Maybe this religion biz is pretty nefarious.
The left wing religious really fascinate me. They may be the untold, underreported story of our time. I didn't know they existed until the Elian Gonzales contretemps flushed out the ICC. Now the WSJ Ed Page shares this from The World Alliance of Reformed Churches:
Bad enough that the summer re-make of "The Manchurian Candidate" recast a corporation in the villain's role played by Communism in the original. Now the World Alliance of Reformed Churches is signing on.Meeting in Ghana this month, the alliance, which represents 75 million Christians in 100 countries, claims that U.S.-style capitalism ranks as the world's greatest threat. The free market and the corporations that control it, these clergy believe, have "created job loss and grinding poverty, an unprecedented rise in crime and violence, ecological degradation, and the spread of HIV/AIDS."
Not to let the right wingers off the hook, Silence, don't scald me. But they have a natural antagonist in the media that keeps an eye on them. The ICC and World Alliance of Reformed Churches operate sub rosa.
Agreed. I would also never claim that there is a "wacko gap" between the left and the right, both sides have their share.
Posted by: Silence Dogood at August 20, 2004 12:47 PMBrother J.K., you must not have been going to church in the 80's when Catholic liberation theologians were pushing for Marxism in Central and South America. There has long been a religious subset of the left that has seen communism as being synonymous with the teachings of Christ, lead by priests and nuns who disdain words like "profit" and "business". I once asked a nun to reconcile the obvious evil nature of communism with her faith and the response was that "communism, like Christianity, hasn't worked thus far because noone has tried it yet". The religious left lives in a never land where heaven on earth is just a round the corner and original sin will no longer hinder our decisions making. Michael Novak, NR contributor, theologian and economist dubunks this nonsense wonderfully in "The Democratic Spirit of Capitalism," a book well worth reading.
Posted by: sugarchuck at August 21, 2004 06:11 PMFascinating observations sugarchuck. I have heard the "nobody's tried it yet" excuse for communism's failures before, but not for Christianity. These ideologies really are two wings of the same bird of prey.
Examples of leftist christian outfits range from the fringe of American Friends Service Committee (www.afsc.org all the way to the Anglican church (www.cofe.anglican.org) and its Archbishop of Canterbury (www.archbishopofcanterbury.org). It has been argued that this leftist influence upon the organized churches led to the increased incidence of child molestation by priests.
Posted by: johngalt at August 23, 2004 01:26 PMEh? How does the argument go that leftist influence led to child molestation? Unless this is some sort of crass version of the communist manifesto - from each according to his ability to each according to his need?
Posted by: Silence Dogood at August 24, 2004 11:25 AMI dunno, Silence. As Sugarchuck accuses, I missed a whole decade of Mass...
Posted by: jk at August 24, 2004 12:38 PMLeftist influence > more gay priests > more children molested.
Posted by: johngalt at August 24, 2004 11:09 PMRightist influence > vow of celibacy > more children molested.
Posted by: Silence Dogood at August 25, 2004 09:55 AMHasn't the rate of change of 'vow of celibacy' among priests been negative in the last fifty or so years? How does this lead to MORE children molested?
Posted by: johngalt at August 25, 2004 02:59 PMChild molestation by members of the clergy began long before gays were accepted into the ministry.
Posted by: Silence Dogood at August 26, 2004 09:49 AMI have to admit that I don't have hard data on this (probably because it's nearly impossible to determine) but the sense is that child molestation, which you correctly state began long before gay priests became 'acceptable,' has INCREASED IN FREQUENCY. This indicates, though doesn't prove, a cause and effect relationship. It does quack like a duck, however.
I wonder if it really has increased in frequency or just increased in reportage, maybe due to the liberal influence that would encourage and embolden people to come forward?
Posted by: Silence Dogood at August 26, 2004 01:18 PM