The idolatry of politics
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Yesterday during a garrulous knocking around of strawmen, UCC Truths experienced a sudden moment of clarity -- and agreement with Talk to Action on the substance of the matter of the Institute on Religion and Democracy and its satellite groups: that the attacks on the mainline churches have always been primarily about politics.And then...
Thank you, UCC Truths for acknowledging what we have been saying all along: The IRD and those who have fallen under its sway are attacking the churches because "of politics." We are glad that UCC Truths has come around to our point of view, even if they took the long way, kicking and screaming to get there.Huh? Freddy, you have to read the web site. Back in April I said...
While Dorhauer successfully provides evidence that the IRD does indeed want to organize conservatives in mainline churches, he still does not provide any evidence of a church stealing conspiracy in UCC churches.I think I've been pretty clear on this all along... this whole issue is being motivated by politics, not "church stealing". To date, Dorhauer, Culver and Clarkson have yet to name a single UCC church that has been stolen by the Institute on Religion and Democracy. This is about politics: Dorhauer/Culver/Clarkson's liberal politics vs. the IRD's conservative politics... and Dorhauer's use of a phony conspiracy of church stealing to attack political opponents.
Dorhauer's politically motivated campaign against the IRD is harmful to the denomination because:
- Dorhauer proudly claims ministers are calling him suspicious of visitors to their churches.
- Dorhauer boasts that one of the churches that attended his workshop mistakenly accused a woman of being part of this conspiracy.
- Dorhauer concedes that "all I have is circumstantial evidence, around which I have built a theory"
"The tendency to equate our political with our Christian convictions causes politics to generate idolatry." Reinhold Niebuhr, Christianity and Crisis, July 21, 1952
In that case the IRD would be staffed by representatives of the beneficiary groups.
All the IRD staff are members of mainline denominations though, except the head honcho Tonkavich who's PCA. Because they don't receive churches with women ministers of that don't acknowledge the Westminster Standards as doctrinal statements, it's very unlikely that the PCA would benefit from "church stealing".
A simpler explanation is that churches are being DRIVEN out no matter what the IRD and ACR do to encourage them to stay and reform the mainline denominations.