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roachboy · 01-21-2005, 01:14 PM

all this said, lebell, my main problems with bush have only tangentally to do with what he believes personally.
i know that you are right in talking about the "quiet communication that does not make the headlines" between, say, folk who are gay and christians in general--i wonder about it when you come to evangelicals, not as inidividuals (i do not assume these folk are evil as people) but as a political bloc (different thing).....

i have a friend from high school (long long ago) who is an extremely conservative preacher--we disagree about politics, we disagree about lots of things, but we are still close friends--the point of mentioning him here is that he nonetheless does direct, material things that help many folk in dire situations every day--running a hlafway house, developing, getting sponsered, and fighting to maintain help for drug addicts, for the homeless in the city he works out of---and, what is more, has been willing to make sacrifices in his personal life to do it. even as he supports policies at the political level that seem to me at least to run directly counter to his personal committments.

at the end of the day, we squabble about the policy dimensions, and i cheerlead for what he does in the world he impacts upon.

the trouble i suppose is that i understand him as particular, as an exception. and he has never been able to tell me much about what others around him, in his religious community, are doing that would enable me to think otherwise of him. i do know that many religious folk try to do good work like this all the time, but often there are strings attached--the desire to convert, the tying together of political and religious positions, so that the one is presented as the other. but my friend doesnt do this, so far as i can tell.

so it is not as though i approach this question without a degree of experience-based nuance parallel to your own. just so you know.

01-21-2005, 01:14 PM	#31 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	all this said, lebell, my main problems with bush have only tangentally to do with what he believes personally. i know that you are right in talking about the "quiet communication that does not make the headlines" between, say, folk who are gay and christians in general--i wonder about it when you come to evangelicals, not as inidividuals (i do not assume these folk are evil as people) but as a political bloc (different thing)..... i have a friend from high school (long long ago) who is an extremely conservative preacher--we disagree about politics, we disagree about lots of things, but we are still close friends--the point of mentioning him here is that he nonetheless does direct, material things that help many folk in dire situations every day--running a hlafway house, developing, getting sponsered, and fighting to maintain help for drug addicts, for the homeless in the city he works out of---and, what is more, has been willing to make sacrifices in his personal life to do it. even as he supports policies at the political level that seem to me at least to run directly counter to his personal committments. at the end of the day, we squabble about the policy dimensions, and i cheerlead for what he does in the world he impacts upon. the trouble i suppose is that i understand him as particular, as an exception. and he has never been able to tell me much about what others around him, in his religious community, are doing that would enable me to think otherwise of him. i do know that many religious folk try to do good work like this all the time, but often there are strings attached--the desire to convert, the tying together of political and religious positions, so that the one is presented as the other. but my friend doesnt do this, so far as i can tell. so it is not as though i approach this question without a degree of experience-based nuance parallel to your own. just so you know. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 01-21-2005 at 01:18 PM..