Reply #297: You're still misinterpreting [View All]

[benevolent dictator]

1. Who came up with the concept of the Moral Majority?

That's asking who came up with the idea of forming it, not asking who the front man is or who the majority of the members are.

2. Who selected Jerry Falwell to lead it?

Key word there is selected. lwfern in no way implied that Falwell was not a Catholic, just that Falwell was selected by the Moral Majority's creators to be the front man. The marketer for their product, if you will.

Here's a hint - it ain't the protestants."

That states that the answers to questions 1 and 2 are not "Protestant." That means that, #1, the creators of the original concept were Catholic and, #2, that the people who masterminded the Moral Majority chose Falwell to be the spokesman for it - because he didn't create it.

Not that Catholics were part of the movement, but that protestants had nothing to do with it.

That was in no way implied by that first post. You're simply misreading it. The poster was saying that Catholics started it not that Protestants were in no way involved.

How often do you think the Pope chooses a Southern Baptist to do his bidding?

Where are you seeing that? lwfern's post #277 clearly states: "From the 1975 annual meeting of the American Catholic Bishops, in their Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities:"

What I find most interesting is that a number on DU have rewritten history to implicate a religious and ethnic minority rather than the majority who make up the movement's leadership and members.

Straight girls run my GSA club, straight girls advertise my GSA club, but a gay guy still started it. The majority of the membership doesn't necessarily reflect the people who started the movement. Especially if the creators were deliberately recruiting members outside of their own organization to make it look as though they only had minimal involvement.

Even if you're right that the poster was making a very narrow point, why even make it if the point isn't to place blame on Catholics and absolve Protestants. That clearly is his/her intent, as subsequent posts further demonstrate.

It probably wasn't to "place blame on the Catholics" as much as it was to clear up a historical misunderstanding and let people know that they were involved. Pointing out a group's involvement or creation of an organization is a far cry from excusing another group. The subsequent posts seem to be aimed at defending against your misreading.

When I point out that Tesla actually invented the AC motor, I'm not trying to say that Westinghouse doesn't deserve credit for marketing it and making it a success, I'm just saying he shouldn't get credit for inventing the product he's marketing.

All of this ignores the fact Catholics are the Christian denomination that most heavily vote Democratic.

Yes, it is ignoring it, because it's irrelevant to the point. Just because MOST vote Democratic in no way means that SOME didn't try to form an organization to lead them to the right. Most LGBT people vote Democratic, but that doesn't mean there aren't groups who vote and fight for Republicans.

Yet some on this board have said the the Christian Right is not led or peopled by Protestants.

The post in question in no way stated that, even if other posters did. The original post said that Catholics started it and in no way said that there weren't any Protestant members or involvement.

And I suppose it depends on your definition of "led by." I suppose you could say that it's "led" by Jerry Falwell because he's the face they put on it, but wouldn't it be better to look at who put him in power? To look at the people who asked him to lead?

This kind of bigotry just might succeed in driving away Catholic voters and splitting the Democratic party base. I cannot help but wonder if that may not be their intent.

It's not bigoted to say that the people who started Moral Majority did start the group. You're reading way too much into the posts. No where in any of lwfern's posts have I seen him/her say that there was no Protestant involvement, or that there were no (or only a few) Protestant members. What I have seen him/her say is that contrary to popular belief, the Catholics masterminded the Moral Majority and selected Jerry Falwell to lead it. That's far from being bigoted and trying to "split the Democratic party."