Does the left have anything near as radical as the Family Reseach Council?

[cali]

I was thinking yesterday that if Joe Biden (in person) and President Obama (on video), had addressed the left counterpart of the Values Voters Summit, the howling would have been heard clear across the world.

But of course there is no left counterpart to what the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as a hate group. It simply doesn't exist.

Every story I saw on this, glossed over not only the SPLC designation, but just how ultra rightwing and radical FRC is. Tony Perkins is squarely in the main stream of the repub party and hugely influential.

[Douglas Carpenter]

1. certainly nothing that would be considered mainstream Democratic Party the way Family Research

Council is respected as mainstream Republican Party. Just as there are far left commentators - but none that would be regulars on mainstream television and pandered to by mainstream Democratic Party politicians.

[Cosmocat]

2. The DNC

if you were to accept the framing from the AM radio bucketheads.

talked to my State Representative about a big issue, and he said something about how the ACLU got involved.

He acted like the ACLU was some kind of radical, unamerican thing.

[SkyDaddy7]

3. NO!

The Left has nothing even close to the FRC! We are talking about a group who is open & forward about their hatred toward other groups of human beings. They are one of the most powerful organizations within the Republican Party if not the MOST powerful...Yet they are considered a hate group & no one makes a big deal about the fact the GOP is connected to such groups! WHY? RELIGION! There are very few media organizations that are willing to take a stand against religious hatred in this country...Which is SAD & why groups like the FRC are able to operate & flourish in America. Another example where the "moderate Christians" give cover to the more fundamentalist.

[vlyons]

11. hey let's get one thing straight

The established Christian church (no matter what the denomination) has very little to do with the teachings of Jesus, who taught us to feed the poor, heal the sick, make peace with enemies, and treat other people with dignity and respect. Never ever forget who killed Jesus. It wasn't the Romans. Pontius Pilot washed his hands of the charges against Jesus. It was the established high priest and pharisees of the temple--the established, powerful, wealthy religious elite. You know, the ones who collected a 10% tithe, and offerings, and a percentage off the money changers that Jesus chased out of the temple complex.

Read Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) to see what Jesus thought about the religious leaders and priests of his day. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews, who thought them unclean, because the Samaritans inter-married with pagans, worshipped idols, were brigands and smugglers, and revolutionary zealots against the Romans. Yet it was a Samaritan, who have comfort to someone in dire need; not a Jewish religious elite, who could not care less about one of "those people."

Are there Christians, who actually practice the teachings of Jesus? Certainly. Are there non-Christians, who practice the teachings of Jesus? You bet. Does the FRC practice the teachings of Jesus? Judge for yourself.

[SkyDaddy7]

12. Jesus also supported...

Slavery...If there was just one issue that Jesus the demi-god should have got correct it is that slavery is wrong but he failed! He actually provided rules for slaves "Obey your masters".

However, I give Jesus a pass because he was no different than you or I & had no way of knowing any better because slavery was just part of life back then. But it does go a long way to show Jesus was not divine or have any special abilities or insights that you or I don't have.

As for who killed Jesus...Does it matter? If you feel Jesus was divine & knew his fate then you can't rationally be upset with whoever killed Jesus. You would not be a Christian if Jesus live to be an old man! If you want to say the evil Jews killed Jesus then you should be thankful they did!

I have never understood the complaints coming from Christians about who killed Jesus...ALL Christians OWE a big "thank-you" to the Romans & Jews for seeing it to it there is a Christian religion today...For many reasons!

Do good for goodness sake...There is no other respectable reason to be good & caring toward others.

[vlyons]

13. Jesus was not divine

Once again it was Constantine the Great, or at least the 1st Council of Nicea that he convened, that VOTED on whether Jesus was a mortal man of the son of God. You see Constantine worshipped Apollo the sun god and had this thing about Jesus being a human manifestation of the sun god. Those folks who voted that Jesus was a mortal man were deemed heretics. And ya know what Christians do to heretics, don't you?

[Zax2me]

4. My family would say yes - Islam.

Of course, they think President Obama is a muslim, so.... (!)

[cali]

5. uh, that's delusional and stupid beyond belief.

A) Muslim is a religion, not an organization.

B) It is not an affiliate of the Democratic Party

C) It does not hold anything like the Values Voters Summit

Need I go on?

[tomp]

8. uniting under a common set of principles and rules...

...is a form of "organization" in the general sense, but not what I think was meant in the OP. Beyond that, many religions have true organizational status.

[tomp]

6. there is such a thing as the "radical" left.

communist and sometimes socialist agendas may include violent overthrow of the government, . that's pretty much the definition of the far left. some might say that is radical, but whether that is in any way comparable to a right wing hate group is at least debatable and, some might argue, ludicrous.

[cali]

7. um, I didn't say there was.

I asked if the left had anything as radical as FRC. There's a world of difference.

[tomp]

9. you need to be more clear.

i don't understand your response.

[justiceischeap]

10. I imagine some on the right see the ACLU, HRC and NAACP in the same way we see FRC

or the Heritage Foundation. It can be successfully argued that they aren't the same but it's the perception to those looking that matters in this instance.