They have finally realized what the rest of us have known for many years:
Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word “evangelical” has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.
The statement, called “An Evangelical Manifesto,” condemns Christians on the right and left for using faith to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
“That way faith loses its independence, Christians become ‘useful idiots’ for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology,” according to the draft.
How convincing will it be?
The signers say they will still fight against equal rights for gay people. (But it’s not political.)
They’ll still fight against a woman’s right to choose. (But it’s not political.)
It sounds like they just want to convince themselves they’re not playing in the hands of the Republican Party. Meanwhile, they’ll continue doing everything that makes the rest of us think exactly that…
A couple big-name conservative Christians like James Dobson and Richard Land have not signed the document. It’s not known whether they read it or were even asked to sign it. But without their blessings, the document “will carry no weight.”
Phil Burress, an Ohio activist who networks with national evangelical leaders, said that if high-profile evangelical leaders such as Dobson and Land don’t support the document, “it’s like throwing a pebble in the ocean”…
(via FriendlyChristian)
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
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