Bob Jones and the Myth of the Pagan Christ-Hating Liberals
Congratulatory letter to President George W. Bush from Dr. Bob Jones III
(emphasis added)
What is Bob Jones smoking??? Does he truly believe that liberals hate Jesus? Does he honestly think that those of us who oppose George W. Bush are breast-baring, Asherah-worshiping pagans? Can he really be so biblically ignorant as to miss the countless ways in which the Bush administration has trampled all over fundamental Christian values championed by liberals - like caring for the poor, homeless and broken; being Christ-blessed peacemakers; steadfastly opposing torture and murder, no matter how "bad" a person may appear; and striving for justice even when it's inconvenient and unpopular, because it's the right thing to do?
The truth is that neither political party comes close to embodying the fulness of Christian ethics. The Republican Party (and the administration of George W. Bush) is every bit as offensive to Christians who take scripture and their Lord seriously as the worst excesses of the left wing. To quote Sojourners' "Take Back Our Faith" campaign, "God is not a Republican. Or a Democrat."
Or put more pointedly, there are plenty of shamelessly heathen, Christ-ignoring sinners to fill both parties' conventions... and there are also many faithful people doing their best to seek God's will in a political system that opens itself to all comers - religious and irreligious alike - in the belief that our freedom is best protected in the fray.
I might add that God's will is perhaps best discovered in the thoughtful debate between red and blue people of faith.
Bob Jones and his chapel full of dittoheads appear to be so enthralled with the neoconservative deity they have erected and named "God" that they fail to see the blasphemy and idolatry inherent in such a ludicrous position.
To Mr. Jones and his ilk, a few questions are in order: Whose "pagan" agenda are you referring to? Specifically. In detail. Tell us, please liberals are pushing goddess worship, orgiastic ritual sex or Druidic incantations on you and your university? We'd like to know. Certainly not me, or my family, or any other liberals I know! Certainly not John Kerry or John Edwards. Certainly not Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, or even that much-hated and now deceased Paul Wellstone. Let's have some names, please.
And which Christ-haters are you thinking of when you cast that broad smear on all liberals? Do you mean the pope, who opposed your man's war in Iraq? Do you mean all the Lutheran pastors in this red state who gathered for our text study Tuesday morning and discovered we'd all voted blue? Are we the Christ-hating liberals you've got in mind? I can't really think of any instances of liberal politicians standing up and declaring that Jesus Christ is just a lousy charlatan, an SOB who fooled the world and has no relevance to anything today... can you let me know which of the Democrats has said this, so I can promptly write them and express my disagreement?
Or, perhaps, Mr. Jones, if you can do none of the above, you ought to ask yourself how being the prophet of your idolatrous "god" advances the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the one true God we believers worship.
May that one true God save the Jonesians from their blindness, and America from the Jonesians.
(emphasis added)
November 3, 2004
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
The media tells us that you have received the largest number of popular votes of any president in America's history. Congratulations!
In your re-election, God has graciously granted America—though she doesn't deserve it—a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly.
Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. Honor the Lord, and He will honor you.
Had your opponent won, I would have still given thanks, because the Bible says I must (I Thessalonians 5:18). It would have been hard, but because the Lord lifts up whom He will and pulls down whom He will, I would have done it. It is easy to rejoice today, because Christ has allowed you to be His servant in this nation for another presidential term. Undoubtedly, you will have opportunity to appoint many conservative judges and exercise forceful leadership with the Congress in passing legislation that is defined by biblical norm regarding the family, sexuality, sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and limited government. You have four years—a brief time only—to leave an imprint for righteousness upon this nation that brings with it the blessings of Almighty God.
Christ said, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my father honour” (John 12:26).
The student body, faculty, and staff at Bob Jones University commit ourselves to pray for you—that you would do right and honor the Savior. Pull out all the stops and make a difference. If you have weaklings around you who do not share your biblical values, shed yourself of them. Conservative Americans would love to see one president who doesn't care whether he is liked, but cares infinitely that he does right.
Best wishes.
Sincerely your friend,
Bob Jones III
President
BJIII:lw
PS: A few moments ago I read this letter to the students in Chapel. They applauded loudly their approval.
When I told them that Tom Daschle was no longer the minority leader of the Senate, they cheered again.
On occasion, Christians have not agreed with things you said during your first term. Nonetheless, we could not be more thankful that God has given you four more years to serve Him in the White House, never taking off your Christian faith and laying it aside as a man takes off a jacket, but living, speaking, and making decisions as one who knows the Bible to be eternally true.
What is Bob Jones smoking??? Does he truly believe that liberals hate Jesus? Does he honestly think that those of us who oppose George W. Bush are breast-baring, Asherah-worshiping pagans? Can he really be so biblically ignorant as to miss the countless ways in which the Bush administration has trampled all over fundamental Christian values championed by liberals - like caring for the poor, homeless and broken; being Christ-blessed peacemakers; steadfastly opposing torture and murder, no matter how "bad" a person may appear; and striving for justice even when it's inconvenient and unpopular, because it's the right thing to do?
