17/05: Mainline Blues, verse 3
I Got Them Disappearin' Mainline Blues (lyrics in progress by Okie Gardener, music needed)
Today I took a walk aroun'
the center city downtown.
Big church buildin's sure enough,
Methodists, Presbyterians, and such.
Lot's of space, but empty pews,
What's the cause of this distressin' news?
Chorus. Mainline churches goin' down. Mainline churches goin' down.
Sad news, sad news. I got them disappearin' Mainline Blues.
Fifty years ago American Protestantism was dominated by the "Mainline Churches": Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Methodist, Disciples of Christ, American Baptist, United Church of Christ. Today these formerly mainline churches now are on the sideline. Why?
In this series of posts, I have endeavored to uncover the "root causes" of Mainline Decline. Verse 1. Verse 2.
Today, verse 3 (more below)
Today I took a walk aroun'
the center city downtown.
Big church buildin's sure enough,
Methodists, Presbyterians, and such.
Lot's of space, but empty pews,
What's the cause of this distressin' news?
Chorus. Mainline churches goin' down. Mainline churches goin' down.
Sad news, sad news. I got them disappearin' Mainline Blues.
Fifty years ago American Protestantism was dominated by the "Mainline Churches": Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Methodist, Disciples of Christ, American Baptist, United Church of Christ. Today these formerly mainline churches now are on the sideline. Why?
In this series of posts, I have endeavored to uncover the "root causes" of Mainline Decline. Verse 1. Verse 2.
Today, verse 3 (more below)
16/05: Will the Long War Ever End?
Almost every day we kill Islamic terrorists and their supporters in Afghanistan and Iraq; daily, weekly, or monthly in Chechnya, Thailand, the Philippines, India, north Africa, the Middle East, more are killed. But, body counts should offer us small comfort; we cannot win a war of attrition as presently conducted. New jihadists arise daily.
On a regular basis jihadis are arrested in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. But, imprisoning Islamic terrorists or their supporters should offer us small comfort; we cannot imprison all those active in terrorist causes. And, new jihadists arise daily.
We have made some progress against the infrastructure of the Islamofascists: Afghanistan and Iraq and Somalia are denied them, finance networks have been disrupted, and communication has been made difficult. On the negative side, Western money for oil continues to provide immense funding. But, even if the money were to be cut off, jihadists would continue to arise. (more below)
On a regular basis jihadis are arrested in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. But, imprisoning Islamic terrorists or their supporters should offer us small comfort; we cannot imprison all those active in terrorist causes. And, new jihadists arise daily.
We have made some progress against the infrastructure of the Islamofascists: Afghanistan and Iraq and Somalia are denied them, finance networks have been disrupted, and communication has been made difficult. On the negative side, Western money for oil continues to provide immense funding. But, even if the money were to be cut off, jihadists would continue to arise. (more below)
Category: Religion & Public Policy
Posted by: A Waco Farmer
Looking back on the era in which evangelicals and political conservatives came together to reshape the American political landscape, Jerry Falwell praised Ronald Reagan as his “Christian hero.” Recalling their first meeting at the White House, “early in [Reagan’s] first term,” the minister departed the Oval Office convinced the newly elected President was “an answer to prayer.” Falwell, the founder of the Moral Majority and a key apostle of the newly mobilized “Christian Right,” rushed “to tell the evangelical world that a new day had dawned in America,” spreading the good news that the President of the United States not only valued the evangelical community, but he viewed them as indispensable allies in forestalling the “nation’s moral collapse."
Over the next two decades, the exultant glow of Falwell’s recollection and his faith in Ronald Reagan remained unshakable. Examinations of Reagan and his relationship with religious conservatives often commence with a form of this question: how did a divorced, moderate-drinking, former movie star turned politician come to epitomize the perfect American statesman for so many evangelicals? Falwell’s comments illustrate at least a partial answer. Reagan appealed to religious conservatives because he embraced their issues and was comfortable speaking their language—and, most significantly, evangelicals found him authentic.
