For Christ 's Sake

I was raised Catholic, and I am not a fan of organized religion these days, but I have to admit I'm really beginning to dig these folks over at the United Church of Christ. They put up these great billboards that take direct aim at all the "Christian" hate and exclusion being spouted from sea to shining sea. (This one is on I-95 in Stratford, CT). Messages like, "No matter who you are or where you are in life's journey, you're welcome here," feature prominently in the church materials. I mean, call me a heretic but doesn't that sound a little bit closer to "Love thy Neighbor" than the following statement, which was spouted last week by "The Reverend" Pat Robertson. "They [liberal academics] are racists, murderers, sexual deviants, and supporters of Al-Qaeda...These guys are out and out communists, they are radicals...they are, some of them killers, and they are propagandists of the first order…you don’t want your child to be brainwashed by these radicals, you just don’t want it to happen. Not only brainwashed but beat up; they beat these people up; cower them into submission."

Damn, I must have missed that class.

So now the cool folks over at UCC are continuing the fight against the radical right on television where, as their president Rev. John Thomas says, "We been dissed and forced to the back of the bus while the righties get all the airtime." So the UCC made a commercial featuring an ejector seat in a pew that quickly "removes" any so-called undesirables from the church--a gay couple, a single mom, etc.--and proclaims, "God doesn't reject people; neither do we." Well guess what? The networks won't show it. The hypocrisy is stunning. It gets me so mad I can't even rant about it. Cruise on over to Street Prophets http://www.streetprophets.com/storyonly/2006/4/6/12191/39547 and read up. It'll piss you off too.

So anyway, in the face of all this, more liberal churches are joining in the fray. I love what Rev. Michael Livingston (quoted in today's NY Times) has to say. It is about as succinct a description of the battle as I've read. "Mainline Protestant and Orthodox churches have been pounded into irrelevancy by the media machine of a false religion; a political philosophy masquerading as gospel; an economic principle wrapped in religious rhetoric and painted red, white and blue."

I'm liking what that says. And if my Irish Catholic ancestors are rolling over in their graves by the very thought of a Left Footer in the family they can relax. I haven't jumped ship yet. But if the Catholics don't start playing like the UCC guys, I'm outa here.

Watch the commercial: http://www.ucc.org/commercial.html