At the risk of being attacked by some of those siding with neoconservatives, I feel I must speak out about what is happening to our political system and our freedoms. I will do so through the voice of our former president Jimmy Carter who saw this coming. Former president Jimmy Carter is a true Christian, and lives by those principals. He believes that anyone can be successful in life, regardless of natural talent or the environment in which we live. It is not based on measuring success by human competitiveness for wealth, possessions, influence and fame, but adhering to Gods standards of truth, justice, humility, service, compassion, forgiveness and love. Here are some excerpts and warnings about religious groups masquerading as Christian, from his book, Our Endangered Values. Do you see any of these traits present in the people of our present political and judicial systems? I soon learned that there was a more intense form of fundamentalism, with some prevailing characteristics: * Almost invariably, fundamentalist movements are led by authoritarian males who consider themselves to be superior to others and, within religious groups, have an overwhelming commitment to subjugate women and to dominate their fellow believers. * Although fundamentalists usually believe that the past is better than the present, they retain certain self-beneficial aspects of both their historic religious beliefs and of the modern world. * Fundamentalists draw clear distinctions between themselves, as true believers, and others, convinced that they are right and that anyone who contradicts them is ignorant and possibly evil. *Fundamentalists are militant in fighting against any challenge to their beliefs. They are often angry and sometimes resort to verbal or even physical abuse against those who interfere with the implementation of their agenda. * Fundamentalists tend to make their self-definition increasingly narrow and restricted, to isolate themselves, to demagogue emotional issues, and to view change, cooperation, negotiation, and other effort to resolve differences as signs of weakness. During the last quarter century, there has been a parallel right-wing movement within American politics , often tied to the attributes of like-minded Christian groups. The revolutionary new political principles involve special favors for the powerful at the expense of others,abandonment of social justice, denigration of those who differ, failure to protect the environment, attempts to exclude those who refuse to conform, a tendency toward unilateral diplomatic action and away from international agreements, an excessive inclination toward conflict, and reliance on fear as a means of persuasion. ...
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 11:58:00 +0000
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