Family Blah Blah Running Out of Steam
DefCon is a web site that exists to counter the religious right. They have a post up this week that suggests that there isn't much wind these days in the sails of the Family Blah Blah groups.
Two years ago, these guys were on top of the world. Here in Montgomery County, the Recall Group formed to kick out the school board over imagined outrages in the new sex-ed curriculum. As they complained about the "sodomites" and the "deviants," they really believed they lived in a world that saw things their way. They had their guys solidly planted in the White House and Capitol Hill, Dobson and Perkins and Falwell and the other betterthanyou guys were politically prominent, it looked like things were really going to go their way: America was returning to its Puritan roots.
But ... like they say, you have to be careful what you wish for. Turned out these guys weren't all they claimed to be. Oh yeah, the nuts got the White House and both houses of Congress. Even now, the President has only issued one veto in his career, preventing stem cell research. Other than that, the guys on the hill are all getting everything they want.
And what did they want, really? To defeat sin? Family values? Spiritual purity? A higher level of morality?
Uh, no, it didn't really turn out that way. They wanted bribes, sex, corruption, war. These guys, claiming to have the fine family values and all, have been the crookedest bunch of liars America has ever seen.
And now, nobody wants to go to their parties any more.
Focus on the Family has cancelled two of their “Stand for the Family Events” scheduled to be held in giant auditoriums in cities across the country — moving them instead to much smaller venues and in one case to a local church where the admission will be free of charge! Talk about desperate.
Unless Focus announces otherwise, there is no doubt that these are a result of a general disinterest in the Godfather of the religious right i.e. low ticket sales. This is not turning out to be the October they hoped for...
You’ll remember that in August, Focus on the Family announced a massive campaign to influence the elections in eight targeted states. The campaign was touted as the largest political effort by the religious right since the heyday of the Christian Coalition and reportedly combines a massive voter registration effort, the distribution of voter guides, and a series of high profile “Stand for the Family” events across the country featuring both Dobson, Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, and Gary Bauer.
We’ve heard through the grapevine that the voter registration efforts are struggling, but now here’s some hard proof that these groups are not being met with the fanfare they had hoped or planned for.
Two of the three Stand For the Family events with Dobson and Perkins were cancelled and moved to much smaller venues. The first, on October 3rd in St Paul was initially to be held at the Xcel Energy Center, capable of holding 18,000 depending on the configuration, however at the last minute it was moved to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, with a capacity of a little under 6,000 — there were less than half that many there.
You’d think that the upcoming event in the bible belt city of Nashville might prove more successful. Wrong. The October 16th event was to be held at the Nashville Auditorium, whose arena holds nearly 10,000. This event was just cancelled and moved to a local church where admission will be FREE OF CHARGE! Stand For The Family Events Bomb
Two years ago, these guys were on top of the world. Here in Montgomery County, the Recall Group formed to kick out the school board over imagined outrages in the new sex-ed curriculum. As they complained about the "sodomites" and the "deviants," they really believed they lived in a world that saw things their way. They had their guys solidly planted in the White House and Capitol Hill, Dobson and Perkins and Falwell and the other betterthanyou guys were politically prominent, it looked like things were really going to go their way: America was returning to its Puritan roots.
But ... like they say, you have to be careful what you wish for. Turned out these guys weren't all they claimed to be. Oh yeah, the nuts got the White House and both houses of Congress. Even now, the President has only issued one veto in his career, preventing stem cell research. Other than that, the guys on the hill are all getting everything they want.
And what did they want, really? To defeat sin? Family values? Spiritual purity? A higher level of morality?
Uh, no, it didn't really turn out that way. They wanted bribes, sex, corruption, war. These guys, claiming to have the fine family values and all, have been the crookedest bunch of liars America has ever seen.
And now, nobody wants to go to their parties any more.
posted by JimK at 12:48 PM
9 Comments:
These guys are not concerned about family or values or anything except their own cult of personality. Like Limbaugh, they are shameful promoters of themselves.
Ignorant comment, Andrea. Try to listening to the shows- you'll be enlightened.
You have ample opportunity. Despite Jim's prediction of the end of Focus on the Family, Dobson's broadcasts are heard by 220 million people a day worldwide with 3600 stations in North America and 6300 worldwide. They even have an outlet in Red China so Jim might have been able to catch a program there. Read all about it on the People for the American Way website.
Meanwhile, Air America recently filed bankruptcy having 20 million in debts and 4 million in assets. It's ratings are so low, it has started selling off it's stations- usually to a religious broadcaster in the area.
But I guess those Tolerance yad-yada groups had to run out of steam eventually.
Wait a minute! What steam?
I wonder why I keep reading about Democratic candidates who have increased their chances in the upcoming election by emphasizing their religious roots? I guess that whole "family" idea is getting old. Like six or seven thousand years old.
Here's some inconvenient news:
"Cosmic Rays Linked to Global Warming
By SARA GOUDARZI
(Oct. 23) - Earth's recent warming trend might in part be due to a lack of starlight reaching our planet, a new study suggests.
According to a theory proposed a decade ago, when a star explodes far away in the Milky Way, cosmic rays -- high-speed atomic particles -- go through the Earth’s atmosphere and produce ions and free electrons.
