Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Carter's Christianity...

The American Prospect has an interview that Ayelish McGarvey had with former President Jimmy Carter titled, Carter's Crusade: Jimmy Carter explains how the Christian right isn't Christian at all. Consider some of the following quotes by President Carter:
There is an element of fundamentalism involved, which involves the belief on the part of a human being that [his or her] own concept of God is the proper one. And since [he or she has] the proper concept of God, [he or she is] particularly blessed and singled out for special consideration above and beyond those who disagree with [him or her]. Secondly, anyone who does disagree with [him or her], since [he or she is] harnessed to God in a unique way, then, by definition, must be wrong. And the second step is if you are in disagreement with [his or her] concept of the way to worship, even among the Christian community, is that you are inferior to [him or her]. And then the ultimate progression of that is that you’re not only different and wrong and inferior but in some ways you are subhuman. So there’s a loss of concern even for the death of those who disagree. And this takes fundamentalism to the extreme. This is an element of the fundamentalist cause in this country. If you are a wealthy white man, then you are naturally inclined to think that the poor are inferior and don’t deserve your first consideration. If you are a wealthy white man, then you also take on the proposition that women are inherently inferior. This builds up a sense of prejudice and alienation that permeates the Christian right during these days. --- I have always been against abortion; it’s not possible for me in my own concept of Christ to believe that Jesus would favor abortion. But at the same time, I have supported the Supreme Court ruling of our country as the law of the land. And the present arrangement, whereby a woman is authorized to have an abortion in the first trimester of the pregnancy, or when the pregnancy is caused by rape or incest -- these are the things that moderates who have beliefs like mine can accept as the present circumstances in our country. The liberality of abortion is anointed by the laws of our country, including the ultimate ruling of the Supreme Court.
Gee. All this time I wasn't aware that, as a conservative Christian, I was viewing other humans, created in God's Image, as subhuman. And what's with the confused information regarding abortion? The first trimester? The rape or incest argument? Over 1 million a year Jimmy... is that why you bow down to the Supreme Court's anointing? Cross reference with a post by Crosswalk's Al Mohler titled, Jimmy Carter, 'Freestyle' Evangelicals, and the Future, in which "freestyle" equates to "liberal."

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