Oh God---CNN just joined the "War against Christianity" crowd.

[trumad]

Wasn't CNN a news organization at one time?



According to a recent poll conducted by The Hill, 69% of voters think America is in decline, and 83% say they are worried about the country’s future. And that has generated a lot of finger-pointing: Republicans blame President Obama; Obama blames Republicans; environmentalists blame industrialization; the “Occupy” people blame everybody who isn’t occupying something - most of us agree that there is a problem, but efforts to identify the source of it are incomplete, misguided or downright evil.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/24/my-take-when-bedford-falls-becomes-pottersville/?hpt=hp_c1

[DCKit]

1. I've made it a point to add religion to the list of things one does not speak of...

in polite company.

Unless they start it.

[trumad]

2. Front page on CNN

telling everyone the country is shit because Christianity is lacking.

[mucifer]

3. yup it's all the fault of the Muslims, Jews and other religions.

The heathens have destroyed this nation.

Finally cnn gets it!

[Jazzgirl]

32. You forgot the atheists!

[mucifer]

33. They don't even count!

[Mariana]

7. If they start it

they aren't polite company anyway, are they? Let 'em have it.

[sammytko]

4. It's a religion blog, what else are they going to say?

It's an opinion piece

I am surprised that I have only seen one person on my Facebook page that has even brought up this subject.

[trumad]

5. Prominant on their front page.

[Bluenorthwest]

10. They could say lots of things, such as care for the poor and the sick and the eldery

or they could say 'do unto others' or they could say what Jesus said, which is that each of the least among us is actually Christ himself, and thus we should do all we can for the prisoners, the homeless, the sick, the hungry, the children, the oppressed and downtrodden.
I mean, they could say those things. Instead the edit them out and say 'fear the other!'

[RZM]

12. Thanks beat me to it

It's opinion. You get that from news outlets sometimes.

[rurallib]

6. the group most lacking Christianity is the Christians

[DCKit]

8. +1 nt

[sarcasmo]

14. +2

[BiggJawn]

20. +100

[2pooped2pop]

9. Why do they want to call everything a "war"

They seem to like to use the phrase for everything except an actual war. They call that a peace keeping mission, or liberation, or defenders of democracy.

Maybe we need an actual war on religion. We need to have a war to stop one particular religion from outlawing the rest, nosing into everyones business and dictating behavior that they themselves refuse to follow. Let's do have a war on the stolen and monopolized Pagan holiday now called Christmas.

I admit, I say "Happy Holidays" on purpose. It's not their fucking holiday, it's mine.

[Walk away]

11. Let's face it. Christians feel threatened with the decline of their mythology.

They can't deal with diversity and sometimes become violent and deadly when challenged about their beliefs.

It's like the Teabaggers and our President. The root of their intense hatred is their fear of his race. They are terrified of the "other" and reasoning like this is just the start. People inclined to unquestioning belief are often dangerous.

[RetroLounge]

13. +1

RL

[sarcasmo]

15. +2

[Zax2me]

30. Agree 100% if you replace Christianity in your comment with another religion -

That better fits the violent and deadly description you offered.

[Walk away]

35. I doubt even Muslim fundamentalists can out torture, slaughter.....

and enforce genocide better than the followers of Christ have throughout history. They made an art form of it.

[deutsey]

16. It's by Larry Alex Taunton, founder of The Fixed Point Foundation

Here's how the Foundation describes itself:

http://fixed-point.org/index.php/about

It is our mission to seek innovative ways to defend and proclaim the Gospel and to prepare Christians to do the same. Whether it is our traditional concepts of human dignity and purpose or our understanding of what constitutes right and wrong, Christianity has served as the primary source of inspiration, giving light to law, government, the arts and sciences—indeed, giving light to what Dostoevsky called, “The Eternal Questions.”

That we have gradually lost sight of our Christian heritage is obvious even to the casual observer. In recent decades, however, we have witnessed aggressive efforts to demolish it systematically. Complicating matters is the fact that many Christians have imbibed any number of erroneous assumptions concerning their own faith, such as: Christianity lacks intellectual credibility; the Bible contradicts science; sincerity matters more than truth; Christian ethics cannot cope with the complexities of modern life; Jesus Christ is a way rather than the way; “diversity” is a value and “tolerance” means anything goes; and the list goes on.