The released electrons act as catalysts and accelerate the formation of small clusters of sulfuric acid and water molecules, the building blocks of clouds. Therefore, cosmic rays would increase cloud cover on Earth, reflecting sunlight and keeping the planet relatively cool.
However, because the Sun’s magnetic field—which shields the Earth from these rays—doubled in intensity during the last century, there has been a reduction in cloudiness, a possible contributor to Earth’s warming.
Scientists at the Danish National Space Center mimicked chemistry of the lower atmosphere in a large reaction chamber. They created a mixture that contained gasses at realistic concentrations and used an ultraviolet lamp to act as the Sun.
Microscopic droplets, precursor to clouds, started floating in the air of the reaction chamber.
“We were amazed by the speed and efficiency with which the electrons do their work of creating the building blocks for the cloud condensation nuclei,” said team leader Henrik Svensmark, Director of the Center for Sun-Climate Research at the Danish National Space Center. “This is a completely new result within climate science.”
This work does not mean that there is no human influence on climate, Svensmark told Space.com. “But it might be necessary to revaluate the climate sensitivity to carbon dioxide.”"
No! Really?
hahaha, Anon calls my comment ignorant. Yes, I'll be enlightened by a bunch of entertainers and so-called religious commentators. I doubt it- when I want news or commentary I don't get it from this bunch of clowns. And the day I think the Lord talks to Falwell or Dobson is the day I become an atheist. There are serious Christian theologians- and oddly, you rarely see them with a giant church or making pronouncements about what sins caused Katrina or 9/11 happened.
When I want a good theologian of the Dobson sort, I go with Bennie and Ernest- I like to see my miracles happening right there in front of me on Channel 50. I mean those guys must have the POWER- so many people go to see them and make donations- maybe even in "RED CHINA"
"hahaha, Anon calls my comment ignorant. Yes, I'll be enlightened by a bunch of entertainers and so-called religious commentators. I doubt it- when I want news or commentary I don't get it from this bunch of clowns. And the day I think the Lord talks to Falwell or Dobson is the day I become an atheist."
Dobson is not a theologian and has never pretended to be. He's a psychologist with a emphasis on family issues. I know someone who is friends with him who told me he has told him to stick with family counseling and stay out of politics because he doesn't know what he's doing when he does that. He probably feels, though, given his audience, he has a rare opportunity to reach people. Certainly more qualified than the gaggle of actresses and singers that liberals regularly trot out.
Falwell is, I think, a Baptist. Different views on theology than myself and I've never watched him or, even, read anything by him other than clips in newspapers. From what I hear, he has pretty conventional views and is a somewhat boring speaker. Hardly worthy of the caricature made of him by the lunatic fringe.
"There are serious Christian theologians-"
Could you tell us a couple of your favorites? You're such a mystery woman.
"and oddly, you rarely see them with a giant church or making pronouncements about what sins caused Katrina or 9/11 happened."
Did Dobson or Falwell do that?
"When I want a good theologian of the Dobson sort, I go with Bennie and Ernest- I like to see my miracles happening right there in front of me on Channel 50. I mean those guys must have the POWER- so many people go to see them and make donations- maybe even in "RED CHINA""
Jim's the one cackling about how family advocacy groups are on the wane. I was just pointing out how ridicluous that point was. You'd be surprised how strong and widespread the underground church in RED CHINA is. You'll be hearing more about in the years to come.
That Red China thing, sure. Christianity is real big there.
When I was in China last week I did not see one church. A 22-year-old who had studied American history asked me a lot of questions about the Constitution, the separation of powers, the founding fathers. He also asked me, "So what is a Christian, is that the same as a Puritan?"
I could only laugh.
I don't doubt that there might be a Christian movement in China, perhaps even rivaling Falun Gong (though I doubt it). With a billion and a half people, you can get a few million involved in something without much disruption. But it is certainly not common, and most of the people don't really know anything about it, or care.
The funny thing is, Chinese Confucianism is the real practice of family values, and those beliefs are everywhere. They don't spend their time condemning sinners, they are much more concerned with humility and respect for elders and teachers.
JimK
Jimbo
You've got to start getting out of those hotels when you travel. Christianity is probably the second largest religious group in RED China after Buddhism but it is growing at a rate to alarm any old-fashioned Marxist. The approximately 600,000 Christians at the time of Mao's takeover have become 60-80 million. Their significance is multiplied by the fact that they are in influential positions. They have dominated rural communities for decades being known for thrift, reliability and honesty and found in the highest leadership positions there. In bigger cities and, at the national level, the are not high profile, staying in low-key house churches, but are very well represented in influential families who sent their children to the West for college only to have them come back as Christians.
Though many aren't aware of it, Christianity arrived in China at around the same time as it did in Western Europe and the missionaries were well-favored by the emperors at the time, some even serving as consultants to the emperor.
Check out the book, "Jesus in Bejing: How Christianity is Transforming China" by David Aikman, Ph.D.. Having served as a the Time magazine correspondent in Bejing for years, he got around a little more than you.
Anon ... why would I care? If Chinese people want to be Christians, what's it to me? You act as if we're arguing about this. I really don't care, I just said when I was there I didn't see any signs of it. The people I talked to -- and we talked about religion, among other things -- were pretty much unaware of what Christianity is.
If we are having a debate about this, I don't care, you win.
JimK
Cool, Jim. I guess I mistakenly thought you were disagreeing.
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