The truth is that neither political party comes close to embodying the fulness of Christian ethics. The Republican Party (and the administration of George W. Bush) is every bit as offensive to Christians who take scripture and their Lord seriously as the worst excesses of the left wing. To quote Sojourners' "Take Back Our Faith" campaign, "God is not a Republican. Or a Democrat."
Or put more pointedly, there are plenty of shamelessly heathen, Christ-ignoring sinners to fill both parties' conventions... and there are also many faithful people doing their best to seek God's will in a political system that opens itself to all comers - religious and irreligious alike - in the belief that our freedom is best protected in the fray.
I might add that God's will is perhaps best discovered in the thoughtful debate between red and blue people of faith.
Bob Jones and his chapel full of dittoheads appear to be so enthralled with the neoconservative deity they have erected and named "God" that they fail to see the blasphemy and idolatry inherent in such a ludicrous position.
To Mr. Jones and his ilk, a few questions are in order: Whose "pagan" agenda are you referring to? Specifically. In detail. Tell us, please liberals are pushing goddess worship, orgiastic ritual sex or Druidic incantations on you and your university? We'd like to know. Certainly not me, or my family, or any other liberals I know! Certainly not John Kerry or John Edwards. Certainly not Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, or even that much-hated and now deceased Paul Wellstone. Let's have some names, please.
And which Christ-haters are you thinking of when you cast that broad smear on all liberals? Do you mean the pope, who opposed your man's war in Iraq? Do you mean all the Lutheran pastors in this red state who gathered for our text study Tuesday morning and discovered we'd all voted blue? Are we the Christ-hating liberals you've got in mind? I can't really think of any instances of liberal politicians standing up and declaring that Jesus Christ is just a lousy charlatan, an SOB who fooled the world and has no relevance to anything today... can you let me know which of the Democrats has said this, so I can promptly write them and express my disagreement?
Or, perhaps, Mr. Jones, if you can do none of the above, you ought to ask yourself how being the prophet of your idolatrous "god" advances the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the one true God we believers worship.
May that one true God save the Jonesians from their blindness, and America from the Jonesians.
posted by Bob at
1:46 PM
4 Comments:
I concur with your outrage at Bob Jones' letter, and applaud your desire to confront the untruths in his rant. However, as you strike me as a reasonable person, I would like to offer that your view on Pagans appears to be misinformed.
===>Does he honestly think that those of us who oppose George W. Bush are breast-baring, Asherah-worshiping pagans?
Actually, I'm not a breast baring type, but I am a Pagan. I am a decent, quiet human being who graduated from The New Seminary for Interfaith Studies in NYC in 2001, and I am also a practictioner of Wicca. I am polytheistic. Just so you know, many Pagans - Wiccans, Asatru, Kemetic, Hindu and various other sects - do oppose Bush. Some are republicans. Almost all disagree with Bush's obvious selfish agenda.
===>Or put more pointedly, there are plenty of shamelessly heathen, Christ-ignoring sinners to fill both parties' conventions...
So is it your belief, as it appears to be stated here, that any who are not Christians are sinners? Btw, a Heathen is one who follows the path of the Nordic pantheon (Asatru).
===>Tell us, please liberals are pushing goddess worship, orgiastic ritual sex or Druidic incantations on you and your university?
I am a Goddess worshipper, and a God worshipper but if pressed to truly define my beliefs, I think that there is a Divine and we follow It in the path to which we're best suited. Most pagans (I know of none) do not engage in orgiastic ritual sex, and I experienced some of the most beautiful celebrations of the Divine in Druidic incantations.
You appear to be a good man, outraged by the slander and erroneous information provided by Dr. Jones to the President. I entreat you, please do not add erroneous information of your own and thus feed the fires of ignorance and intolerance.
We are blessed in that we live in a country where we may worship freely - those of the Abrahamic faiths, Hindu, Buddhists, Pagans, Heathens ... or have the right to believe in nothing, if we so choice.
It is my sincere hope that we continue to be that country.
With respect,
Rev. Mia Sykes
By
Anonymous, at 10:33 AM
Mia,
Thanks for reading, and for speaking up. I appreciate your willingness to jump into the fray and take a risk, when it would have been pretty easy just to keep silent.
I'm glad that I strike you as a decent, reasonable person. I'm not sure I always live up to those characteristics, but I try. ;)
I believe I owe you an apology. You're absolutely right - I used the most outrageous stereotypes of pagan belief and practice in my effort at hyperbole. As I assume this is largely what Bob Jones imagines a pagan to be (a half-naked, moon-crazed nymphomaniac flailing about in the grasp of some bizarre demonic power), I has hoped to create as strong a contrast between Dr. Jones' accusations (i.e., what he intends to suggest about liberals) and the reality I've seen (i.e., many faithful Christians who consider it faithfully Christian to oppose George Bush). In playing to the stereotype, I'm afraid I may have advanced it, and for that - along with the offense it may have caused - I ask your forgiveness.
You asked an excellent question: "So is it your belief, as it appears to be stated here, that any who are not Christians are sinners?"
