President-elect of Christian Coalition resigns

[seafan]

President-elect of Christian Coalition resigns

Associated Press
Nov. 23, 2006

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Reverend elected to take over as president of the Christian Coalition of America said he will not assume the role because of differences in philosophy.
The Rev. Joel Hunter, of Longwood's Northland, A Church Distributed, said Wednesday that the national group would not let him expand the organization's agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage.

This is the latest setback for the group founded in 1989 by religious broadcaster the Rev. Pat Robertson. Four states - Georgia, Alabama, Iowa and Ohio - have decided to split from the group over concerns it's changing direction on issues like the minimum wage, the environment and Internet law instead of core issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.

Hunter, who was scheduled to take over the socially conservative political group Jan. 1, said he had hoped to focus on issues such as poverty and the environment.

"These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," Hunter said.

snip

"They pretty much said, 'These issues are fine, but they're not our issues, that's not our base,'" Hunter said.

snip

The organization, headed by President Roberta Combs, claims a mailing list of 2.5 million.

"To tell you the truth, I feel like there are literally millions of evangelical Christians that don't have a home right now," Hunter said.

[KingFlorez]

1. Wow

The really have a warped view of Christianity. The bible says to help the poor, yet they only want to focus on issues that are divisive and discriminatory. Organizations like this serve no purpose other than making trouble.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. those issues are great as a basis of irrational fear

and with irrational fear, they maintain control over their flock of sheeple.

[Kber]

43. Well sure

While the new testiment hardly mentions the poor at all, abortion and homosexuality are roundly, soundly and loudly condemned, right?

[Joe Bacon]

44. Their Bible is Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead

The assholes who run the KKKristian KKKoaltion love to bullshit about Jesus. All they do is bullshit about Christ, and that's it.

They BS about Jesus, but they follow Ayn (AS IN MINE) Rand's "Get Yours and Fuck Everyone Else" Philosophy. Financed by sick wackos like Howard Ahmanson, they have purged real Christians out of all churches. Go to a church now, and all you hear out of a preacher's mouth is endless asskissing Republican bullshit and the congregation acts just like the kids in Jesus Camp, slobbering in front of a cardboard cutout of the most incompetent asshole to even be placed in the presidency. Millions of fools STILL believe that Bush is god's anointed son. They are also stupid enough to believe the rapture is coming next week. They don't care one bit about other people, except to hate them.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

46. The problem with the fundie megachurches is that they have no

"quality control" mechanisms. The "Gospel" becomes whatever the head preacher says it is, not what traditional Christianity says it is.

A lot of people who come into these churches have no previous religious training or grew up when some of the mainline churches took their members for granted and didn't bother to teach the young people anything other than to play volleyball :sarcasm:, so they come in without any grounding in the full range of the Bible or in Christian tradition.

In addition, unlike the liturgical churches, the fundie churches have no set calendar of Bible readings like the 3-year lectionary, which takes you through all the Gospels and much of the rest of the Bible over three years of Sundays. Therefore, if a fundie preacher wants to preach entirely on passages that support his pet obsessions, there's nothing to prevent it.

[Vorta]

2. I'll give him a half hearted cheer.

It's good to see independent thought on the religious right. Howbeit, somehow I expect that he was simply saying that the CC should care about the homeless and the environment in addition to opposing abortion and gay rights.

[Warpy]

5. That's exactly it, he was trying to add some Christianity

to the usual diet of nonstop hatred of all things sexual.

Since Christianity and hate are mutually exclusive, he was right to step down.

[whistle]

3. I know people from the congregation at Longwood's Northland Church

....and they never struck me as Christian Coalition mindset types. I've always regarded Northland as a progressive evangelical group with lots of out-reach programs to the needy in the community. I am glad to hear that their paster turned down the position. Hopefully the church will pull away from that influence and return to their roots from the past 20 years which has been doing good in the community and local area.:thumbsup: :kick:

[tanyev]

18. Kind of surprising, then, that the CC would even elect him.

:shrug:

[dogfacedboy]

31. He was probably already very active, perhaps serving

on high-end committees.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

4. Sorry to hear this.

Its all about what Jesus said. That what is to be a Christian, PEACE AND LOVE TO ALL.

