From: anderson@macc.wisc.edu (Jess Anderson)
Newsgroups: soc.motss
Subject: Christian Support, A Dream (was Re: Is Pat Robertson for real??)
Date: 1 Sep 92 14:38:27 GMT
Organization: Madison Academic Computing Center, UW-Madison


In article <BtwEzq.y8@news.larc.nasa.gov>
carlson@ab24.larc.nasa.gov (Ann Carlson) writes:

>In article <1992Sep1.015929.17531@macc.wisc.edu>,
>anderson@macc.wisc.edu (Jess Anderson) writes:

>>What would you say, Bob, is the greatest threat to LGB
>>people from the "America is a Christian country and we're
>>gonna take it back" crowd?

>I know that my position here isn't generally respected 

Aside: they're your beliefs, of course, but I don't think
that particular one corresponds very well to the facts as I
understand them.

>and that many aren't willing to believe in anything good for
>LGB people comming out of the church,

This one holds up a lot better, at least.  My own view is to
hope my reservations about the great mass of today's
Christians prove too pessimistic.

>but I think think that *is* good news in continuuing
>vocalness of the viscous-right crowd.  

They *are* thick, now that you mention it! :-)

>I've noticed a lot of the normally silent, more moderate,
>christians who have woken up to the fact that they can not
>afford to be silent about the issues.

For some odd reason, I had a dream, a quite vivid and
full-featured one, about that very subject this morning.

>[other stories confirming the supposition]

I'm aware that there's more than one thing called Christian
Fundamentalism, but for want of a more convenient term, I'll
call them CFs here when I refer to the sort of religious
Nazism that wants to take over the country.

In my dream, open warfare had broken out all over the US,
although the more organized CFs were mostly well-funded and
very well equipped guerillas terrorizing small enclaves in
Utah, Idaho, Florida, Texas, Arizona, and southern
California.  

What's of interest here is that peace and tolerance were
being preached from every mainstream Christian pulpit in the
country, including all the major Catholic ones.  In the
dream, the great mass of Christians remained as anti-Semitic
as ever, but they had vigorously protested the fascism of
the CFs and showed signs of being willing, even determined,
to work toward ending racism, sexism and homophobia.  

They viewed these diversities with some distrust, but they
were quite clear that the mayhem launched by the religious
right was a form of ignorance and insanity that directly
threatened their own continued existence.  

They pressured the reluctant national and state leadership
(by overwhelming phone calls and letters) to move very
quickly to give all LGB people full civil rights and the
full protection of the law.  They insisted upon and the
repeal of all repressive laws and the prompt enactment of
the ERA for women.  They demanded dramatic curtailment of
government waste and defense procurements so that major
urban infrastructure and education could be refurbished.
They led the way for sex education in schools from first
grade on.  They demanded distribution of free condoms in all
schools, jails and prisons.  They required a massive
research and development project aimed at understanding and
treating immune- deficiency diseases and adequate health
care for every citizen, no matter what their health problem.
They decided choice about abortion was the Christian thing
to do.  They preached that racism was the greatest scourge
ever loosed on the planet, and that it would no longer be
tolerated in the United States by anyone calling themselves
Christian, including having a program for dealing with the
structures that support and perpetuate racism in our
country.

I woke up in tears.  It's way too good to be true, of
course.  But if some Christians are making a start, I
certainly will applaud.

<> Love is above all, the gift of oneself. -- Jean Anouilh
-- 
Jess Anderson <> Madison Academic Computing Center <> University of Wisconsin
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