Christian Right

RD News Round-Up—December 15, 2008: Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative after 8 years; ‘War on Christmas’ mash-up; Religious Right layoffs and cutbacks, ‘Prop. 8—The Musical,’ Prop. 8 Gear, and the first Vietnamese American elected to Congress.

A major newsmagazine gets theological, and infuriates conservatives. But the Newsweek story doesn’t even scratch the surface of contemporary religion scholarship on gay marriage.

Forget the standard litany of the best-selling books and most popular movies… This year’s list includes comics, rock bands, Battlestar Galactica, “Hava Nagila” sung to the tune of “The Twist,” and “I Am the Walrus” translated into Aramaic.

Newsweek actually gets religion, writes the author of the recent gay marriage issue. It’s the Christian Right culture warriors who claim that God possesses their prejudices who are mistaken.

The winner of Old Spice’s “Art of Manliness” competition isn’t just any Conservative Christian—he’s a card-carrying member of the theocratic Christian Reconstructionist movement that encourages women to submit to their men and to abstain from voting. Does this war on “metrosexual pretty boys” mark the beginning of a political career for Matthew Chancey?

Thou shalt not ignore the Top Ten list. We, the editors, rank the top of the tops, including The Onion’s list, comparisons between Religion and Dentistry, Reality TV’s Most Memorable Christians, Top Intellectuals, and many more. Six more to be precise.

With the choice of Rev. Warren to make the inaugural invocation, the president elect has proven himself tone deaf to the nuances of American religious life.

The former VP of the National Association of Evangelicals was forced to resign for his acceptance of gay civil unions; ironic, given the views of evangelicalism’s future leaders.

Six thousand evangelical women gather to support biblical womanhood, and hear from theological leaders about the great influence wielded by “a woman on her knees.”

I reject Rick Warren’s theological orientation and vigorously critique the death-dealing theologies of those like him. But my disagreement (and yours) is not the point.