[greeneyedboy]

6. wow, imagine that--a Christian Coalition leader actually paying attention to the teachings of Jesus.

good for him. too bad he isn't taking the post.

[Minnesota_Lib]

7. Good for the Rev. Hunter. Maybe this will serve as a wakeup call to some conservative evangelicals.

I certainly hope so.

[musette_sf]

8. i think they're gettin' skeered

that the Rapture may not actually happen, and that Jesus may actually hold them accountable for the stuff in them "red words".

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. accountability would be like hell on earth for these cretinous bastards.

the idea that a leader-elect wants them to be too christian cracks me up to no end. What a thanksgiving present!

[Catshrink]

9. Rev. Hunter sounds like a New Testament Christian

and the Old Testament Christians don't want to hear from them.

[LilyLibber]

10. Helping the poor

and being responsible stewards of the "God's creation" (the environment) are NOT their issues, but trying to control people's personal life decisions IS their focus? How did a religion that's supposed to be about love and charity and peace end up so ass-backward?

Good for Reverend Hunter. :thumbsup:

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. "that's not our base." Why not,? you might ask.

Because they are smart enough to know that if they pursue a campaign to feed and clothe the hunger, it would mean they would have to accept higher taxes. It means that they would have to accept that the Republican party is a crime against Christian values.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

26. and what could be more Christian than appealing to "the base"

i suppose i shouldnt be surprised by these idiots.

[Joanne98]

14. Here it is right here... PROOF!

that the Christian Coalition is NOTHING but a BIG BUSINESS FRONT GROUP!

The Rev. Joel Hunter, of Longwood's Northland, A Church Distributed, said Wednesday that the national group would not let him expand the organization's agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage.

You can't talk about the other 99% of the Bible. You can't talk about feeding the poor, healing the sick or visiting the prisoner. You can't talk about peace either. JUST the red-meat issues. The NEW Jesus has a bomb in one hand and MONEY in the other and that's the way they want it. REAL Christians should leave.

[MidwestTransplant]

15. Why expand the agenda, those are the only 2 things Jesus cared about.

[lolly]

25. Damn Right

In fact, after all these years of listening to the Christian Right, I'm convinced the only people Jesus hated more than gays was poor people!

[Ian David]

16. The Christian Coalition is neither a Coalition nor Christian.

"Fuck the poor... gays are getting married," said Republican Jesus unto his disciples. "Upon this rock shall ye build my church. A big fucking church with giant windows, projection screens, and bright lights. Yay, it shall be a big fucking church, and in it an office from which I shall publish a great many books. And I shall sleep with my secretary, I shall fuck many whores, and I shall smoke Crystal Meth with male hookers. So that I may smite the homosexual agenda." So sayeth Republican Jesus.

[all.of.me]

19. lol !!!!

[SlavesandBulldozers]

27. hey he didn't smoke it!

he threw it away! after he got a massage from a male escort. cmon youre jumping to conclusions;)

[seafan]

32. Sadly, it's more like the Kristian Koalition these days. n/t

[tblue37]

41. "KKKhristian KKKoalition" (eom)

[Rex]

17. Poor Jesus.

All that lip service.

[upi402]

20. Homeless Christians???

:nopity: welcome to the club

[JerseygirlCT]

21. Forget following Christ, we've got too much hating to do! nt

[Jamastiene]

22. Wow, a Christian cannot run the CHRISTIAN Coalition

because he wants to tackle issues that CHRIST would have wanted instead of hating women and gay people. It's a sad sad day when that happens.

[Califooyah Operative]

28. indeed. nt

[orleans]

29. it's BEEN a sad, sad day. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

48. Jesus would not be welcome by most Christians today

particularly the wealthy ones.

[drb]

23. WTF? A real Christian? Who the hell let HIM in here?

If Jesus came back tomorrow, the "christian coalition" would kill him by New Years.

[onager]

24. Liars, racists and deadbeats

Membership: Claimed nearly 2 million members at the height of its influence, but other data suggested 300,000-400,000 members.

