In a May 30, 2012 story in The Guardian, journalist Katherine Stewart, author of The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children reveals that next Fall over 100,000 elementary school students in American public schools will receive explicit coaching on the scriptural justification for killing unbelievers, every last one - drawing on Old Testament scripture that, according to Pennsylvania State professor Philip Jenkins, author of Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can't Ignore the Bible's Violent Verses, has historically been used by the Pilgrims to justify slaughtering Native Americans, by Catholics and Protestants to justify slaughtering each other, and during the early 1990s in Rwanda, to justify killing Tutsis.  

One of the factors driving the increasing radicalization of the Republican Party, which shows a growing willingness to put partisan politics above the national interest, has been the radicalization of segments of the American evangelical community.

Meanwhile, prominent university scholars, leading moderate American evangelical Christian publications, and even the Oprah TV network have promoted, unwittingly or not, leaders from what is perhaps the most radical segment of the politicized evangelical right, the New Apostolic Reformation -- a "theocratic utopian" movement, with growing ties to the Republican Party, that disaffected former movement insiders warn could become a violent "Christian jihad".

For decades, conservatives have been pushing the notion that African Americans have a lot more in common with their views than with liberals. Conservative foundations, anti-gay groups and faith-based organizations have spent millions of dollars supporting black conservative pundits, columnists, and organizations.

Nevertheless, over the years black conservatives and their white supporters have been marginal figures in African American communities; rarely having a substantial political impact. The last great white hope for conservatives has been to forge partnerships with conservative black clergy.

When President Barack Obama finally evolved enough to announce his support for same-sex marriage, many conservatives were, in their heart of hearts, ecstatic. They were contemplating a severe backlash amongst African Americans that might result in myriad political opportunities. Would Obama's support for same-sex marriage drive a significant number of African Americans away from supporting his reelection? Might African Americans flock in unprecedented numbers to the Republican Party?

A small group of conservative Catholics has produced an election-year YouTube video that has gone viral. The dark, somber three-minute production recites the Church hierarchy's culture war grievances against the Obama administration - and all but promises that Catholics who vote for Obama will pay in the next life.

But there may be more going on here than using Catholic damnation anxiety as a tool to roll back marriage equality and reproductive rights. The video may also be part of a wider effort to eradicate public education.

Anti-abortion violence has been a critical part of the so-called culture wars since the 70s.  And it raises profound issues that as a democratic society, built on a constitutional system and carefully constructed culture of religious pluralism, we have dealt with poorly.  

Although the vast majority of anti-abortion leaders condemn violence and consider acts of violence to undermine their cause; serious crimes, including acts of violence against abortion providers continue.  Most recently, there have been three burglaries and two arsons against Atlanta area clinics and the offices of ob gyn physicians,   making regional news. However, the doctors who have been victims of the burglaries and one of the arsons believe that although they do not perform abortions, they were being targeted in retaliation for public opposition to antiabortion "fetal pain" legislation recently signed by the governor.  (One of the arsons was unquestionably aimed at an abortion provider.)

There are, of course, many things that could be said about all this.  But I want to surface a few points that I hope will stay in our conversation about these things, long after the outrage over recent events has subsided, and our attention is drawn to other things.

He may not be a household name like Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell, but Colonel V. Doner was one of the major strategist of the Christian Right for three decades.  Following the events of September 11, 2001, Doner had a change of heart and has written a fascinating book, released this week, about the role of the Christian Right in the culture wars and the polarization of American society.  The title is Christian Jihad:  Neo-Fundamentalists and the Polarization of America.  From the Coalition of Revival to Sarah Palin and the New Apostolic Reformation, the book exposes the rise of a theocratic worldview which Doner describes as "Neo-Fundamentalist."

The summer movies are coming out, and our silver screens are already filling up with Snow White, superheroes and spaceships.

If you're in the mood for something a little different, I'd like to recommend a new documentary about religion in public schools that you can watch for free right at your computer.

Why can't secular liberals be more like evangelicals? That 's the question posed by Stanford anthropologist T.M. Luhrmann in a recent op-ed in The New York Times.  She thinks, as have others before, that some evangelicals might find Democratic candidates more attractive if, well, they were more like evangelicals.  But her idea strikes me as the political equivalent of the immortal words of Professor Henry Higgins, in My Fair Lady, "Why can't a woman be more like a man?"  

Happily, Professor Higgins overcomes his perplexity before the show is over.  But bafflement over why another cannot be more like oneself, especially when it comes to politics and religion, continues to bedevil the American experiment in democracy and its most original feature - religious equality under the law and a culture of religious pluralism.  One tiresome trope that interferes with our national conversation on these matters is on vivid display in Professor Luhrmann's essay.

When voices of profound conscience rise to the occasion, something changes. If we didn't hear that voice or notice the change, it could be because that voice helped to dissipate the gathering darkness of a horror that might have been. Or maybe we just weren't in the right place at the right time, or didn't happen to be reading where the writing occurred.  But it is important for the rest of us to try to always keep our ears open for such voices.  It can make all of the difference.

Yesterday I stumbled on an eloquent, bellwether essay by Bill Leonard, a Professor of Church History at Wake Forest School of Divinity.  He says he has always stuck to issues and has never been in the business of calling out fellow Baptists -- until now. He recognizes that the horrendous sermon of North Carolina Baptist pastor Charles Worley calling for concentration camps for LGTB people, is not merely a colorfully extreme statement by an obscure preacher who accidentally made national news. Leonard knows that Worley's sermon is stuff of which holocausts are made; that it must be addressed; and there is no going back.

 

Recently I finished James Robison's book on economics, politics and American history.  I thought to myself that the book should never have been written with limited credentials for such an endeavor. I have had several posts to my articles here in which the post stated  they were glad I read the books so they did not have to.  I started thinking about all the books I have read that never should have been published and thought I might come up with a few.

There may not be an IPO in its immediate future, but if Chris Burkhart and Wes McKinsey, who both grew up as sons of pastors, achieve their goals, then hundreds of thousands of Christians from around the world will be able to meet up with each other at HeavenUp, their newly created faith-based social networking and media website.

The founders hope that if the site takes off, teenagers, many of whom are both social media savvy and no longer drawn to attending church services, will flock to HeavenUp for regular doses of music, videos, spirituality and fellowship.

This is the third article in a series about the May cover story on Heidi Baker in Christianity Today.

Heidi Baker is being virtually beatified, along with other NAR apostles and prophets, in multi-million dollar academic studies funded by the Templeton Foundation. NAR apostles including C. Peter Wagner have been chosen as "exemplars of Godly Love," as reported in Bruce Wilson's recent article. Now Christianity Today has jumped on the NAR bandwagon with the promotion of Baker, a prominent NAR prophet and a leader of the Revival Alliance apostolic network.