No wonder there are so few evangelical PR firms
David Kuo, author and deputy director of the Bush administration's Office of Unconstitutional Pandering Masquerading As Altruistic Public Policy – er, I mean "Faith-Based Initiatives" writes in today's New York Times that evangelical Christians might finally be leaving the politics to the secular conniving professionals:
Though Kuo claims that, instead of trying to prove us cynical heathens wrong for once, evangelicals are just going to pack up their tracts and go home, I would bet on their savior returning before they'd ever get out of politics, even if they ultimately end up taking the policy-through-private-philanthropy route like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.
Politicking seems not just a compulsion but an essential act of being for evangelicals, who are what they are as opposed to merely "religious" or "spiritual" precisely because they believe their faith is not something that can or should remain personal and be discovered by or revealed to individuals, but something to which they must actively recruit converts. How else but through politics are they going to make news and target people who necessarily would not otherwise hear their message?
The problem they repeatedly encounter is that any good they attempt to do for the larger body politic always has to bear their overt signature and come with sectarian strings attached. To secular, agnostic and apparently even moderate observers, it looks like they're just furthering their own freakshow aims instead of letting even genuine good deeds ride on their own moral merits.
Take the simple matter of donating to Toys for Tots. Could faith-based groups perhaps just contribute stuffed animals or art supplies or some other, universal tidings of comfort and joy and be content with the knowledge that they're brightening strangers' seasons? Nope, they've got to bust out the creepy talking Jesus dolls, then take it to the cold-hearted, godless press when their "teaching tools" get rejected, then accepted.
Forget common notions of propriety in a diverse society – if you're on the list to receive toys from a charity, isn't your holiday season bad enough without waking to find that under your already presumably sorry sapling on Christmas morning? (But hey, at least you're not "hungry" any more, just experiencing "very low food security.")
I know, I know, you're giving the gift of god on (what at least used to be) a religious holiday and all that – but honestly, does this brand of evangelism ever work? I can't imagine someone who was previously uncommitted would just up and decide to convert to a different belief system and worldview upon hearing the right sales pitch or getting the right free gift, unless they're already favorably predisposed to the idea or have some other issues in their lives making them amenable to any ideology they happen to encounter.
Evangelicals just aren't saying anything to their target audience of non-believers – it's like speaking in a foreign language and just hoping that if you harp long, loud and obtrusively enough that they're suddenly going to understand and start speaking it back.
It's also a personal mental space issue. If we find something intriguing or resonant, we'll get closer to it on our own. It's not as if we're wanting for information or opportunity to access it. In the course of our average days there are, if you will, attractive, intriguing, characters on the ideological spectrum with whom we find discourse novel and on some level enjoyable; and then there are the much more proliferate human magpies squawking away at maximum volume next to the Jabba the Hutt dopplegangers mouth-breathing on us in a near-empty car as we're just trying to snatch a few moments of precious peace with our books on the train to work.
Which is precisely why few among us, especially materially disadvantaged children during the time of year they're most reminded of just how materially disadvantaged they are, need any more evangelizing.
Take it from one who knows – when you're poor and unwanted, the last thing you need is another empty lecture from another plastic and unappealing source. Most of the time you just want something soothing or stimulating, as the spirit moves you, that won't give you any more crap. Or, you know, take out a restraining order after it finds itself tied to your bathtub with a poison dart in its neck.
Regardless, if they can ban political robo-calls and restrict telemarketers and spammers without running afoul of the First Amendment, when are we going to get a national "do not evangelize" registry?
Beliefnet.com's post-election online survey of more than 2,000 people revealed that nearly 40 percent of evangelicals support the idea of a two-year Christian "fast" from intense political activism. Instead of directing their energies toward campaigns, evangelicals would spend their time helping the poor.Gee, that couldn't possibly be because the most visible examples of "Christian political involvement" aren't ambitious and non-denominational initiatives to combat war, poverty, social injustice, disease, genocide or any number of blemishes on humanity any serviceably ethical person could get behind. What's not to love about divisive drives to take away rights, legislate personal matters with moralizing condescension, obstruct or censor intellectual and scientific progress and dole out funds and tax breaks like communion wafers to religious groups?