The rise of Ronald Reagan and the revolution that bears his name coincided with the resurgence of conservative evangelicalism in the latter half of the twentieth century. Born (or reborn) in the early moments of the Cold War, both movements shared a compatible worldview: religious conservatives and Cold Warriors each regarded their cause as part of a cosmic struggle, employed a similar oratory of good and evil and expected apocalyptic consequences if they failed in their task.
Coming to personify the “new conservative” political movement, Reagan espoused a set of “timeless” values, “rights and wrongs” and absolutes. His message resonated with a swelling evangelical political activism during the 1970s and 1980s. Reagan, often called the “Great Communicator,” went to evangelicals and effortlessly connected with them, speaking their language; even more significant, he oftentimes employed the vernacular of evangelicals in the secular world. During the Reagan era, and beyond, the rhetoric of conservatism and the rhetoric of evangelical Protestantism was often the same.
Jerry Falwell, with a genius for political engagement based on religious principles, like Reagan, understood the emerging common cause. Falwell transcended the world of "televangelists" to bring together two powerful and historic currrents of American society and help refashion our political culture.
Over the next two decades, the exultant glow of Falwell’s recollection and his faith in Ronald Reagan remained unshakable. Examinations of Reagan and his relationship with religious conservatives often commence with a form of this question: how did a divorced, moderate-drinking, former movie star turned politician come to epitomize the perfect American statesman for so many evangelicals? Falwell’s comments illustrate at least a partial answer. Reagan appealed to religious conservatives because he embraced their issues and was comfortable speaking their language—and, most significantly, evangelicals found him authentic.
The rise of Ronald Reagan and the revolution that bears his name coincided with the resurgence of conservative evangelicalism in the latter half of the twentieth century. Born (or reborn) in the early moments of the Cold War, both movements shared a compatible worldview: religious conservatives and Cold Warriors each regarded their cause as part of a cosmic struggle, employed a similar oratory of good and evil and expected apocalyptic consequences if they failed in their task.
Coming to personify the “new conservative” political movement, Reagan espoused a set of “timeless” values, “rights and wrongs” and absolutes. His message resonated with a swelling evangelical political activism during the 1970s and 1980s. Reagan, often called the “Great Communicator,” went to evangelicals and effortlessly connected with them, speaking their language; even more significant, he oftentimes employed the vernacular of evangelicals in the secular world. During the Reagan era, and beyond, the rhetoric of conservatism and the rhetoric of evangelical Protestantism was often the same.
Jerry Falwell, with a genius for political engagement based on religious principles, like Reagan, understood the emerging common cause. Falwell transcended the world of "televangelists" to bring together two powerful and historic currrents of American society and help refashion our political culture.
15/05: Falwell and Race
As Jerry Falwell is remembered this week, I am sure that someone will bring up his suspicions of the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Among other things, he seems to have believed some of the rumors about Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Communist Party circulating in the South.
No man completely transcends his time and place. Falwell was a white Southerner during a time of momentous changes. Changes so profound that those of us from farther north perhaps cannot fathom the dislocation felt by those who went through them in Dixie.
But, a man should be judged by the legacy he leaves from over a lifetime of work. Falwell's most lasting legacy is Liberty University. According the the official website of the school, of its 9,558 residential students in 2005-2006, 79% were white and 10% were African American. Of the distance learning students, 69% were white and 17% African American. Liberty would not appear to qualify as a racist institution.
And speaking of hate, would you rather be a conservative speaker at Columbia or Harvard, or a liberal speaker at Liberty U.? Which audience do you think would behave most respectfully toward you?
I am not a Falwell fan on all counts, but give the man his due.
Earlier posts here and here.
No man completely transcends his time and place. Falwell was a white Southerner during a time of momentous changes. Changes so profound that those of us from farther north perhaps cannot fathom the dislocation felt by those who went through them in Dixie.
But, a man should be judged by the legacy he leaves from over a lifetime of work. Falwell's most lasting legacy is Liberty University. According the the official website of the school, of its 9,558 residential students in 2005-2006, 79% were white and 10% were African American. Of the distance learning students, 69% were white and 17% African American. Liberty would not appear to qualify as a racist institution.
