Tonight: Brokaw Investigates Evangelicals

October 28, 2005 Posted by Amy HallcloseAuthor: Amy Hall Name: Amy Hall
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My sister emailed me this morning to tell me about a commercial she had just seen for tonight's “Dateline NBC” which, as she put it, “appeared to be about the evil evangelical Christians taking over the world.”

The show airs tonight at 8:00, and if this article is any indication, the purpose of this investigation is most likely an attempt to make people fear evangelicals and their tyrannical beliefs.  (It's possible the perceived slant could be coming from the article writer and/or the commercial editors and not the special itself.)  Here's an excerpt from the AP article:

[Brokaw] also explores why so many Americans are turning to this expression of faith, and whether some evangelicals are going too far: imposing on others their spiritual beliefs not only for personal reasons but also for political reasons.

Some time is given to evangelical pastor Ted Haggard to explain evangelicalism:

Attempting to explain the growth of the evangelical moment, Haggard says, “It's not political–it's authentically spiritual renewal.”

But then the article adds:

But Haggard, who speaks regularly with the White House, also declares that, although Americans live in a pluralistic society, “all of us have a responsibility to advance God's will through government.”

The description on Dateline NBC's site sounds much more benign, so I suppose we'll have to wait and see the actual special.  I do think it's important we all watch.  We should be aware how others see us–regardless of whether they're right or wrong.

I'm not surprised that people misunderstand the motivations of our beliefs and actions (e.g., the AP description of the GodBlogCon contained similar misunderstandings of our motivations).  People are so afraid of Christians having a voice and affecting policy in this country.  I would just ask them to remember that Christians were the ones who pushed for the abolition of slavery both here and in England, and it was the Christian values of Dr. Martin Luther King that fueled the civil rights movement.  Neither group of people “imposed their spiritual beliefs on others.”  Maybe those incidents were just too long ago for people to remember.

I do find it interesting that, currently, if liberal religious people cite their faith as “propelling” them (even John Kerry said this), nobody has a problem with this.  I suppose it's okay for them to do so because they're right…er…left…you know what I mean. 

This does seem to suggest that it's not so much Christians that people fear as much as it is conservatives.  Since many conservatives happen to be Christians, Christians then become the targeted group, easily caricatured and/or vilified.  If one is able to get people to fear Christians and identify them with conservative thought, then everyone will want to distance themselves as far as possible from conservatism.

In the meantime, it's perfectly fine for every non-conservative group in America to try to affect legislation and advance its beliefs (see here, here, and here).

Related posts:

1. Update on the Dateline NBC Special
2. Evangelicals and the Movies
3. Mormon beliefs are not as un-evangelical as most evangelicals think
4. Air America Update
5. Fighting the Evil Conservatives
6. How Should Evangelicals Witness to Mormons?

Posted in Amy's Posts, Culture, Main Page, Politics, Religion (General)