9.05.2004
Now wait a minute!
Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John F. Kerry, issued a broadside (registration to the LA Times required) against the "Christian right" in a 1994 speech, saying that it "broadcasts its hatred" and appealed "to the dark corners of the human soul."
Ok, here we go again, even if it was ten years ago, when she was still in mourning for her dearly departed Republican senator husband.
"Rather than preach Christ's gospel of love and tolerance, this group broadcasts its hatred for homosexuals and liberals and minorities and feminists," she added. "The movement calls itself Christian, but its appeal is to dark corners of the human soul — fear, loathing, the desire for uniformity, the need for conformity."
Wait a minute. I acknowledge the Christian right was active in those days. Forgive me if I do not recall any sermons on hate, fear or loathing from that time. Moral people spoke; they expected a response from the left (and they got it from the likes of Terayza and myriad others). In all spheres of life, people do talk too much. Jerry Falwell may have been one of them.
I have gone to church for a long time, and my personal experience is not acquainted with 'hatred' or 'dark corners of the human soul'. That sort of rhetoric usually emanates from people who are not acquainted with the Christian experience, in response to the Christian experience.
Paul told Timothy "[i]n fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." 2 Tim 3:12. I guess Theresa Heinz made the point.
People have a right to speak their mind in this country. It is disingenuous to use words like 'hatred' as a catch-all response. It's the same as saying someone is a racist or bigot if he questions the fact that every single one of the 9/11 death flight participants were of the radical islamic persuasion.
At least the LA Times acknowledges the consequences of Heinz-Kerry-type attacks:
Such criticism today is fraught with peril, Green noted. "It takes a deft politician to hit the activists in the Christian right and not hit the people who are simply strong in their Christian values." He said that 1994 was a year when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee criticized the Christian right, a decision that partly explained the strong gains Republicans made in congressional races that year.
Ok, here we go again, even if it was ten years ago, when she was still in mourning for her dearly departed Republican senator husband.
"Rather than preach Christ's gospel of love and tolerance, this group broadcasts its hatred for homosexuals and liberals and minorities and feminists," she added. "The movement calls itself Christian, but its appeal is to dark corners of the human soul — fear, loathing, the desire for uniformity, the need for conformity."
Wait a minute. I acknowledge the Christian right was active in those days. Forgive me if I do not recall any sermons on hate, fear or loathing from that time. Moral people spoke; they expected a response from the left (and they got it from the likes of Terayza and myriad others). In all spheres of life, people do talk too much. Jerry Falwell may have been one of them.
I have gone to church for a long time, and my personal experience is not acquainted with 'hatred' or 'dark corners of the human soul'. That sort of rhetoric usually emanates from people who are not acquainted with the Christian experience, in response to the Christian experience.
Paul told Timothy "[i]n fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." 2 Tim 3:12. I guess Theresa Heinz made the point.
People have a right to speak their mind in this country. It is disingenuous to use words like 'hatred' as a catch-all response. It's the same as saying someone is a racist or bigot if he questions the fact that every single one of the 9/11 death flight participants were of the radical islamic persuasion.
At least the LA Times acknowledges the consequences of Heinz-Kerry-type attacks:
Such criticism today is fraught with peril, Green noted. "It takes a deft politician to hit the activists in the Christian right and not hit the people who are simply strong in their Christian values." He said that 1994 was a year when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee criticized the Christian right, a decision that partly explained the strong gains Republicans made in congressional races that year.
// posted by HunterByrd @ 7:31 PM 