Yet the mandate is clear. Jesus said, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength.” (Mark 12:30) Unfortunately, many in the Church have ceased to love God with their minds. As a consequence, a substantive public Christian response to these trends has been absent to such a degree that one major newspaper asked pointedly, “Won’t anyone stand up for God?”

Fixed Point Foundation was established in 2004 with precisely this end in view and the results have been extraordinary. We have sponsored highly publicized events at universities ranging from Oxford to UAB and our resources are being used in universities, schools, and churches around the world. Fixed Point is an expression of the Church speaking into the culture, challenging the unbelief of skeptics and restoring the Christian’s confidence that the Bible is precisely what it claims to be—True.

[trumad]

17. Class A Douchebag

[Proud Liberal Dem]

18. *Facepalm*

Is it just me or has the "War on Christmas" crusaders have been more insane than usual this year???

[Irishonly]

26. I don't get it

Holidays came from holy days but I guess the crusaders either don't get it or worry that a holy day may be from another religion. I couldn't believe when I hear that some crazy organization keeps track of which stores will say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". It is nuts.

The groups make tons of money selling their war. Until this country starts wising up, it's going to get worse.

[Zax2me]

31. not any more than normal - it's being attacked as it always has.

But, as it is in Whoville, Christmas comes anyway. No need to suffer fools.

There are sad people out there that can't stand to see a religous holiday celebrated because they are not a part of it.
These are usually the same people first in line to wave a 'freedom' banner and talk about free choice. Until someone actually tries to express that freedom through a religion they don't believe in or religion at all, for that matter.
So, no, nothing new to see here.
Scrooges.
Old story.

[Bolo Boffin]

19. So without Christian belief, America would become Pottersville, a utopia for Republicans.

Not that shabby a message...

[BiggJawn]

21. What a steaming load of manure.

So Murrika without Jeebus becomes what it already is becoming, a nation of uber-rich controlling every facet of the peasant class, where they live, *IF* they can work, *IF* they can afford to have their illnesses treated?

We're already there. Welcome to the United Duchys of Pottersville.

Why would a christian theocracy be any different than a islamic one? A nation under Jeebus? Take a look at Saudi Arabia or Iran. Women flogged for venturing outside without a male relative in escort (which would doom my girlfriend to being cloistered in her house for the rest of her life) Gays hoisted up in the air slowly by the neck at the end of a backhoe?

Oh, yes, Murrika will devolve into a morass if we don't start getting some Jeebus in our lives. Why, just look at places that aren't christian, like Sweden, or maybe Norway?

What a crock of crap. Yes, i know it's just an op-ed piece, but now I've shared my op-ed on the matter.

Happy Festivus!

[trumad]

22. What bothered me about this piece is this bullshit comment...

the “Occupy” people blame everybody who isn’t occupying something"...

You can clearly hear the disdain dripping from his purty lips about the Occupy movement.

He's a right wing fundamentalist hack.

[BiggJawn]

23. Yeah, it seems the writer is a corporate shill as well as a religious one.

But Religion is Big Business in this country, too.

[starroute]

27. That casual slam of Occupy bugged me too

The Occupiers blame the 1%, or maybe just a small, irredeemable fraction of the 1%. Not that difficult an idea to get your head around. And they see everyone else, even the police, as potential allies.

But this writer has an us-versus-them mentality that will never comprehend people who say "we're all us."

[chrisa]

24. The caption also features a strawman

Nobody except for extremists want to do away with Christian belief.

[Quartermass]

25. Things will always get worse before they get better.

And this is why I don't like news. They always love to use hyperbole in order to create conflict so that people will buy their news so they can make lots of money off of it.

There is no real difference between CNN and FOX News, but it's always only about FOX News.

Wake up people.

It's all about making money, not news.

[DeathToTheOil]

28. It's filed under "Belief"

NBD.

[Enrique]

29. terrible column

terrible choice by CNN to publish it.

The column is pure Christian chauvinism, with some nonsensical references to "It's a wonderful life", and to current events, tacked on.

[ZombieHorde]

34. Ha! Humanity is stupid. nt