Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 16, 1993 TAG: 9305130142
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
You'll recall that back around election time, Clinton had taken over the "Great Satan" title among those who opposed his stances on abortion- and homosexual-rights, in particular.
Now, of course, he is paying a high political price for those positions - his health plan is endangered over its proposed inclusion of abortion coverage for the poor, and there is overwhelming and perhaps unprecedented opposition in the armed forces to his proposed end to the ban on gays in service.
Anyone who thought that Clinton's election meant the Religious Right had been emasculated or that other conservatives were going to quietly step out of public policy-making has gotten a quick lesson in political reality.
Clinton has become, in effect, the Religious Right's best weapon.
Virtually every one of the nationally known conservative Christian leaders has been able to cash in - literally - on the Clinton presidency.
Jerry Falwell started even before the inauguration. He told the nation he was considering reviving the Moral Majority and would be keeping an eye on Clinton. Viewers of Falwell's television ministry were invited to support it financially in its new role as watchdog on Washington.
Pat Robertson likewise began warning his even larger television following that they were going to have to be willing to give not only money, but their time to battle the anti-Christian administration about to take office.
Others joined in declaring that in order to fight the certain erosion of religious liberty, the viewer-reader-listener should send in some money.
Since I'm on a lot of mailing lists, I've seen a bunch of them.
Many follow the pattern of the latest plea, this one from the Rev. D. James Kennedy, head of the Florida-based Coral Ridge Ministries and pastor of a Presbyterian Church in America congregation there.
Kennedy is "in real need of funding" for "outreach to the nation. . . . I urgently need gifts of $10, $15, or even more if possible, to help cover Coral Ridge Ministries' operating expenses."
Earlier in the letter, potential donors are told that money is needed to help disseminate a "1993 State of the Nation Survey" to let Clinton know how Christians feel about national issues.
They are asked 24 questions on issues ranging from gays in the military, to federal funding for "sexually explicit art," to AIDS, to parental notification for minors' abortions.
There are four extra questions "for females only" - on a new Equal Rights Amendment, women's eligibility for a military draft, women in combat, and "linking `women's rights' with `gay rights' in order to end male dominance in society."
Results of the survey will be distributed to government officials, TV networks, newsmagazines, "Leading Christian publications" and "major city newspapers."
Of course, one might wonder why they'd bother with the last since "The liberal news media is [sic] trumpeting only their left-of-center opinions and perspectives. Christians must use the TV and radio to report the biblical perspective and counter this deception."
What? Christians can't read?
Donors are supposed to send in their completed survey with a preprinted letter to Kennedy urging him to "continue to speak out against abortion, homosexuality, pornography, blasphemous TV programming and secularism in government."
Though he dislikes asking for funds, Kennedy says in his letter, it does take money to run his ministry. How about $8 or $10 or $25 or $50?
Perhaps picking on Kennedy in this case is unfair. Certainly his solicitations of financial support are far less pervasive than most other big-time TV preachers. He's upfront in stating explicitly that he needs money for operating expenses, not just for a special project.
I don't object, and don't think most people object, to TV ministries seeking donations to pay for themselves. There is nothing inherently wrong or distasteful about that. Most church members don't object when the collection plate comes around.
But all too often, it seems those ministries are more cavalier than secular businesses in their attempts to cash in on people's fears and ignorance.
Need some money? Show a video clip of some of the most outrageous public behavior by gays and lesbians and portray it as representative of all homosexuals.
Need to fire up the troops? Remind them that the National Endowment for the Arts subsidized the creation of a few pieces of art that almost all religious people find objectionable, without pointing out that it also funded thousands of others that enriched the nation.
Need to rouse the inactive to life? Assert that public-school teachers are indoctrinating children in the religion of secular humanism without pointing out that most teachers, around here anyway, are Christians.
What's really unfortunate is that by using tactics of distortion and deception, some Christian ministries have demeaned not only themselves but all of Christianity.
Some will seize an opportunity where they find it - like the public backlash against some of Clinton's policy proposals. They will rationalize that good marketing demands simplistic answers to complex questions, and that sometimes you don't have to tell all the story.
It is as if they fear that the plain, unadorned, unexaggerated truth isn't enough to change the world - a staggering admission for a Christian minister.
Cody Lowe reports on issues of religion and ethics for this newspaper.
by CNB