At 06:54 AM 9/25/2006 -0400, Ed Leafe wrote:
On Sep 25, 2006, at 2:51 AM, Bill Anderson wrote:
"Nothing will motivate conservative evangelical Christians to vote
Republican in the 2008 presidential election more than a Democratic
nominee named Hillary Rodham Clinton not even a run by the devil
himself.
Lessee... Hitler was a very bad man, but to Christians he pales in
comparison with Satan. And anyone who dares to compare a political
...
It will be interesting how many of those same people who pop a vein
in their forehead with outrage whenever a Nazi reference to the Bush
...
Of course, the following is only IMO. I don't claim to speak for all
Christians.
For one, Falwell has always been extreme (as far as I can remember). And he
usually has poor control of his mouth.
Now, comparing Satan and Hitler. There's a problem here, comparing human to
non-human. Satan embodies evil and he's the chief of deceivers. Hitler
committed incredibly evil acts. Satan doesn't have any direct power in the
world, but us humans do. So to say Hitler pales in comparison to Satan,
especially in context to political events, doesn't really make sense to me.
And, in truth, in world events, I'm more worried about human actions than
Satan's. While Satan's hand is currently restrained by God, human hands are
under our own control.
I don't know if I've been one of the vein-popping folks about the "Left's"
attempt to call Bush a Nazi, and that he should be killed, etc. I tend to
just shake my head at such rants. But anyway, I don't think it's reasonable
to say Falwell's comment was worse than calling someone a Nazi or comparing
them to Hitler. What did he say? - that Hillary running would motivate
Christians more than if Satan himself were running. He did not call Hillary
Satan, and he didn't even say Hillary was "worse" than Satan. I'm surprised
Ed misunderstood that point. Many Christians have the same problem as
atheists when it comes to the spiritual world: they're not motivated by
much it because they can't physically see/touch/hear it. So, if someone
hears "Satan" is running for office, they'd most likely be amused but pay
it little heed. But Hillary, and her past actions/views, is very visible.
Her record regarding Christianity is there for all to see. So I can see why
Falwell made such a joke.
And that's another thing. From the brief snippet it seemed Falwell made the
comment in a 'humorous' way - and that he was playing on the audience's
response. But, if he would have been saying, "Hillary is evil. She should
be destroyed. She is in league with Satan....." and asking the group
gathered to go do their part... well then, I think he would owe her an
apology (and that he would need to see a shrink). But all I gleaned from
Bill's text was it was a wise-crack. I don't know what else was said before
or after Falwell's comments (and seeing the article came from the LA Times,
it's doubtful the whole story was reported). The truth of the matter is,
comparing Hillary to Satan will have very little impact with Christian
voters. However, clearly laying out Hillary's political views/platforms,
etc, will definitely have a large impact with Christian voters. I think the
author of the article is just trying to drum up some kind of 'conspiracy'
conflict where there is none (but I guess that's what sells news nowadays....).
All that being said, however, I think Falwell should learn to speak with a
little more humility. Especially in public settings. But like every other
person, when someone gets 'influential' they usually let it go to their
heads. And when the head swells, it seems the tongue becomes uncontrollable.
-Charlie
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