And speaking of hate, would you rather be a conservative speaker at Columbia or Harvard, or a liberal speaker at Liberty U.? Which audience do you think would behave most respectfully toward you?
I am not a Falwell fan on all counts, but give the man his due.
Earlier posts here and here.
Category: Religion & Public Policy
Posted by: an okie gardener
In my earlier post I attempted to take the long view, giving what I think will be the paragraph or two devoted to him in the history books a century from now. In doing so I omitted some of his more controversial aspects.
Gateway Pundit has coverage of the anti-Falwell blogosphere reaction, including comments being added to his site.
I now want to address three controversial aspects of Falwell's career.
1) His anti-homosexual-practice stance and preaching. While Falwell usually was condemning the practice of same-sex sex, and the political activity of groups like ActUp, his own rhetoric could be heated. It is indisputably true that he advocated, over and over again, hating the sin but loving the sinner. It is also indisputably true that his rhetoric sometimes seemed harsh and loveless on the topic. I think the explanation lies in the nature of conservative Southern preaching. Populist rhetoric in the South, whether preacher or politician, has as one of its necessary motifs "the enemy" who is condemned harshly and made fun of. (Think George Wallace and the "pointy-headed intellectuals who can't even park a bicycle straight.") Falwell did not overcome this aspect of his background.
2) His initial comments following 9/11 that God was punishing our nation. While offensive to many people, Falwell was in the direct line of preachers going back to New England Puritans and beyond them to English Divines who interpreted historical events in light of the actions of a righteous God. Disaster, to these preachers, always called for self-examination to see what sins God was punishing. Days of Prayer and Fasting following setbacks always included confession of sins, individual and corporate. Cotton Mather would have made comments similar to Falwell.
3) His involvement in the PTL ministry after the fall of Jim Baker. I am unaware that a full and unbiased accounting has yet been made of Falwell's actions in what may have been an attempt to "save" PTL. Baker himself remains bitter over Falwell's involvement and thinks it was a power play over assets. Perhaps a biographer in 40 years can sort it all out.
More on Falwell and race here.
Earlier post on Falwell and history.
Gateway Pundit has coverage of the anti-Falwell blogosphere reaction, including comments being added to his site.
I now want to address three controversial aspects of Falwell's career.
1) His anti-homosexual-practice stance and preaching. While Falwell usually was condemning the practice of same-sex sex, and the political activity of groups like ActUp, his own rhetoric could be heated. It is indisputably true that he advocated, over and over again, hating the sin but loving the sinner. It is also indisputably true that his rhetoric sometimes seemed harsh and loveless on the topic. I think the explanation lies in the nature of conservative Southern preaching. Populist rhetoric in the South, whether preacher or politician, has as one of its necessary motifs "the enemy" who is condemned harshly and made fun of. (Think George Wallace and the "pointy-headed intellectuals who can't even park a bicycle straight.") Falwell did not overcome this aspect of his background.
2) His initial comments following 9/11 that God was punishing our nation. While offensive to many people, Falwell was in the direct line of preachers going back to New England Puritans and beyond them to English Divines who interpreted historical events in light of the actions of a righteous God. Disaster, to these preachers, always called for self-examination to see what sins God was punishing. Days of Prayer and Fasting following setbacks always included confession of sins, individual and corporate. Cotton Mather would have made comments similar to Falwell.
3) His involvement in the PTL ministry after the fall of Jim Baker. I am unaware that a full and unbiased accounting has yet been made of Falwell's actions in what may have been an attempt to "save" PTL. Baker himself remains bitter over Falwell's involvement and thinks it was a power play over assets. Perhaps a biographer in 40 years can sort it all out.
More on Falwell and race here.
Earlier post on Falwell and history.
15/05: Londonistan Calling
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
A must read by Christopher Hitchins. God save Britain.
15/05: Jerry Falwell, R.I.P.
