Day: October 13, 2007

Friday Night Lights: Illuminating and Proselitizing

Trish

The age-old question of which side is God on has taken a decidedly local turn in these parts. Our independent weekly recently ran a couple of stories about a football coach who forces kids not just to pray before games, but to adopt his Christian evangelical POV. Parents, the stories reported, were afraid to protest to school board and administrative authorities, fearing retribution against their sons in winning college football scholarships. The reaction among the independent weekly readers was that the coach, and his supporters, were all wrong.

On prayers before high school football games: “If God is there, could He just take time out from sports to fix the rest of the world?”

But then our local daily, the St. Augustine Record, caught wind of the story, and ran a prayer-friendly version. The reaction among the daily readers — where the story was that all high school football coaches force prayer upon their players and what’s wrong with that? — was that the coach was a hero. Their follow-up story said 74 people wrote in support of the crusading coach and five against.

That’s the background. Here’s a great letter to the editor on the subject in the local daily:

I am against prayer before, after or during a football game.

Players are not praying for welfare of all mankind, for a responsible government, for peace in the demolished land of Iraq. They are praying to win a football game. They should pray that if they are to be hurt, let it be on the football field. They will have some medical coverage.

The Constitution calls for separation of church and state. Whose religion are we talking about? We see plenty of “Jesus” in the arguments for prayer. How about those who want to pray to Adonai or to Allah?

…The Record said it had 74 reactions for school prayer, and five against.

Does that make those five wrong? Does it say something about our city, our community?

My parents came out of World War II convinced there was no God. And if there was a god who let 20 million people die, he is an awful god.

Seeing what is happening today, I do not believe in God either.

If God is there, could He just take time out from sports to fix the rest of the world?

Poll: Intolerance of Gays Drives Up Christianity’s Negatives among Young People

Jon Ponder

Opposition to gay civil rights has become an extremely effective fundraising tool for the Christian right. In 2005, for example, four of the leading organizations focused on institutionalizing homophobia — Focus on the Family, the American Family Association, the Family Research Council and the Traditional Values Coalition (which advocates execution of gays) — raised $169 million.

Overall, 91 percent of 16- to 29-year-old non-Christians and 80 percent of young churchgoers believe Christianity is anti-gay.

But the effectiveness with which these groups have gotten their message out is proving to be a double-edged sword. While it has ginned up antipathy toward gays — which simultaneously stalled progress on gay civil rights and served as a powerful political tool that Republicans used to seize power — a poll released last month by Barna, a Christian research group, suggests that the relentless intolerance has seriously damaged the image of Christianity among young people:

Interestingly, the study discovered a new image that has steadily grown in prominence over the last decade. Today, the most common perception is that present-day Christianity is “anti-homosexual.” Overall, 91 percent of [16- to 29-year-old] non-Christians and 80 percent of young churchgoers say this phrase describes Christianity.

As the research probed this perception, non-Christians and Christians explained that beyond their recognition that Christians oppose homosexuality, they believe that Christians show excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards gays and lesbians.

One of the most frequent criticisms of young Christians was that they believe the church has made homosexuality a “bigger sin” than anything else. Moreover, they claim that the church has not helped them apply the biblical teaching on homosexuality to their friendships with gays and lesbians.

Attitudes toward Christianity among today’s youth are much more negative than they were a generation ago, says Barna:

[…]

Former Head of Coalition Forces Says Bush War Planners Were ‘Derelict in Their Duties’

Jon Ponder

In remarks to an annual conference of military reporters near Washington on Friday, former Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the leader of coalition forces in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, unloaded on the incompetent planning and management of the Iraq war by his former bosses in the Bush administration and the military:

“The administration has failed.”
– Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (retired)

“From a catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan to the administration’s latest surge strategy, this administration has failed to employ and synchronize its political, economic and military power,” Sanchez said.

He said the mismanagement of the war continues today:

“After more than four years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism,” Gen. Sanchez said…

“There has been a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders,” he said, adding that civilian officials have been “derelict in their duties” and guilty of a “lust for power.”

And the future of the occupation looks very grim:

“There is no question America is living a nightmare with no end in sight … There is nothing going on today that would give us hope … The administration has failed.”

Sanchez’ career was derailed as a result of the Abu Grahib prison scandal, which occurred on his watch.