Finances: In 1999, the Christian Coalition was stripped of its 501(c)(3) non-profit status for violating various IRS rules that govern non-profits.

Contributions to the group have dropped from a record of $26.5 million in 1996 to their 2004 revenue, which was $1,321,774.

State chapters: As many as 30 chapters were listed on their website, though those lists have since been removed.

Another recent stumbling block for the Christian Coalition has been a series of racial discrimination lawsuits by their employees...

In March 2004 a law firm that has worked for the CC since 1989 asked a judge to garnish the assets of the group for $75,000 in unpaid legal fees.

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=4307

[Riddler]

30. So these so-called "Christians" are more concerned with abortion and gay marriage than

feeding the poor, taking care of the homeless, and you know, the things Jesus espoused. They are the biggest bunch of hypocritical assholes in the world and give real Christians a bad name.

[jefferson_dem]

33. Christian Coalition loses leader in dispute

Christian Coalition loses leader in dispute
By WILLOUGH MARIANO and WILLOUGHMARIANO
Orlando Sentinel
11/24/2006

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Florida pastor recently tapped to lead the Christian Coalition of America resigned his position in a dispute about conservative philosophy - more than a month before he was to fully assume his post, he said this week.

The Rev. Joel Hunter, of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Longwood, Fla., said he quit as president-elect of the group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson because he realized he would be unable to broaden the organization's agenda beyond opposing abortion and same-sex marriage.

He hoped to include issues such as easing poverty and saving the environment.

"These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," Hunter said.

<SNIP>

"They pretty much said, "These issues are fine, but they're not our issues; that's not our base,' " Hunter said. A statement issued by the coalition said Hunter resigned because of "differences in philosophy and vision." The organization, headed by President Roberta Combs, claims a mailing list of 2.5 million.

<SNIP>

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061124/1069655.asp

[leftofcool]

34. Too bad!

This man sound like he knew what Jesus was about. But naturally, "Jesus' issues" or the things Jesus would have cared about would not be those of Pat Robertson.

Left of Cool

[LTR]

35. Well, I guess that shows the transparency of the 'Christian' Coalition

Would rather fight abortion and homosexuality than poverty and destruction of the environment?

I applaud Joel Hunter. Sounds like he actually has his head screwed on straight.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

36. The Rev. Joel Hunter speaks to the despair of those who embrace Jesus's

teachings as opposed to how the RW fundies(incorrectly)assume he would judge others.

Jesus teaches love, tolerance and forgiveness. Not to mention caring for the least among us and turning away from the money lenders in the temple.

"To tell you the truth, I feel like there are literally millions of evangelical Christians that don't have a home right now," Hunter said.

MKJ

[valerief]

37. If he wants to help the poor, he should steer clear of uber-rich

Christian organizations. They don't get and stay rich by helping the poor. Duh!

[stepnw1f]

38. Fundis Have Been Fooled by the Devil They Preach about so Often

How ironic.

[Strathos]

39. God forbid someone actually try to BE Christian

Pun intended.

[KAT119]

40. Bravo, Reverend Joel Hunter....a truely compassionate man....

[Odin2005]

42. Good for him.

Real Christians are getting pissed at the Christofascist Pharisees.

[krkaufman]

45. Nice to know that Christianity is officially a political movement ...

... rather than a social group for those who follow and study the teachings of Jesus.

[RDSBRG]

47. Religion and politics.

Name one religion that isn't also political. Religious people pay over 80% of personal income tax. I maintain that we therefore have every right to present our views without criticism from those who simply pretend that they have no political agenda.

[FlaGranny]

50. Yes, YOU do, and

every church member does, but your church does not. Period. End of tale.

[Vinca]

49. Jesus? Jesus who?

We don't care about no stinkin' poor people. Haven't got time. We got gays to worry about. We got uteri to patrol. We got money to raise to keep the corporate . . . er, church . . . jet flyin'. Hungry people? Ain't no "hungry" people in this country anymore. Haven't you heard? Jesus who?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

51. Why don't they just get Fred Phelps to do the gig?

He'd be perfect.