Category: Religion & Public Policy
Posted by: an okie gardener
Jerry Falwell is dead. Story here.
Pastor Falwell was an old-fashioned evangelical. By that description I do not mean your grandparents' conservative Christianity. No, he was a throwback to the evangelicalism of the mid 19th century. Evangelicals 160 years ago were busy founding congregations and gathering a growing America into them. Falwell founded a new congregation in an old bottling plant in Lynchberg, Virginia, and grew it into the 20,000+ member Thomas Road Baptist Church. Evangelicals 160 years ago were founding institutions to improve and Christianize America, such as schools and colleges and orphanages. Falwell founded a college, now the 7000+ student Liberty University, Christian schools, a treatment center for alcoholics, and a home for unwed mothers. Evangelicals 160 years ago were politically active, pouring lots of energy into partisan politics, mostly on the side of Whigs and later Republicans, hoping to create a Christian America. Falwell helped found the Moral Majority and was its spokesman as it helped Ronald Reagan win the presidency.
Perhaps his most noticable contribution to U.S. history was the way he led Southern evangelicals into politics. The 19th-century evangelicals I described above were overwhelmingly northern. Southern evangelicals, succumbing to the social pressure to preserve slavery and later segregation, tended to preach an individualistic, heaven-when-you-die salvation, and leave the social order and politics alone. (Most Southern Baptist deacons of old put their political energies into the Klan and the Democrat Party, but the churches as churches were not political.) Falwell changed all of that. Alarmed by secularization, free-speech turned into a defense of pornography, and elites hostile to traditional values, southern evangelicals rallied to Falwell's banner. He helped change things.
Rest in Peace, Brother Falwell.
See also my later post on Falwell and controversy.
Pastor Falwell was an old-fashioned evangelical. By that description I do not mean your grandparents' conservative Christianity. No, he was a throwback to the evangelicalism of the mid 19th century. Evangelicals 160 years ago were busy founding congregations and gathering a growing America into them. Falwell founded a new congregation in an old bottling plant in Lynchberg, Virginia, and grew it into the 20,000+ member Thomas Road Baptist Church. Evangelicals 160 years ago were founding institutions to improve and Christianize America, such as schools and colleges and orphanages. Falwell founded a college, now the 7000+ student Liberty University, Christian schools, a treatment center for alcoholics, and a home for unwed mothers. Evangelicals 160 years ago were politically active, pouring lots of energy into partisan politics, mostly on the side of Whigs and later Republicans, hoping to create a Christian America. Falwell helped found the Moral Majority and was its spokesman as it helped Ronald Reagan win the presidency.
Perhaps his most noticable contribution to U.S. history was the way he led Southern evangelicals into politics. The 19th-century evangelicals I described above were overwhelmingly northern. Southern evangelicals, succumbing to the social pressure to preserve slavery and later segregation, tended to preach an individualistic, heaven-when-you-die salvation, and leave the social order and politics alone. (Most Southern Baptist deacons of old put their political energies into the Klan and the Democrat Party, but the churches as churches were not political.) Falwell changed all of that. Alarmed by secularization, free-speech turned into a defense of pornography, and elites hostile to traditional values, southern evangelicals rallied to Falwell's banner. He helped change things.
Rest in Peace, Brother Falwell.
See also my later post on Falwell and controversy.
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
One of my favorite contemporary thinkers is Cardinal George Pell of Australis. I have posted from his thought several times. (search this site for Pell) Here are excerpts from his address on Muslim immigrants in Australia.
All those who choose to come to Australia come as immigrants, not as colonists i.e. they should be committed to freedom and democracy, refrain from advocating violence or indulging in hate speech, while their political allegiance must be to Australia, not overseas. All immigrants, Christians, Muslims, non-believers should meet these criteria.
. . .
