interesting video "what is a chrstian"

cornnifer

http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/godspolitics/2006/12/jim-wallis-video-of-anderson-cooper.html

interesting video. Its kind of long (about 10 minutes) please take the time to watch before responding. Three guys. The first doesn't quite get it. The other two IMO do. Jim Wallis, the guy in the middle is quite honestly my hero and champion. Check out the video and discuss. Should be interesting

cornnifer

cornnifer wrote:

[/. Should be interesting

or not.

angelica

I watched it. Why did you think the first guy didn't get it? Not that I'm disagreeing, I'm just wondering what you base that on.

El_Kabong

angelica wrote:

I watched it. Why did you think the first guy didn't get it? Not that I'm disagreeing, I'm just wondering what you base that on.

i was wondering the same thing having just watched it...you don't think the environment and human rights is more important, if not just as, than same sex marrige and abortion rights?

but to be fair i kinda half paid attention at points

angelica

I did notice the first guy said "I don't think we are intolerant", referring to conservative Christians. That was the one place I realized he's not really seeing an overview and the "other side". Then he said that others are intolerant of them. That part is true. However, since he said an entire group of conservative Christians are not intolerant, which is a sweeping, and probably innacurate generalization, he certainly wasn't entirely realistic, and I wonder if cornnifer meant that. Or were there other things he noticed that I did not?

cornnifer

El_Kabong wrote:

i was wondering the same thing having just watched it...you don't think the environment and human rights is more important, if not just as, than same sex marrige and abortion rights?

Actually i didn't get the impression that HE sees environmental issues as being as important as Abortion and gay marriage. He still seems to want to hammer these issues. We need to let these issues fade away and concentrate on the stuff that really matters. Namely domestic as well as global poverty and hunger.
I personally am sick and fucking tired of hearing about gay marriage and abortion.
By the end od the vid he tries to redeem himself a little by agreeing with Wallis, but i still think he is to stereotypically conservative.

El_Kabong

cornnifer wrote:

Actually i didn't get the impression that HE sees environmental issues as being as important as Abortion and gay marriage. He still seems to want to hammer these issues. We need to let these issues fade away and concentrate on the stuff that really matters. Namely domestic as well as global poverty and hunger.
I personally am sick and fucking tired of hearing about gay marriage and abortion.
By the end od the vid he tries to redeem himself a little by agreeing with Wallis, but i still think he is to stereotypically conservative.

it took so long to load i was looking at other things so i didn't pay it as much attention as i guess i should've

Collin

cornnifer wrote:

http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/godspolitics/2006/12/jim-wallis-video-of-anderson-cooper.html

interesting video. Its kind of long (about 10 minutes) please take the time to watch before responding. Three guys. The first doesn't quite get it. The other two IMO do. Jim Wallis, the guy in the middle is quite honestly my hero and champion. Check out the video and discuss. Should be interesting

I just did a quick read on Jim Wallis - I never heard of the guy - and I must say I can see you, as a Christian, call him your hero and champion.

cornnifer

Collin wrote:

I just did a quick read on Jim Wallis - I never heard of the guy - and I must say I can see you, as a Christian, call him your hero and champion.

You havn't heard of him because the media doesn't give much attention to guys like him. They are much more interested in perpetuating a bullshit sterotype. He is getting more attention lately though. You can read much more here.


http://www.sojo.net/

Collin

cornnifer wrote:

You havn't heard of him because the media doesn't give much attention to guys like him. They are much more interested in perpetuating a bullshit sterotype. He is getting more attention lately though. You can read much more here.


http://www.sojo.net/

Well that and the fact that I live in Europe

It would be good to see more Christians like him on tv etc.

baraka

Interesting indeed, cornnifer. Thanks for sharing.

hippiemom

cornnifer wrote:

Actually i didn't get the impression that HE sees environmental issues as being as important as Abortion and gay marriage. He still seems to want to hammer these issues. We need to let these issues fade away and concentrate on the stuff that really matters. Namely domestic as well as global poverty and hunger.
I personally am sick and fucking tired of hearing about gay marriage and abortion.
By the end od the vid he tries to redeem himself a little by agreeing with Wallis, but i still think he is to stereotypically conservative.

