By: The David
Early every year there is an event that takes place in the Capitol City that for all practical purposes spits on the Constitution of the United States. The event is the National Prayer Breakfast, formerly known as the Presidents’ Prayer Breakfast. It is sponsored by something called the “Fellowship Foundation.” This year it took place in early February. As in every year since Eisenhower was persuaded to attend, the President took part in it. This group bumps against the separation of church and state, and does so without apology.
What exactly is the Fellowship Foundation? Quite simply, it is a group that is a part of “The Family.” Like its parent organization, it spouts a conservative theological philosophy of the Evangelical variety. It disseminates a philosophy that is anti-woman and anti-gay. The intent is to make their brand of Christianity the basis for the laws of this land. They are involved in many areas including the rewriting of American History so that it will appear that they are no more than the philosophical heirs of the Founding Fathers. They will make all of the Founders into Fundamentalist Christians, instead of accepting the fact that many of them were Deists, to say nothing of the number of Atheists amongst them. None of this will be surprising to some. But there is one more thing, and that is probably one of the more grievous and odious projects taken on by this group.
The Family and therefore the Fellowship Foundation is an unapologetic exporter of a murderous hate, and an entertainer of one of the leading implementers of that philosophy. This group, and the ardent politicians who are behind its power and who support its aims have been responsible for assisting in the formulation and implementation of the legislation that would imprison or execute homosexuals in Uganda, and also imprison any persons who were aware of but did not report homosexuals to the police.
The law has been slow to make it through Committee and reach a vote. That does not stop the politician who was the fertile field upon which the Family’s seed of hate were sown. His name is David Bahati, and he has made it his mission to incite his countrymen to a homophobic fever pitch. Subsequent to “gay outings” by the Newspapers, there have been episodes of terrorizing and murder.
Bahati has been invited to the National Prayer Breakfast, and is regularly courted and entertained by members of the Family and Fellowship. You see, he is a Christian and he believes he is doing the Lord’s work. But then, that is the belief of those who run the Foundation, and those who by their presence at this function, are giving a form of tacit approval to their activities.
If the Breakfast took place in February, and even then there was not a great deal of noise made about it, what good can we do at this date? My hope is that a concerted effort can be made by you, me and anyone we can speak to that will influence the President and main stream Politicians to avoid attending this function, and by their attendance adding legitimacy to the aims of this hate-filled group.
Influence the President? You bet. If enough of us email, write and/or telephone the white house, we can have influence. The same can be said for contacting the Senators and Representatives. It may be the only means we have for helping our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in Uganda. If we start now, and keep at it until the 2012 breakfast, it is possible for us to sway the attendance. If the those who do attend are not those with the highest prestige, the influence of the Family, and by extension of the Fellowship will be reduced proportionately, as will their ability to attract donors.
Thank you for anything you can do.
I read a book about “the family” and their “brotherhood” awhile back, you sent it to me BTW .. but I already knew that the christianity practiced in America is different in so many ways for anything gleaned or learned in the bible .. it is as “fundamentalist” and radical and polarizing and demoralizing as any radical faith in the world .. there is a small company in Texas that produces most of the history books for the nations schools that has been re-writing our “history” for 40 years … deleting and altering facts to suit a Christian heritage that never was a part of what the Constitution ever intended this nation to be .. I do not know the God these people talk about or quote or fantasize about .. what I do know is that we need secular government that holds and recognizes no religion, I expect the representatives to have faith and convictions, but they must be applied across the board .. without prejudice, and that just ain’t happening .. the bastardization of Christian dogma has fucked up this country since we began gathering here 250 years ago, supposedly to be able to have self government and religious freedoms .. of course the first thing we did, to honor our God was to practice genocide against the natives here in North America .. after all, men of faith know best .. and we followed that up by raping Africa an central America, for slaves, in our classless society .. we don’t need a “breakfast” to honor America, we need men and woman of principle to govern and protect society with majority rule, and minority inclusion and compassion … when you rule by fear, you rule knowing that your judgements will be the standard “others” will judge you by .. if I were “advising” President Obama, I would tell him to be out of the county or sick that day next year, and please God, do not let anyone send Joe Biden to represent him .. how can anyone eat breakfast with Clarence Thomas anyway .. just thinking about Thomas and his best friend, Rush Limp-balls woofing down free scrambled eggs and sausages .. is enough to make me upchuck …
A truly religious man/woman, lives their faith,( does not wear their faith on their sleeves or seek to convert or influence anyone else, except through example);……….. they live their faith not through words … but deeds .. using that as the ideal, since Mother Teresa died, there just don’t seem to be any truly religious people on this earth .. we have collectively talked the life out of God and Jesus and the Virgin Mary and Mohammad and Buddha and …….. blogs and internet sites with “would be” saviors .. telling us everyday how to live, what to think … who is evil and who should be sent a few bucks to save mankind … the last thing we need is legislators getting a free day off with breakfast when they should be solving those problems we face. problems that are societal and not religious .. unemployment, the unequal distribution of wealth, justice, disease, poverty, national defense, environmental concerns, public health, roads and bridges and infrastructure .. energy policies .. all issues that should have nothing to do with anyone’s religious convictions ……. good writing David and as always, a worthwhile and timely subject that is important for all of us .. thanks.
You know, I’m from a non Christian background,but I was educated by Irish Catholics. I’ve always been amazed by the extreme dichotomy between Christ and Christianity. What happened to “love thy neighbour as thyself”?
“What happened to ‘love thy neighbour as thyself’?”
Bill, that version of the Jesus-myth has been neatly replaced.
I’m going to posit that Western Christianity is poised to metamorphose, as it’s done several times before – this time, the ‘Jesus’ which is worshiped in the Western world (and especially America) is a ‘weaponized Jesus’ – gone is the man who said ‘love thy neighbor’, and ‘turn the other cheek’ – instead, the Big Guy is now a sociopath-with-a-flamethrower; he hates trade unions, Social Security and Medicare, any other religious belief (especially Islam), all forms of immigration, and the ‘left’.
He’s the mascot of the ultraRight – in America, this is the Republican Party, which is made up of Fundies, Teabaggers and Hoveround-riding mouth-breathers from Red-states and rural locales. (Because of this, he also loves country and western music, and guns. Plenty; plenty guns….)
Be afraid. I am.
-W
It’s a bit ironic that according to the reporters of that Biblical era, the mystical man was not recognized as the Messiah by the Jewish hierarchy because he did not raise up a weapon wielding army to fight the Roman government. He left specifics on what you should render and to whom. It’s not the first time this little-known fact has been ignored. It’s just a pity that this “love thy neighbor” philosophy has stepped five hundred years into the past at a time when instant communications has created a need for deeper understanding and acceptance.
It’s even more pitiful that this backward entity of hate mongering has given a bad reputation to all of Christian faith; whether their doctrine is fundamentalist, traditional or ecumenical. I spent enough time in Central America to know what people of faith are really capable of doing; the extent of their bravery, self-sacrifice and commitment to peaceful resolution. Their unselfish acts were enough to replenish my faith in the human spirit. The ugliness of the American prejudice and blind adherence to medieval doctrine has bled it back out.