Obviously I speak as a Christian and a Catholic, committed to one version of the principle of reciprocity. Not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but commitment to the principle that the rights we justly offer to all citizens here, including Muslim minorities, should be rights that are enjoyed by non-Muslim minorities in the Muslim world. This is not the case as I believe this conference could not be held in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia! In fact Christians are being harassed and even persecuted in many countries ranging from Nigeria, through Sudan, where some are being sold as slaves, and the Middle East to Pakistan and Indonesia. I would like to know where our friends stand on these matters.
. . .
In a pluralist and free democracy every group is criticized at some time or other. As Prime Minister Howard remarked last year, if Catholics rioted every time they were criticized there would be regular riots! It is not appropriate that Muslims regularly reply to criticism with insults, denigrations and evasions, while avoiding the point at issue. We have seen too much of this from some Muslim personalities.
Within a secular democratic society harmonious integration of minorities is achievable because all citizens, belonging to the majority culture, or minorities, are acknowledged to be equal in the eyes of the law. Equal rights, however, carry with them equal responsibilities. Problems arise when minorities demand special consideration that places them outside the law as it applies to all other citizens. Flexibility and adaptability are called for when refugees and immigrants arrive in a host country. But there is a limit [in adapting to minority demands] beyond which a democratic host society cannot go without losing its identity.
Here, Here. Immigration must not be allowed to become colonization, in Australia or in the United States. By any group.
All those who choose to come to Australia come as immigrants, not as colonists i.e. they should be committed to freedom and democracy, refrain from advocating violence or indulging in hate speech, while their political allegiance must be to Australia, not overseas. All immigrants, Christians, Muslims, non-believers should meet these criteria.
. . .
Obviously I speak as a Christian and a Catholic, committed to one version of the principle of reciprocity. Not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but commitment to the principle that the rights we justly offer to all citizens here, including Muslim minorities, should be rights that are enjoyed by non-Muslim minorities in the Muslim world. This is not the case as I believe this conference could not be held in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia! In fact Christians are being harassed and even persecuted in many countries ranging from Nigeria, through Sudan, where some are being sold as slaves, and the Middle East to Pakistan and Indonesia. I would like to know where our friends stand on these matters.
. . .
In a pluralist and free democracy every group is criticized at some time or other. As Prime Minister Howard remarked last year, if Catholics rioted every time they were criticized there would be regular riots! It is not appropriate that Muslims regularly reply to criticism with insults, denigrations and evasions, while avoiding the point at issue. We have seen too much of this from some Muslim personalities.
Within a secular democratic society harmonious integration of minorities is achievable because all citizens, belonging to the majority culture, or minorities, are acknowledged to be equal in the eyes of the law. Equal rights, however, carry with them equal responsibilities. Problems arise when minorities demand special consideration that places them outside the law as it applies to all other citizens. Flexibility and adaptability are called for when refugees and immigrants arrive in a host country. But there is a limit [in adapting to minority demands] beyond which a democratic host society cannot go without losing its identity.
Here, Here. Immigration must not be allowed to become colonization, in Australia or in the United States. By any group.
14/05: Realism in Japan
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
Japan has taken its first step toward revising its U.S. imposed Constitution. The current Prime Minister wants to change the "pacifist" provision so as to enable Japan to have a fully capable military. Story here. (ignore the request to install Chinese character pack, the story is in English from the China Post of Taiwan)
This is a realistic step. Their neighborhood is growing increasingly dangerous with a belligerent Korea and an expanding China. They also must be asking themselves if the U.S. would go to war to protect them. And, given the Japanese dependence on imports, a blue-water navy makes sense for them.
This is a realistic step. Their neighborhood is growing increasingly dangerous with a belligerent Korea and an expanding China. They also must be asking themselves if the U.S. would go to war to protect them. And, given the Japanese dependence on imports, a blue-water navy makes sense for them.
14/05: Feeling the Blues
The Amazing Emotive Power of Music.
Friday evening traveling south down Highway 6 along the Brazos River bottom. North of Bryan I pick up NPR and Terry Gross and a twenty-year-old interview with Sam Charters, the musicologist. He is talking about traveling the South as a white man during the middle of the twentieth century buying and recording the music of African Americans. In many Southern communities, the mere incident of a white outsider seeking black artists made them objects of suspicion for the local authorities. Charters is an old radical, but his account rings true. He even seems to understand that the cultural chasm was so wide and deep that he never really knew or truly connected with the people he recorded.
