Surreal. Would Sanders even imagine asking a Muslim about their beliefs? Sent from my iPhone
> On Jun 10, 2017, at 07:41, BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical > Centrist Community <[email protected]> wrote: > > NPR > > Is It Hateful To Believe In Hell? Bernie Sanders' Questions Prompt Backlash > June 9, 2017 > By: CAmila Domonoske > > > A low-profile confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill this week raised eyebrows > when the questioning turned to theology — specifically, damnation. > > Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont pressed Russell Vought, nominated by President > Trump to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, about his > beliefs. > > "Do you think that people who are not Christians are condemned?" Sanders > repeatedly asked, challenging that belief as Islamophobic. > > Christian organizations have denounced Sanders' questioning as amounting to a > religious test for public office — one that would disqualify millions of > people. > > Polls show about half of all Christians in the U.S. believe that some > non-Christians can go to heaven. But particularly among evangelicals, the > traditional view of damnation remains widespread. > > A confirmation showdown rooted in college dispute > > How did hellfire come up in a confirmation hearing in the first place? > > In 2015, an evangelical Christian college suspended a tenured professor who > said that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. That's a belief shared > by many Christians, but not all; Wheaton College said it contradicted the > school's statement of faith. > > Vought, an alumnus of Wheaton, wrote a blog post last year expressing support > for his alma mater. He quoted a theologian who said non-Christians have a > "deficient" theology but could have a meaningful relationship with God. > Vought disagreed. > > "Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology," Vought wrote. "They do not > know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand > condemned. " > > Ahead of Vought's confirmation hearing, that quote was picked up by advocacy > groups concerned about whether Vought could serve all Americans fairly. > > Sanders brought up the passage, again and again, in the hearing. He asked > Vought if he thought his statement was Islamophobic. > > > > "Absolutely not, senator," Vought said > > "Do you believe people in the Muslim religion stand condemned?" Sanders > asked. "What about Jews? Do they stand condemned, too?" > > "I'm a Christian," Vought repeatedly responded. > > "I understand you are a Christian," Sanders said, raising his voice. The > senator is Jewish and has said he's not particularly religious. "But there > are other people who have different religions in this country and around the > world. In your judgment, do you think that people who are not Christians are > going to be condemned?" > > "I believe that all individuals are made in the image of God and are worthy > of dignity and respect regardless of their religious beliefs," Vought said, > while also emphasizing "the centrality of Jesus Christ in salvation." > > "This nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be > about," Sanders said, announcing that he'd vote against him. > > Did focus on a nominee's faith cross a line? > > Sanders was criticized almost immediately for focusing on a nominee's > religious principles instead of qualifications or behavior. His office has > defended the senator's questions. > > "The question at hand is not about Mr. Vought's freedom to hold certain > religious beliefs," a spokesman for Sanders said. The spokesman said Vought's > post expressed his views in an "inflammatory way" and said Sanders is > concerned if Vought can "carry out the duties of his office in a way that > treats all Americans equally." > > Many news outlets — religious, conservative and mainstream — highlighted the > exchange as a possible application of a religious test, which is prohibited > under the Constitution. U.S. News & World Report spoke to legal experts who > say Sanders is on solid legal ground. "Senators can vote against nominees for > any reason or no reason at all," one law professor told the magazine. "It may > be atrocious, but it's not unconstitutional," another said > > Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the > Southern Baptist Convention, called Sanders' comments "breathtakingly > audacious and shockingly ignorant," and deeply troubling even if they are > legal. > > "This is not some arcane or obscure private opinion being held by this one > individual," Moore told NPR. "The language that Sen. Sanders, finds so > disturbing — 'stands condemned' — is language right out of the New Testament." > > Moore says there's nothing hostile about Vought's comments. "In Christian > theology,no one is righteous before God," he said. "[Evangelical] Christians > don't believe that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. > Christians believe that all of humanity is fallen." > > And Moore argues there's a fundamental misunderstanding at play: Secular > people often assume that beliefs are "just ideas and opinions" that can > shift. But for religious people, he says, "we don't believe that we are > constructing our faith. We believe that it's been handed to us by God." > > A question of belief, or a question of behavior? > > Scott Simpson, public advocacy