[Vision2020] Andrew Sullivan: There's so much bad religion right now

[Art Deco]

    April 7, 2012 12:05 PM
Andrew Sullivan: There's so much bad religion right now

(CBS News) Newsweek columnist and longtime Catholic Andrew Sullivan has
provoked controversy with his latest article which states that Christianity
has been "destroyed by politics, priests and get-rich evangelists."

Christianity in
Crisis<http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/04/01/andrew-sullivan-christianity-in-crisis.html>(Newsweek/The
Daily Beast)

Appearing on "CBS This Morning: Saturday," Sullivan said the crisis facing
Christianity was especially bad today for one reason: "When I go and see
young people, their image of Christianity these days is one of judgment,
intolerance and to some extent bigotry and politics," Sullivan said. "They
associate it with one political party in this country, because of the
fusion of evangelical and ultra-orthodox Catholics with the Republican
Party. They don't see it as the message of Jesus, they don't see it any
more as a message of love and forgiveness. They see it as a bunch of people
trying to control their lives through political mechanisms.

"Or, if they're in an evangelical church they're also susceptible to things
like the 'prosperity gospel,' which is saying that Jesus told you to get
rich.

"There's so much bad religion right now in this country that I felt it was
important as a Christian to say, 'This is not what I believe. This is not
what many of my fellow Catholics believe. We want to return to the message
of Jesus and the gospels, not these obsessive battles over contraception or
gay marriage or these other, I think, political issues, where Jesus really,
really avoided politics at all costs," Sullivan said.

When asked to comment on Sullivan's premise, CBS News faith and religion
contributor Father Edward Beck said he was less pessimistic. "I think if
you look at our country, we remain a country of believers and a country who
has faith that religion has meaning and can do a lot of good."

However, Father Beck said that during the current political season religion
has been used as a wedge: "We've had the religion of political candidates
denigrated; we've had our president's religion questioned. And so people
have been using religion in divisive ways," he said.

A recent Pew Research Center poll showed a stunning increase in the
percentage of people - across party lines - who believe there is too much
expression of faith and prayer by political leaders. In 2001 15 percent of
Democrats, 14 percent of Republicans and 8 percent of Independents answered
Yes. In 2012, 46 percent of Democrats, 42 percent of Republicans and 24
percent of Independents answered Yes.

Sullivan said he was not pessimistic about faith, but about the Church: "I
think there are a lot of conversations going around outside the hierarchy
of these churches about how to reclaim Jesus from the distortion of
politics and the way Jesus has become part of partisan politics in this
country," he said.

Sullivan added, "The current obsession with contraception by the bishops in
this country does not resonate with people trying to find Jesus in their
lives. It feels like the church is trying to make a power play instead of
being [a force for the powerless.]" He also blamed the abuse scandals as
creating a rift between the hierarchy of the Catholic church and its
followers.




-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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