Christian Evangelical: I'm Deeply Ashamed of the Right-Wing Demagogues Who Call Themselves Christians | Alternet

I am an evangelical Christian, which means that I openly share the “good news” of the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and I have personally accepted that saving grace for my sins.

As a trained Southern Baptist minister and a political scientist, I am bothered by many politicians and preachers who proclaim what God intends for me, or us, to do. Our world is populated by countless religions, denominations and self-proclaimed religious leaders that are always telling us what to do, and they make their pronouncements in the name of God.

There are many conflicting messages I hear from the mouths of some demagogues in the United States at the present time. In 1967, I wrote my Master’s thesis at the University of Texas in EI Paso. It was a 272-page study titled, “Slavery As A Political Instrument In The Name Of Christian Principle: The Growth Of A Political Theory Through Congressional Debate, 1789-1861.” My research and writing involved a detailed study of how the Bible was used during congressional debates by U.S. legislators from the American South.

Most of those were known as evangelicals, and most of them owned and used black slaves as their labor source. At the height of American slavery, another element was obvious in the United States, and many evangelicals subscribed to it. The element became known as Manifest Destiny.

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Years have passed, but I remain very skeptical of religious demagogues in our time who use a mixture of religious and political rhetoric to justify their claims for financial or political advancement. When a politician or a preacher shouts that America is an “exceptional land blessed by God,” or shouts that we are a “light on a hill” or, “we are the greatest nation ever created under the hand of God,” I listen with a degree of skepticism.

Christian Evangelical: I'm Deeply Ashamed of the Right-Wing Demagogues Who Call Themselves Christians | Alternet