I think abortion and gay marriage are such popular issues in the evangelical community because they're easy. It's pretty easy to not have an abortion, and there's nothing easier for a heterosexual than not being gay, so these are issues that most Christians are able to take the "high ground" on with little or no effort. The other things Jesus calls on you to do, such as caring for the poor and the sick, are a little harder. It's simple to be adamantly anti-gay, it requires virtually nothing. If you're adamantly anti-poverty, at some point you're going to have to question your own commitment to your principles. Are you REALLY doing ALL you can, sacrificing ALL you can? The answer is almost certainly "no," and that makes people uncomfortable. There are an awful lot of people who don't seem to be able to handle uncertainty.

All three of these guys seemed like good people, although I certainly feel like I have more in common with the second and third ones. It's nice to see Chrisitians like these guys getting more exposure. Even my husband, a devout Christian, admits that if all he knew about Christianity was from the Robertson/Falwell types that are usually in the public view, he wouldn't like Christians either.

Hope&Anger

Really interesting video. It shows that people of faith are starting to question their relationship with politics. (And Jim Wallis is way cool.)

I also think it says something about changes in politics. The ideological packages presented by Republicans and Democrats just don't match up all that well to the things people care about. My Republican friends tie themselves in knots -- they tend to be economic conservatives and socially very liberal, so this "abortion and same-sex marriage" stuff gets on their nerves. By the same token, my evangelical in-laws have started caring about things beyond the traditional agenda -- the spread of AIDS in Africa, the environment, the war, the death penalty, and they're away from the Republican Party. Half of them voted for Democrats in the last election.

Things could really start shaking up.

Having said all that, I wish that candidates -- like Barack Obama -- wouldn't have to talk about how they were saved by Jesus to get elected. I'd be happy with an authentic Secular Progressive, if there is such a thing anymore.

dkst0426

If you like Jim Wallis, wait until you read/hear Tony Campolo......

cornnifer

dkst0426 wrote:

If you like Jim Wallis, wait until you read/hear Tony Campolo......

i am familiar with Tony Campolo. Read some of his books. He is also a regular contributor to "Sojourners". Pretty cool guy.

cornnifer

Hope&Anger wrote:

Having said all that, I wish that candidates -- like Barack Obama -- wouldn't have to talk about how they were saved by Jesus to get elected. I'd be happy with an authentic Secular Progressive, if there is such a thing anymore.

What's wrong with Obama being up front with his faith? The majority of the country is, to some degree, spiritual. Guys like Obama are trying to break the stranglehold the right has managed to put on the political environment with their constant speak of "religious values" based strictly on, what are in fact relatively insignificant issues (abortion, gay marriage). He points out that issues such as poverty, hunger and the environment are in fact spiritual issues as well. Spirituality and the Bible speak volumes on these issues, far more in fact than abortion or homosexuality, and they are far more significant. Its time people realize that it isn't faith on the right and lack there of on the left. It just isn't the case.

angelica

hippiemom wrote:

I think abortion and gay marriage are such popular issues in the evangelical community because they're easy. It's pretty easy to not have an abortion, and there's nothing easier for a heterosexual than not being gay, so these are issues that most Christians are able to take the "high ground" on with little or no effort. The other things Jesus calls on you to do, such as caring for the poor and the sick, are a little harder. It's simple to be adamantly anti-gay, it requires virtually nothing. If you're adamantly anti-poverty, at some point you're going to have to question your own commitment to your principles. Are you REALLY doing ALL you can, sacrificing ALL you can? The answer is almost certainly "no," and that makes people uncomfortable. There are an awful lot of people who don't seem to be able to handle uncertainty.

Good point.

All three of these guys seemed like good people, although I certainly feel like I have more in common with the second and third ones. It's nice to see Chrisitians like these guys getting more exposure. Even my husband, a devout Christian, admits that if all he knew about Christianity was from the Robertson/Falwell types that are usually in the public view, he wouldn't like Christians either.

Interesting stuff.