Bring out your God fear
WASHINGTON - American society looks down on Christianity, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay asserted Tuesday at a conference of religious conservatives, but God and Jesus Christ have chosen Christians to stand up for faith.
DeLay, who is facing tough times of his own, offered a half-hour speech that was part history lesson and part sermon to a crowd of about 300 gathered at a Washington hotel for a two-day conference titled "The War on Christians and the Values Voter in 2006."
The Sugar Land Republican said some commentators — the "chattering classes" — will argue that there is no war on Christianity in this country.
"But in a sense, there always has been and always will be," he said. "Our faith has always been in direct conflict with the values of the world. We are, after all, a society that provides abortion on demand, has killed millions of innocent children, degrades the institution of marriage and all but treats Christianity like some second-rate superstition."
Despite those factors, DeLay said, "we have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned. ... God made us specifically for it. ... Jesus Christ himself made us just so that we could live in this nation at this time."
The conference was convened by Vision America, a group founded by the Rev. Rick Scarborough to mobilize "patriot pastors" of all denominations to promote Christian involvement in government.
Scarborough, the former pastor of the First Baptist Church in Pearland, is a long-time DeLay ally.
"This is a man, I believe, God has appointed ... to represent righteousness in government," Scarborough told the audience, which included Eagle Forum Founder Phyllis Schlafly, former ambassador Alan Keyes, and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.
DeLay made no mention of his own political troubles, including a looming trial on state charges of campaign money-laundering. The indictment in Travis County last fall forced DeLay to step down as House majority leader, a position that had cemented his power in Washington. DeLay has denied wrongdoing.
In addition to having been admonished multiple times by the House ethics committee, DeLay also has faced questions over his friendship with Jack Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist at the center of a federal investigation of influence-peddling on Capitol Hill.
Scarborough said DeLay had been "nearly destroyed in the press," and he made a vague pitch for the conference participants to support DeLay in his general election race in November. DeLay should not worry about it, however, he said: "God always does his best work after a crucifixion."
The Rev. Barry Lynn, who heads Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the gathering was more about partisan politics than religion or cultural values.
"This 'war' is nothing real," Lynn said in a telephone interview with Cox News Service. "The fact is Christians in America are a cultural majority, and they are an extremely powerful group. But what you have here are second-tier preachers who are hoping to hit the big time, desperately hoping for a national spotlight ... ."
------------------------------------------------------------------
I guess that Tom thinks that lying or trying to launder money is something that Christians do. Yet another example of "Do as I say, not as I do."
DeLay, who is facing tough times of his own, offered a half-hour speech that was part history lesson and part sermon to a crowd of about 300 gathered at a Washington hotel for a two-day conference titled "The War on Christians and the Values Voter in 2006."
The Sugar Land Republican said some commentators — the "chattering classes" — will argue that there is no war on Christianity in this country.
"But in a sense, there always has been and always will be," he said. "Our faith has always been in direct conflict with the values of the world. We are, after all, a society that provides abortion on demand, has killed millions of innocent children, degrades the institution of marriage and all but treats Christianity like some second-rate superstition."
Despite those factors, DeLay said, "we have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned. ... God made us specifically for it. ... Jesus Christ himself made us just so that we could live in this nation at this time."
The conference was convened by Vision America, a group founded by the Rev. Rick Scarborough to mobilize "patriot pastors" of all denominations to promote Christian involvement in government.
Scarborough, the former pastor of the First Baptist Church in Pearland, is a long-time DeLay ally.
"This is a man, I believe, God has appointed ... to represent righteousness in government," Scarborough told the audience, which included Eagle Forum Founder Phyllis Schlafly, former ambassador Alan Keyes, and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.
DeLay made no mention of his own political troubles, including a looming trial on state charges of campaign money-laundering. The indictment in Travis County last fall forced DeLay to step down as House majority leader, a position that had cemented his power in Washington. DeLay has denied wrongdoing.
In addition to having been admonished multiple times by the House ethics committee, DeLay also has faced questions over his friendship with Jack Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist at the center of a federal investigation of influence-peddling on Capitol Hill.
Scarborough said DeLay had been "nearly destroyed in the press," and he made a vague pitch for the conference participants to support DeLay in his general election race in November. DeLay should not worry about it, however, he said: "God always does his best work after a crucifixion."
The Rev. Barry Lynn, who heads Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the gathering was more about partisan politics than religion or cultural values.
"This 'war' is nothing real," Lynn said in a telephone interview with Cox News Service. "The fact is Christians in America are a cultural majority, and they are an extremely powerful group. But what you have here are second-tier preachers who are hoping to hit the big time, desperately hoping for a national spotlight ... ."
------------------------------------------------------------------
I guess that Tom thinks that lying or trying to launder money is something that Christians do. Yet another example of "Do as I say, not as I do."
posted by Bludlust at 1:04 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home