I am rolling by old towns, farmland and ancient houses that date back to when cotton was still king during the early twentieth century in Central Texas. As the echoes fly by me at seventy miles an hour, Charters tells the story of his re-discovery of Texas native, and blues legend, Sam Lightnin' Hopkins during the 1950s.
Lightnin' picks and moans:
Mmmmmmmmmm, the blues come down on me
Lord, have mercy, child
Po' Lightnin' can't hardly keep from cryin'
Yes, the blues'll make you cry, I know how you feel
Whoa, Lord have mercy,
po' Lightnin' can't hardly keep from cryin'
Well, I'm just wonderin' will I ever make it back,
to that old native home of mine?
Please, take me with ya when you go, Lightnin'
Lord have mercy
I know a lot of old white guys who will tell you that the way things were back then wasn't right, even as they remain frustrated with the way things are now. Too much freedom now and not enough responsibility.
Our racial history is depressing. Darkness moves over the rolling hills. Was every white person in the South a bastard?
Twenty-four hours later. Same piece of highway. On the way back home. Same country, different musical genre--but not unconnected: Hank Williams and Johnny Cash CDs provide the audio ambience inside my fuel-injected, climate-controlled, junior class SUV.
An oppressed and lost Alabama man moans the blues this time:
Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry
I've never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry
So many of the same problems. Perhaps they weren't monsters. The countryside is springtime green and bright again. I am headed north. Getting closer to home. Sam Charters, raised in a different culture, could not hope to understand the black experience down South back then. What about me? "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there" (L.P. Hartley). Can I ever hope to understand the complexity of race in my ancestral home?
Friday evening traveling south down Highway 6 along the Brazos River bottom. North of Bryan I pick up NPR and Terry Gross and a twenty-year-old interview with Sam Charters, the musicologist. He is talking about traveling the South as a white man during the middle of the twentieth century buying and recording the music of African Americans. In many Southern communities, the mere incident of a white outsider seeking black artists made them objects of suspicion for the local authorities. Charters is an old radical, but his account rings true. He even seems to understand that the cultural chasm was so wide and deep that he never really knew or truly connected with the people he recorded.
I am rolling by old towns, farmland and ancient houses that date back to when cotton was still king during the early twentieth century in Central Texas. As the echoes fly by me at seventy miles an hour, Charters tells the story of his re-discovery of Texas native, and blues legend, Sam Lightnin' Hopkins during the 1950s.
Lightnin' picks and moans:
Mmmmmmmmmm, the blues come down on me
Lord, have mercy, child
Po' Lightnin' can't hardly keep from cryin'
Yes, the blues'll make you cry, I know how you feel
Whoa, Lord have mercy,
po' Lightnin' can't hardly keep from cryin'
Well, I'm just wonderin' will I ever make it back,
to that old native home of mine?
Please, take me with ya when you go, Lightnin'
Lord have mercy
I know a lot of old white guys who will tell you that the way things were back then wasn't right, even as they remain frustrated with the way things are now. Too much freedom now and not enough responsibility.
Our racial history is depressing. Darkness moves over the rolling hills. Was every white person in the South a bastard?
Twenty-four hours later. Same piece of highway. On the way back home. Same country, different musical genre--but not unconnected: Hank Williams and Johnny Cash CDs provide the audio ambience inside my fuel-injected, climate-controlled, junior class SUV.
An oppressed and lost Alabama man moans the blues this time:
Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry
I've never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry
So many of the same problems. Perhaps they weren't monsters. The countryside is springtime green and bright again. I am headed north. Getting closer to home. Sam Charters, raised in a different culture, could not hope to understand the black experience down South back then. What about me? "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there" (L.P. Hartley). Can I ever hope to understand the complexity of race in my ancestral home?
