THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 30, 1995 TAG: 9509300304
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ORLANDO SENTINEL
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
The religious right is guilty of meanness and intolerance, according to inspirational author and televangelist Robert H. Schuller.
``I cannot understand how people can be so doggone sure they have all the answers,'' Schuller said in a recent interview. ``Or that their answers are right. The first mark of intelligence is humility.''
As the author of 30 books and host of television's ``Hour of Power,'' Schuller's message of optimism and ``possibility thinking'' has reached millions of viewers and readers. The pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., was in Orlando Wednesday for a book tour.
``All religions have their right wing,'' said Schuller, ``and they get mean. . . . People have to learn to be more tolerant, not mean.''
Most of his support comes from people at the center of the political spectrum, Schuller said, explaining why he steers clear of ideological controversies.
``It's difficult to deal with controversial issues without injuring your opponents' right to be treated with respect,'' he said.
Schuller spoke at a prayer breakfast this week at the Christian Broadcasting Network, whose founder, Pat Robertson, also started the nation's largest group on the religious right, the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition.
Schuller ``had nothing but good things to say at our event,'' said Gene Kapp, vice president for public relations at the Christian Broadcasting Network. ``The comment that he had to make at conclusion of breakfast was that he endorsed our mission with WorldReach, the worldwide evangelism effort that we are launching. He said the time was right for it.''
Schuller spoke in Orlando during an event touting his 30th book, ``Prayer: My Soul's Adventure with God.''
The book, subtitled ``A Spiritual Autobiography,'' mixes suggestions for prayer with pivotal incidents from his life: his desire to be a minister, his choice of a wife and his decision to move to Southern California to start a ministry.
``In 1955 I arrived in California politically neutral but quite possibly a liberal, at least in spirit,'' Schuller wrote in the memoir.
After a brief involvement in the anti-communist crusade in Richard Nixon's native Orange County, Calif., Schuller recounted how and why he decided to withdraw from the controversy.
``Now, decades later, I can see that God wanted to make me a preacher who could bless all persons - Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, socialists and capitalists,'' Schuller concluded.
From that point, Schuller wrote, ``I'd stay out of politics. I'd have to keep my focus on Jesus Christ and on human beings who were hurting and needing faith.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Inspirational author Robert H. Schuller says, ``The first mark of
intelligence is humility.''
by CNB