The answer, as far as that goes, is "Yes." However, I also consider any who ARE Christians to be sinners, as well. “Sinner” may just as well be a synonym for “human being” in this world of ours. It's true that you're condemned under the law, Mia, but it's also true that I'm right there beside you in its condemnation. We're all so gifted at coming up short, at hurting others - even unintentionally, as I've proven in my use of stereotypes - that the only honest thing to do is admit that when it comes to being good and obeying the law, we all blow it, pagan and Christian alike.
I also believe that God is gracious, and that what he did through Jesus is so remarkable that it's able to wash you and me of our sins, to remake the world from top to bottom - you, me, and the whole of creation... every beautiful thing that God's hands made, Jesus died to remake. That's the good news that Christians bring to the world (when we're not too busy putting our feet in our mouths) - that what Jesus did, he did for YOU, to remake you, precisely because in your sin you could not do it for yourself. Same is true for me.
Too many Christians walk around this world with spiritual clickers on our belts, counting "saved" souls. It's not much different (or less disgusting to me) than the man who carves notches into his bedpost. Speaking of Christ is not about me “saving” someone else and improving my “heaven/hell” ratio! The reason for sharing the good news is simply because it IS good news, and good news demands to be shared. It’s a joy to share it. Sinners who are steamrolled by the law need to hear that good news - we need the hope it brings.
For some reason we Christians are all too good at running our pagan neighbors down with the heavy machinery of the law, and show precious little concern for sharing Christ's love with you - the love that saves us from ourselves, and the love that he said would be our hallmark. For the times when foolish, stone-hearted "followers" of Jesus have torn you and your fellow Wiccans down without concern to build you back up through the good news of Christ's love, I also ask your forgiveness. We shame ourselves (and our Lord) in so doing.
You closed your note:
"We are blessed in that we live in a country where we may worship freely - those of the Abrahamic faiths, Hindu, Buddhists, Pagans, Heathens ... or have the right to believe in nothing, if we so choice.
"It is my sincere hope that we continue to be that country."
Indeed. I believe that Christian faith is a thing that sings sweetly to a soul, and does not coerce or manipulate. It's true that I believe Jesus Christ is the way, truth and life for all people, but if my brothers and sisters of different or no faith have not yet heard this song, then my job is to sing it all the stronger and more sweetly, and NOT to attempt to compel them into "faith" through the abuse of our government. That's not how our Constitution works, and more importantly, that's not how God works. It's laziness on the part of Christians who would rather browbeat than sing their good news sweetly.
We have a great blessing, living in a place where we are free to worship as we feel called. Although I pray that someday you might hear and feel the sweetness of Christ's saving love for you, Mia, I am grateful for and respectful of your freedom in this country to come to differing conclusions, to listen or not listen for that song as you see fit. For you and me to even engage these questions is rather remarkable in the great history of the world, and it is the peculiar gift of our religious liberty that allows this to happen. I believe such dialogue is much more pleasing to God than a hundred carved granite lumps placed in courtrooms and classrooms.
Again, thank you for your honest and appropriate comments. Please accept my apologies for the offense I have caused, and know you're welcome as a reader here. I hope that in subsequent visits you will indeed find me singing sweetly, instead of screeching in such an awful manner! =)
Peace,
-B.
By
Bob, at 4:58 PM
I somehow think you missed Mia's point, although your apology was well taken. You say you pray that she will hear Christ's sweet song and I say maybe she already has. She sounds to me like a follower of the "Christos" within. What really is the nub of the Christian message. Love God (He, She & Neither) and love your neighbour. Until we get closer to that bottom line, No religion will make much of a difference.
By
Anonymous, at 11:45 PM
Bob,
I enjoyed stumbling upon your page and your response to the other Bob Jones.
I also appreciated the respectful way in which you responded to Mia in explaining your faith.
In regards to one minor detail of that, I'd just mention that I interperet the message of Jesus slightly differently. In Luke 10:25-37 Jesus is asked by a Lawyer what he has to do to have eternal life. He responds by saying "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself". When the Lawyer pushes him further to say who is his neighbor Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan then asks the Lawyer who was the good neighbor in the story was. When the Lawyer says it was the Samaritan, then Jesus tells him to "Go and do the same."
As a pastor, I'm sure you know tis story, but I recount it for an important reason. Samaritans were essentially Pagans. I find it facinating that when Jesus is asked what someone has to do to have ever lasting life, he uses a person from another religion entirely as his prime example. Isn't it possible that the salvation which Jesus came to bring to mankind was not another set of rules for which gods to follow, and what names we should use for them, but instead a way for us to connect to the divine force of love whatever our name for her might be.
Thus, while I too agree that if we've found something positive in our lives that we have a responsibility to share it with others, that perhaps some people of other religions don't need saving at all? Perhaps is as Gandhi said "to be a good Hindu also meant that I would be a good Christian. There was no need for me to join your creed to be a believer in the beauty of the teachings of Jesus or try to follow His example,"
The God I believe Jesus was speaking of is the God of Love and perhaps it is possible that other religons like Mia's just have different names for him.
Blessings,
Lonnie
By
Lonnie, at 12:36 PM
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