Northern Valley Beacon has responded in its usual overheated and intemperate manner to my post on an article NVB posted concerning Christianity. As is all too typical, blinded by ideology, it fails to take into account some the most basic points I made in my post. Simply look at my post and it has a link to NVB and the actual words posted at NVB. If my take on this matter is as far off as NVB says it is, then I encourage readers to look at the article in question and then to write in. I would be happy to post any intelligent responses, reserving the right, obviously, to respond in kind. Here is what NVB says about my post. I apologize for the length of this quote, but I wouldn't want to be charged with being selective. "This piece" they refer to in the first line refers to the article they reprinted:
This piece, which is clearly the opinion of an individual, was forwarded to us by Brown County Democrats who thought it made some provocative points and represented an intensity of thought and expression that counters the scurrility, the defamation, and the nefarious representations of other people's words that appear to originate on a local university campus. Anyone who knows the Brown County Democrats and their relationships to Christianity knows that charges of being anti-Christian are the product of malevolent dishonesty on the part of the person who makes such charges and do not represent the the attitudes of the Party or the people within it. This article was reprinted in its entirety and without comment when first posted because it is instructive to see how people outside of South Dakota and Brown County respond to the issues of the day. Charging the Brown County Democrats, who include many pastors, with anti-Christian attitudes is treading on very, very dangerous ground. The post that responds to this article makes some dishonest excisions for the purpose of contorting ridiculously nefarious conclusions from them. We find that the canons of integrity have been severely violated, but we trust most people will read the entire article by Mark Morford . His point is not that Christians must toe a "liberal" theological line. In fact, he makes quite an effort to be inclusive about the range of beliefs good, practicing Christians hold. His point is that some people who parade under the banner of Christianity are not practicing any of the precepts which define it, as specified in the four Gospels. We do not respond directly to other blogs, particularly those of such scurrility and malevolent dishonesty, but contributors to the Beacon have thought some response is warranted in this case. We are sending the post in question to Mark Morford to give him an opportunity to respond. We recognize that the purpose of the post is to assassinate the character of a group, and the tactic is debased, thoroughly mendacious, and cheap, cheap, cheap.
Our non-blog editions of the Brown County Beacon will report on who recommended our posting of this article and why they saw it as a point of information, not the kind of defamation those malevolent forces try to contrive out of it.
A couple things. The
first is the most important as this is the most serious charge and misreading
of my post by NVB. My point is specifically that there is no way this
scandalous article represents the views of most Brown County Democrats. I
thought that was quite clear. My concluding paragraph answers this
objection. I wrote, “I continue to say that I cannot believe that the
invective and over-the-top boilerplate posted on the Brown County Democrats' website
is indicative of the average Brown County Democrat.” I am NOT
"defaming" the county party; I am suggesting they do a better job of
policing what is said in their name. To be plain, the Brown County
Democrats are not anti-Christian, but this article may be (in retrospect, I
should have put a question mark after the post heading, making it an
interrogatory rather than a declaration). The first line of my previous
post indicates the NVB was reprinting an article, not producing ideas original
to themselves (readers can decide if there is a relevant difference).
Also, as they usually do when caught posting outrageous things, NVB
starts to back down. "Jees, this isn't our view, we just thought it
was provactive." A suggestion NVB: If you post something simply to provoke thought, but it doesn't necessarily represent your own views, say so. If you reprint something without comment, any fair minded reader will assume that you endorse what is in the article.
One final point. I must directly respond to this claim:
His point is not that Christians must toe a "liberal" theological line. In fact, he makes quite an effort to be inclusive about the range of beliefs good, practicing Christians hold.
"His/He" is Mark Morford, the author of the article. I have linked to the article and quoted liberally in my previous post below. Again, I ask readers to read the entire article and judge whether I have mischaracterized. I think it is fair to draw the following conclusions from Mr. Morford's article. Those who believe marriage is between a man and a woman are, at best, dubiously Christian. Those who believe homosexuality is a sin are, at best, dubiously Christian. Those who support the war in Iraq are, at best, dubiously Christian. Any orthodox Catholic is, at best, dubiously Christian (as, in addition to the comments above about marriage and homosexuality, they would also be against women's ordination, respect the authority of the Vatican, would enjoy candlelight vigils, all things Morford disparages explicitly or implicitly). Anyone who questions evolution is, at best, dubiously Christian (point: with minor caveats, I accept the theory of evolution as true, but do not have contempt for those who do not). Those who are deeply concerned about vulgarity in the culture are at least stupid for not seeing the war in Iraq or (what?) Kraft Lunchables as more serious problems, although Morford does not explicitly question their Christianity. Essentially, Mr. Morford seriously questions the authenticity of the Christianity of anyone who could be described as a "conservative Christian," with a particular emphasis social/moral conservatism. BTW, I think the Apostles' Creed is a nice distillation of basic Christian belief and can be found here. Our Presbyterian readers will be happy to note I link to a Reformed website. Morford says of the "real" Christians:
They are the ones who understand that Jesus was, quite simply, one hell of a powerful teacher, and healer, and mystic, and visionary, a pacifist, a liberal, a feminist, the ultimate outsider, one of the finest examples in all of history of how to radiate pure love and compassion and divine interconnection and Lord knows we could all use more of that.
When
he says, “Jesus was…a pacifist, a liberal, and a feminist” I think it is a
fair to say, Northern Valley Beacon, that he is equating Christianity with a
certain kind of liberalism. Once again, I'd be happy to hear from readers
who have serious arguments to the contrary. Please, well thought out
arguments only. I am less likely to take seriously arguments that
willfully misread what I've written. Those that accuse me
of scurrility and
malevolent dishonesty, and being debased, thoroughly mendacious, and cheap,
cheap, cheap are less likely to get a hearing. Although, if you can back that
up with evidence, I'd be happy to consider it.
Update: I entitled my original post on this matter, "Anti-Christian Bias at NVB." Above I indicated that I should have put a question mark after that to mitigate the claim. Upon even further reflection (e-gad!) the title was unwise no matter the punctuation, and here I concede to NVB. The problem with the title was that it actually represented the vice that most characterizes NVB: it was intemperate and uncharitable (and, I must say, it was, like most of my post headings, dashed off without much consideration ). I have gone back and changed it to "Throw Them To The Lions!" Lest there be any confusion, that's a joke. I don't think anyone is advocating throwing anyone to any lions, real or metaphorical.
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