Christianity Today: "The Biggest Loser in the Alabama Election"

[Girard442]

An article from December 12.

No matter the outcome of today’s special election in Alabama for a coveted US Senate seat, there is already one loser: Christian faith. When it comes to either matters of life and death or personal commitments of the human heart, no one will believe a word we say, perhaps for a generation. Christianity’s integrity is severely tarnished.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/december-web-only/roy-moore-doug-jones-alabama-editorial.html

An interesting read, not because of what's in it, but what's not. You see, by driving thoughtful, decent people away from evangelical churches, the Evangelicals, by their stated beliefs, are likely condemning a tremendous number of people to eternal damnation by depriving them of their opportunity to hear the message that they need Jesus as their personal saviour.

Also, Evangelicals emphasize that every believer has a personal relationship with God and that prayer for comfort and guidance should be a part of every born-again person's life.

Neither of these things is mentioned in the article. It's like they can't even be bothered to pretend to believe their own theology.

[Sneederbunk]

1. WaPo predicts the Religious Left will come into its own in 2018.

[yallerdawg]

5. The Democratic turnout that won this election in Alabama...

was a result of concentrating on the black vote in black churches, and everyone reports black women voters made all the difference.

When Democrats attack religion and faith with a broad brush of intolerance and divisiveness, they are attacking a significant number of Democrats.

[Sneederbunk]

6. That is why I submit that the non believers on this blog who seek

to antagonize believers, not only do a disservice to the Party, but are suspect as to why they do it.

[Voltaire2]

8. and there it is again, "atheists badz" - how dare we have an opinion?

We must be all sorts of ruskie-troll-bots, amirite?

[Cuthbert Allgood]

11. By "antagonize believers" you mean voice our opinion

and say that we don't believe in god. And that religion isn't always a force for good.

Well, fuck that. I get to say what I think. It's kind of a hallmark of our country.

But, yeah, just keep pushing the atheists are Russian trolls. That kind of exclusive thinking isn't scary at all.

[Sneederbunk]

12. You don't have to be a Russian troll to divide the party.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

13. So you are just going to double down on it, then. Awesome.

I know a lot of theists liked it better when atheists were in the back of the bus and shut our mouth, but it's 2018 and you need to get used to the fact that a growing percentage of the population doesn't believe in a god. We aren't going anywhere.

[Mariana]

7. It's unlikely that set of circumstances will happen again.

If the Republicans had put up even a marginally better candidate than the absolutely disgusting Roy Moore, they would have won in a landslide. You yourself told us how many Christian voters stayed home. Those people were (rightly) sickened enough by Moore that they refused to vote for him, but they just couldn't find it within themselves to vote against him. Why is that?

[marylandblue]

2. What's also not in the article is separation of church and state

He assumes that Christians need to participate in politics as Christians, and impose their morality on the general public. But we are relearning what the founding fathers already knew, religion in politics is bad for religion and bad for politics.

[Mariana]

9. Few conservative Christians accept the concept

of separation of church and state - as long as it is their religion that is dominant, of course.

[bobbieinok]

3. bilgrimage.blogspot.com has many posts on this Compares to Evangelicals' fight vs CivilRights

[MineralMan]

4. Thoughtful, decent people have many Christian churches they can

attend. Their "salvation" isn't at risk at all, assuming that such a thing even exists. It is not those thoughtful, decent people who are in danger. What is in danger is the survival of the mean-spirited, bigoted people who could support a Roy Moore for any public office. They are truly lost in their understanding.

I won't miss the conservative fundamentalist Christians if they disappear. I don't know anyone who would. Let them change. If they won't, then knock the dust of your shoes and move on. If they won't listen, move on to others.

[PragmaticDem]

10. Evangelism is tarnished!

Christianity not so much.