Jerry Falwell - The UnHoly Trinity Reduced to Duo

Today the Holy Trinity, comprised of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and James Dobson was reduced to a duo when Jerry Falwell slumped over his desk and gasped his last breath of air and reduced his carbon footprint to zero. While I don't plan to join the liberals that are dancing on his freshly dug grave, I'm sorta glad that the trinity is slowly being silenced. Not that I want to see any of them dead. However, all Christianity would benefit if any or all of them would just shut up. If that doesn't happen, I'd settle for a debilitating stroke or duct tape over their mouths. For all our sake, Pat and Jim, shut up!

As a conservative Christian that would never consider himself an "evangelical" I want to take the apple from Eve's hand and stuff it in their mouth, just to keep them from saying yet another stupid thing that doesn't even remotely resemble what I read in my Bible. Dunno. Maybe all of them bought a different version than all the rest of us read. Then again, I have heard the same stupid comments come from the mouths of other evangelicals. So, it is reasonable to assume that they found something written in the Bible between the lines, which is apparently where they spend most of their time reading.

I guess the first part of my complaint is really that any or all of them supposed that they could speak for any or all of us. Somehow, they managed to convince a lot of people that they represent the majority view among conservative Christians. Maybe, many Christians were happy to feel like they had a voice in government again and that religion as an essential part of human existence was again part of the public debate. However, the problem with allowing any of this trio into the debate was their flavor of the Christian world view - which by its very definition including forced indoctrination of the world, with little or no tolerance for other viewpoints.

One must understand that the trio, now duo, has one primary belief which is so dangerous that 18 Muslims boarded airplanes on 9/11 and used those airplanes as weapons in order to combat that belief system. However outrageous it may seem to blame 9/11 on evangelicals, it has basis in fact.

The general view of many evangelical Christians is that part of their role is to bring about the earthly kingdom of Jesus on earth. This includes rebuilding Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, which requires support of Isreal at all costs, having as many evangelicals in public office as possible, and winning as many souls as possible - evangelizing the world. All views that they would have you believe are shared by the majority of Christians. Both Robertson and Falwell stated this publicly, on the record.

Now, first you must know that this view is a view of a slim minority of Christians, mostly those that consider themselves evangelicals. The truth is that history records for us that the prophecies from the book from the Bible called Revelation have been fulfilled and Jesus himself insisted that he would not have an earthly kingdom. Solomon's temple was destroyed and was never intended to be rebuilt - Jesus considered his followers to be the "spiritual" temple that would be rebuilt in three days after his death. Yet they think they can force the return of Jesus as an earthly ruler buy helping God out - as if an all powerful God actually needs their help.

However, they remain steadfast in their belief of Christ's impending earthly return. Muslims remain threatened, because one of their holiest shrines, the Dome of the Rock, sits dead center where the evangelicals plan to rebuild Solomon's temple. There is even a move afoot to collect building supplies for this venture. Egad folks, get the picture. If the Muslims think the monument to Mohammad's ascent into heaven would be destroyed, they would have a reason to target America.

One item of interest. The particular Christian denomination to which our president belongs rejects the evangelicals view of "the end times." This is easily seen in Bush's policies toward Israel pre- and post- 9/11. Prior to the attacks of 9/11, President Bush dispatched then Secretary of State Colin Powell to Israel to put pressure on them to resolve their dispute with Palestine. News stories of the time leading up to 9/11 recorded Powell pounding Israel. I was shocked at bin Laden's actions. Had he been patient enough to wait it out, the United States would have, most-likely, forced Isreal into a more workable solution. It should be noted that we've probably made more progress toward peace with Isreal and its neighbors under the Bush administration than in previous administrations.

Domestically, evangelicals have used the political process to force feed their brand of morality on America. James Dobson, in particular, is to blame for this. Dobson, holds great political influence over conservatives because he once had some credibility. As he ages, his views have become more radical. The big mistake is that Christians have been allowing this psychologist and radio host to set political agendas based on his personal views - many of which are his opinion that he attempts to pass off as Bible fact - and people actually buy into what he says with out ever questioning him.

I place the hatred of conservatives by the left squarely on the unholy trio. Without James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell we would probably not had moveon.org or George Soros. This trio encourage and emboldened an entire generation of evangelicals to pick up picket signs and storm the gates to every abortion clinic or protest every gay rights parade. While attempting to stop abortion and erase every rainbow, they actually made the problem worse. Surely, if anybody is to blame for the huge divisions in our land, this group is at the center of the cross-hairs. Their approach drives people away and is NOT the approach Jesus used to win converts.

So, while some celebrate the life of Jerry Falwell - and with no disrespect to his grieving family during this time - I can't celebrate. Jerry Falwell represented an entire group of people that is more about following a set of rules (religion) and less about a relationship with God. God doesn't want an earthly kingdom - he wants what he had at the very beginning - a relationship with man. It is unfortunate that this trio has done more to drive people away from God than attract people to God.