Three years ago, they considered him their savior. You might say that they worshipped him. Oh, how quickly folks can turn on someone.
Jesus Christ has fallen out of favor with Fundamentalist Christians, and this remarkable development can be traced to one thing -- the War in Iraq.
"I used to believe in most everything Jesus taught," said Emma Smith of Pensacola, Florida, "but now I'm not so sure about a lot of it." Smith stopped referring to Christ as "The Lord" about two-and-a-half years ago, when many Christian groups announced their moral opposition to President Bush's plan to invade Iraq.
"I think the late Pope and other religious leaders were right when they made the assumption that Christ would have opposed the Iraq War," said Smith, as she was putting the finishing touches on a shrine she was making in honor of Terri Schiavo. "This is because Jesus proclaimed, 'Blessed are the Peacemakers' -- but I just can't buy into that anymore, nor can I accept the whole 'turn the other cheek' deal."
Smith is not alone. According to recent polls, nearly 80% of the Evangelical Christians in this country now believe that the teachings of Christ have little relevance in today's world. "Well, he did say some pretty ok things," said Gerry Vynes, the former president of the Southeastern Baptist Convention, "but let's face it -- so did Buddha and that Muhammad character." Vynes spoke highly of President Bush's interpretation of the New Testament: "I think our Commander-in-Chief got it right when he referred to Jesus' teachings as 'philosophy.'"
Vynes takes particular issue with Christ's statement that you cannot know the time of his return. "Jesus was just plain wrong on that one," said Vynes. "Scriptures clearly say that the time is now and the place is the Middle East." Vynes, however, is hoping for a Jesus-less Armageddon: "I hope he stays where he is -- I just don't see the Christ of the Gospels coming down and doing any serious ass-kicking."
He also revealed that he is "mildly upset" with the Bush Administration's Road Map for peace in the Middle East. "Don't get me wrong, " said Vynes, "George Bush is a great man -- he talks to God and God talks to him -- but you can't have Armageddon and peace at the same time."
Although Smith and Vynes still agree that Jesus was a moral man, a growing number of Evangelical Christians now reject Christ outright. "Jesus, long hair and all, would have been right there with all of those peace activists camped out with that traitorous Shee-han woman in Crawford," said Joseph Myrr, a missionary who was working in Iraq until the deteriorating security situation required him to leave. "That image does not sit well with some of us."
2 comments:
Funny. I bet you could actually make that real if you just went around and found real quotes from people like Robertson, Falwell, Dobson and compared them to what Jesus said.
Dan
Those guys certainly inspired this piece, particularly in how they -- the evangelicals -- are actively pursuing policies that are geared toward triggering Armageddon (i.e., God is so weak that he can't trigger Armageddon himself and must get help from . . . well, the dumbest people in the world). That wouldn't be so bad in itself if it just involved some isolated group of idiots sending letters to the government, but George Bush and Tom DeLay are part of this group of morons.
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