director for Muslim Advocates, defended > Sanders' questions and said it's important to keep Vought's comments in > context — both his original post and the broader political climate. "This > isn't some personal expression of how he feels in his heart about theology," > Simpson said. "This is the type of speech that was being used against > somebody" to argue a professor should lose her job. > > He also says the Trump administration has a "pattern of appointments" of > people with anti-Muslim views and rhetoric. "We're very sensitive to the > concept of religious liberty, because Muslims' religious liberty is under > attack every day," Simpson said. "But we're talking about something very > specific. ... When a nominee calls the faith of millions of Americans > deficient, that is something that should be questioned. That is what hearings > are for." > > Meanwhile, James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said the > belief that vast swaths of people are damned might, in fact, be inherently > problematic for certain government positions. "If [someone] believe these > people are to be condemned ... is that the person who ought to be making > budgetary decisions for the country as a whole?" asked Zogby, who is a > Maronite Catholic. "Can you be a fair adjudicator of decisions?" he asked. > > Hussein Rashid, founder of the religious literacy consultancy Islamicate L3C, > doesn't agree that the belief itself is a problem. > > "I think we have to accept that there are theologies that are what I would > call exclusionary, that only certain people will go to heaven and certain > people will go to hell. They are not inherently Islamophobic or > anti-Semitic," Rashid said. "It's when it turns into action that we start > getting worried. " > > He, like Moore, emphasized that these beliefs are not particularly unusual. > > "Exclusionary theologies are far more prevalent than I think we realize," > Rashid said, noting many Americans' reticence to talk about religion in > public. A substantial number of Christians believe Catholics are going to > hell, he noted. > > Belief in hell is widespread, but views differ on who is damned > > Different Christian sects, and individuals, have varying interpretations of > damnation. The traditionalist view is that eternal suffering awaits all who > do not accept Christ; on the other end of the spectrum is the universalist > belief that everyone will be saved. And then there are disagreements about > what hell actually is. > > In short, it's hard to pin down exactly how many Americans believe > non-Christians are going to hell — but polling data suggests a strong > minority. > > > The Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study in 2014 polled more than > 35,000 adults. > Pew Research Center/NPR > The Pew Research Center recently found that nearly 60 percent of Americans > surveyed believe in hell. And among Christians, 48 percent of Protestants and > 56 percent of evangelicals believeChristianity is the only path to eternal > life. (Catholics and mainline Protestants were far more likely to believe > that other faiths can get into heaven.) > > A LifeWay Research survey, conducted online with a much smaller sample, found > that 40 percent of Americans believe those who do not accept Jesus are bound > for hell. But it's complicated: Some of those people appear to also believe > other faiths can attain salvation. > > At any rate, Vought's belief is not a fringe view. "Most conservative > evangelical churches believe that faith in Christ is necessarily for > salvation," Moore says. > > And it's not unique to evangelicalism or Christianity. The Quran is quite > clear that there is a hell, says Mohammad Hassan Khalil, a professor of > religious studies at Michigan State University and author of Islam and the > Fate of Others. The general view is that those who reject the message of > Muhammad are damned, he says, but just like in Christianity, there's a vast > spectrum of beliefs. > > You'll see "a popular preacher who has many YouTube hits saying that all > non-Muslims go to hell," he says, and at the same time, "you'll get other > people who say there are multiple paths to heaven." > > Khalil says belief in hell does not have a clear-cut implication for behavior > on Earth. "If I believe all non-Muslims go to hell ... it can lead me to look > down upon them, see them as just fuel for hell, and not really take them too > seriously. Or I could be motivated to want to save them," he says, "and be > unusually kind and nice to them in the hopes that they will convert." > > NPR asked Sanders' office if the senator would have challenged a devout > Muslim who believed non-Muslims are condemned to hell, in the same way he > challenged Vought. Sanders' spokesman said yes. > > Moore of the Southern Baptist Conference says Sanders confronting a Muslim > would be equally problematic. > > "We've been working for religious freedom for everyone," said Moore, who has > spoken up in defense of mosques. Rejecting a nominee for their religious > doctrine is "a troubling trend, and if this were the direction that American > public officials were to go this would be very dangerous for American > democracy," he said. > > "We've seen what happens when the state sets itself up as a theological > referee." > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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