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« Famous for Being Fred | Main | Jeri Kehn for First Lady! » March 29, 2007Holier Than ThouAs noted below, James Dobson doesn't think Fred Thompson is a Christian. This seems like an extraordinary pronouncement, so perhaps, thought I, that Thompson had gone all Hollywood and adopted Kabbalah or Buddhism. You know how those actors are. A followup comment from Dr. Dobson's spokesman clarified matters: he never claimed Thompson is a member of a non-Christian faith. Oh, so maybe Dobson is calling Thompson an atheist? Not so, "Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Thompson, took issue with Dobson's characterization of the former Tennessee senator. 'Thompson is indeed a Christian," he said. "He was baptized into the Church of Christ*.'" So, is Dobson claiming that the Churches of Christ are non-Christian? Wow! The leading voice of religious conservatives launching a theological broadside against the Stone-Campbell movement! Sensational! Ah, but no, the criticism is much more widespread, "'We use that word-Christian-to refer to people who are evangelical Christians,' [the spokesman] added. " This gave me pause. I am definitely Evangelische, but I don't consider myself an Evangelical. Does that mean I'm not a Christian, according to James Dobson? Does that mean most "Christians" aren't either? The church invisible must be relatively small indeed. This new definition of Christian is worrisome, since no real Christian wants to be bound by Dr. Dobson's key. If you need help figuring out what the Council of Nicaea left out, be sure to check out this quiz from Lark News, the absolutely best source for religious news on the Internet. *I assume from this page he was referring to the Churches of Christ. If he meant the United Church of Christ, well . . . Previously In The Agora . . . Famous for Being Fred, by D. Darlington Posted by Zach Wendling at March 29, 2007 12:30 PM CommentsAs I said in my post this morning, Dobson is now the official arbiter of who is in and who is out. http://www.rmcrob.com/?p=3789 Of course, this is in direct opposition to Jesus's direct command to not judge, but let's not let a little thing like that get in the way. Posted by: Randy McRoberts at March 29, 2007 02:00 PM | permalink Definitely an important issue. More than a few people have been willing to fight, die, and kill over the question of who was and was not a "real" Christian. Posted by: Doug at March 29, 2007 02:02 PM | permalink Dobson's comments (and especially those of his spokesman) are indeed puzzling. However, there has long been a distinction within Christian circles between nominal Christians and practicing Christians. Trying to determine based on outward appearances whether someone is really committed to his faith is not generally a good idea, but if someone visits their church only on Easter and Christmas, you get the impression they're not all that serious about it. Posted by: Eric Seymour at March 29, 2007 03:25 PM | permalink But that's not to say that I agree with Dobson that Thompson will have trouble getting Evangelical votes if he's an "Easter & Christmas" Christian. I think Evangelicals are savvy enough to look at a candidate's policy stances more than his/her personal religious practice. Posted by: Eric Seymour at March 29, 2007 03:34 PM | permalink Growing up a Stone-Campbell Church of Christ, I can certainly say that Thompson is not a "Christmas and Easter" Christian because churches of Christ (most of them anyway) do not celebrate any religious holidays, especially Christmas and Easter. :) It's one of many, shall we say, eccentricities. Posted by: Matthew at March 29, 2007 04:43 PM | permalink The definition of “Christian” has apparently been narrowed to “white, middle class, suburban American who attends a mega-church, has an accountability group, and said the sinner’s prayer at some point”. Posted by: John M. at March 29, 2007 04:57 PM | permalink Posted by: David at March 30, 2007 09:46 AM | permalink I can hardly count the number of times the judge not quote has been misapplied, but Randy has it dead on. This is exactly the type of judging it warns against. We might also add a quote from Romans on the subject of judging another man's servant. Posted by: Mike O at March 30, 2007 12:14 PM | permalink Post a comment |
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