Why might such an idea get traction among evangelicals? For practical reasons as well as spiritual ones. Evangelicals are beginning to see the effect of their political involvement on those with whom they hope to share Jesus' eternal message: non-evangelicals. Tellingly, Beliefnet's poll showed that nearly 60 percent of non-evangelicals have a more negative view of Jesus because of Christian political involvement; almost 40 percent believe that George W. Bush's faith has had a negative impact on his presidency.
Though Kuo claims that, instead of trying to prove us cynical heathens wrong for once, evangelicals are just going to pack up their tracts and go home, I would bet on their savior returning before they'd ever get out of politics, even if they ultimately end up taking the policy-through-private-philanthropy route like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.
Politicking seems not just a compulsion but an essential act of being for evangelicals, who are what they are as opposed to merely "religious" or "spiritual" precisely because they believe their faith is not something that can or should remain personal and be discovered by or revealed to individuals, but something to which they must actively recruit converts. How else but through politics are they going to make news and target people who necessarily would not otherwise hear their message?
The problem they repeatedly encounter is that any good they attempt to do for the larger body politic always has to bear their overt signature and come with sectarian strings attached. To secular, agnostic and apparently even moderate observers, it looks like they're just furthering their own freakshow aims instead of letting even genuine good deeds ride on their own moral merits.
Take the simple matter of donating to Toys for Tots. Could faith-based groups perhaps just contribute stuffed animals or art supplies or some other, universal tidings of comfort and joy and be content with the knowledge that they're brightening strangers' seasons? Nope, they've got to bust out the creepy talking Jesus dolls, then take it to the cold-hearted, godless press when their "teaching tools" get rejected, then accepted.
Forget common notions of propriety in a diverse society – if you're on the list to receive toys from a charity, isn't your holiday season bad enough without waking to find that under your already presumably sorry sapling on Christmas morning? (But hey, at least you're not "hungry" any more, just experiencing "very low food security.")
I know, I know, you're giving the gift of god on (what at least used to be) a religious holiday and all that – but honestly, does this brand of evangelism ever work? I can't imagine someone who was previously uncommitted would just up and decide to convert to a different belief system and worldview upon hearing the right sales pitch or getting the right free gift, unless they're already favorably predisposed to the idea or have some other issues in their lives making them amenable to any ideology they happen to encounter.
Evangelicals just aren't saying anything to their target audience of non-believers – it's like speaking in a foreign language and just hoping that if you harp long, loud and obtrusively enough that they're suddenly going to understand and start speaking it back.
It's also a personal mental space issue. If we find something intriguing or resonant, we'll get closer to it on our own. It's not as if we're wanting for information or opportunity to access it. In the course of our average days there are, if you will, attractive, intriguing, characters on the ideological spectrum with whom we find discourse novel and on some level enjoyable; and then there are the much more proliferate human magpies squawking away at maximum volume next to the Jabba the Hutt dopplegangers mouth-breathing on us in a near-empty car as we're just trying to snatch a few moments of precious peace with our books on the train to work.
Which is precisely why few among us, especially materially disadvantaged children during the time of year they're most reminded of just how materially disadvantaged they are, need any more evangelizing.
Take it from one who knows – when you're poor and unwanted, the last thing you need is another empty lecture from another plastic and unappealing source. Most of the time you just want something soothing or stimulating, as the spirit moves you, that won't give you any more crap. Or, you know, take out a restraining order after it finds itself tied to your bathtub with a poison dart in its neck.
Regardless, if they can ban political robo-calls and restrict telemarketers and spammers without running afoul of the First Amendment, when are we going to get a national "do not evangelize" registry?
posted by Holly at 7:29 PM
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