Please leave any comments there.

Please check out Pentecost 2007 to end poverty. It's hosted by Sojourners in Washington D.C. June 3-6. Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis, Shane Claiborne, Ron Sider, Lynne Hybels, Sam Rodriguez, Rich Nathan, Wallace Charles Smith, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards will talk and/or give workshops there. We'll learn how to lobby our congresspeople and meet other Christians for social justice. I'll be there. Please let me know if you're interested.

Originally published at Interconnectedness. Please leave any comments there.

Christian Right leaders used Christians' trusting and loving nature to build a movement opposed to God's call to love our neighbors. This is still happening today. These Christian Right leaders blatantly ignore the entire Old and New Testament narrative that spells out God's priority for caring for the sick, hungry and oppressed. They replace the Good News with a message that exalts the rich, powerful and proud, especially presented with a Coke, a Quarter-Pounder with Cheese, in a Hummer with an American flag and a God Bless America bumper sticker, wearing Abercrombie with Nike shoes, talking about how lost Muslims are for not accepting our message when we are spending billions of dollars to kill their relatives who we do not listen to or try to understand.

If Christians worked to establish universal values, such as ending illness, poverty and violence, nobody would look upon Christianity as harmful in politics. The current "crucial issues" (according to Rick Warren) are 1) abortion, 2) stem-cell research, 3) homosexual marriage, 4) human cloning, and 5) euthanasia. (see my entry about the status quo Church). These issues do nothing substantial in solving illness (stem-cell research and human cloning already have strict ethical guidelines without Christian influence), poverty and violence (euthanasia is an act of mercy, not judgment, unlike war and capital punishment). Abortion is the only issue of significant gravity in this list. Ending poverty is essential in stopping abortion, yet poverty is no where on this list. Some call these Christian Right issues "moral" issues. Aren't illness, poverty and violence even greater moral issues because they destroy more lives? Since Christian Right issues actively distract people from ending illness, poverty and violence, why would people interested in moral issues, especially Christians, possibly support this?

The year 1980 is key. First, a little background. The American Old Left was characterized by FDR and the New Deal that focused on labor issues. The Old Right was formed as an opposition to the New Deal Old Left, because it viewed the New Deal as socialism. The Old Right supported small government and non-interventionism. The Old Right opposed involvement in World War II in Europe (although many Old Right people supported war with Japan), whereas the Old Left Franklin D. Roosevelt engaged in WWII in Europe. The Old Right faded by the time of the Korean War (1950-53) as key Old Right people died and the fight against communism escalated. The New Right became interventionist and favored big government, especially for military spending. In opposition to the New Right and the Vietnam War (1959-1975) the Old Left was replaced by the New Left during the 1960s and 70s, which was characterized by mass social activism and a focus on social revolution. The New Right Republican party was faltering after the Watergate scandal and the born again democrat Jimmy Carter took office. Republican Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 with the help of New Right activists who denounced abortion, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, affirmative action and supported Israel militarily (because of dubious classical dispensationalist theology).

Why did the Republican Party suddenly become the Christian Right Party in 1980? Jerry Falwell who opposed Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights movement, the equal rights amendment, women's liberation and gay rights was gaining power in the 1970s. Falwell's political clout climaxed has he and other Christian Right activists influenced the Republican Party to follow the Christian Right agenda to the dismay of many Republicans. James Dobson's Focus on the Family (founded in 1977) and Falwell's Moral Majority (founded in 1980) provided the necessary voters and social movement to make it possible.

These Christian Right activists did not know much about economics and foreign policy, but hated civil rights reformers. The Republican Party did not know much about harnessing the Christian vote, but were zealous to militarily oppose Communism (e.g. with Star Wars). This marriage of a counter-progressive domestic agenda and a militant foreign policy proved to be a winning combination that gave Ronald Reagan a landslide victory (91% of the electoral college).

Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. followed Reagan's footsteps. Bush Sr. did not emphasize the Christian Right agenda as much as Reagan and Bush Jr. The Republican primary competitor against Bush Sr., Pat Robertson (who founded the Christian Coalition), would have been the ideal Christian Right candidate.

Before the the Christian Right and Republican Party merged, the Christian Right was not an avid military interventionist (Christians held the same general population views, whereas 69% of evangelicals supported the invasion of Iraq in 2002, which was 10 percentage points more than the U.S. adult population as a whole; Bill Bright, Chuck Colson, James Kennedy and Carl Herbster with Richard Land sent a letter to Bush Jr. before the Iraq invasion to state that the Iraq invasion fulfilled Just War requirements although it was a preemptive war and the Catholic Church,  among other Christians, said Iraq invasion does not fulfill Just War requirements) and the Republican Party was not as avidly socially counter-progressive (it is unlikely the Republican party would oppose gay marriage, stem-cell research, etc. as avidly without Christian Right influence).

The current Christian Right can be thought of as the New Christian Right. The Old Christian Right was in the 1920s when Christians fought for prohibition of alcohol (which was a failure) and to stop teaching evolution in schools. 

The upcoming presidential race is loaded with big government, interventionist politicians. The Christian Right/New Right candidates are John McCain and Mitt Romney. Rudy Guliani is New Right without the Christian Right. The New Left Democratic candidates are Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel (in decreasing order of support for interventionism). Ron Paul is an Old Right (non-interventionist, small government) Republican candidate.

The founding fathers were firmly non-interventionist in foreign policy, preferring to trade with countries instead of meddling in other country's internal affairs. Now, both the Democratic and Republican party are war parties that favor interventionism. The Democratic Party supports multilateral interventionism, whereas the Republican Party supports unilateral interventionism. Fortunately, not all candidates follow their party line, such as Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. The Green or Libertarian parties form the peaceful alternative, but since there is no alternative run-off voting, they have almost no chance of winning.

Originally published at Interconnectedness. Please leave any comments there.