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“Socialist” Methodist Church Targeted by Tea Baggers

Posted by Adam Butler on December 21, 2010

I am going to guess this ends very badly for the Tea Baggers –as in what little shred of credibility they had left will soon be gone, if it isn’t, already.

On his blog, Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips, has fired off a number of salvos aimed at the Methodist Church, the most incendiary being that, “”In short, if you hate America, you have a great future in the Methodist church.”

4 Responses to ““Socialist” Methodist Church Targeted by Tea Baggers”

  1. Brett Kincaid said

    I have been trying to figure out how to respond to this all day. I read this a little before 6:00 this morning, and it has been top of mind ever since. Rarely am I surprised in politics anymore, but today I am floored.

    On the one hand, I could not be more proud. I was baptized in the Methodist church in 1976. I grew up in the church. In 1986 I was confirmed, and I have been alternately inactive and hyperactive in the goings on at church ever since. Today is probably my proudest day as a member. The church’s motto is “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors” which is the biggest reason I have remained a member of the church.

    On the other hand, though, this is an unbelievably sad day. Mr. Phillips has decided his personal political agenda is more important than individual faith. At no point in the Bible is the United States of America or the U.S. Constitution ever mentioned. I know this because my Constitution protects my ability to read that Bible. Mr. Phillips would like to see that Constitution used to destroy something I love very much.

    In the end, this is the type of thing that could undermine the Tea Party movement as a whole. Power corrupts (in all things), and the power has clearly gone to Mr. Phillips’ head. Faith leaders crossing all boundaries should speak out against this type of vile rhetoric. Or….maybe we should all ignore it. If there is no audience, words like these will have no impact. That seems impractical, though. There is an audience, and we must not allow ridiculous statements like these to go unnoticed.

  2. Papa J said

    As a former Methodist (who married a Baptist, and thus, became a Baptist), it saddens me when we put politics in front of religion.

    I may not agree with the basic tenets of a certain Christian religious denomination, or with their political stances, but the most important thing to remember is that we are all children of God, working for the same goals. To vocally wish for the the demise of a denomination because of a political disagreement misses the whole point of the underlying call by Christ for the unity of His body, the Church.

    I agree that this guy has serious issues. This just speaks to the flawed nature of any political organization/movement; just because this guy “founded” the Tea Party (though I use that term loosely), he does not speak for all who identify themselves with the limited government movement that has seen its popularity increase in the past few years.

    Do I like the DREAM Act? No. Do I like all of the stances of a more progressive denomination like the Methodist Church? No.

    But, my allegiance to a Methodist as a brother in Christ is much more powerful than my allegiance to someone else who shares my political party, belief system, sports team, or nationality, or ethnic group.

    Colossians 3:2 says: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Earthly political parties will pass away, leaders will die, nations will rise and fall, but the kingdom of Christ will outlast them all.

    Merry Christmas!

  3. As an ordained elder in the UMC, these kinds of situations frustrate me. Part of what leads to such silliness is our soundbyte culture, which seriously undermines any ability to do careful debate and reasoning over contested issues. For instance, what that Tea Party guy is actually referring to is the General Board of Church & Society (GBCS), which is one of the general agencies of the UMC and is, in fact, often a controversial force within the church as a whole. Its positions are intended to be reflective of a certain part of Methodist social doctrine, which exists within our canon law at a level less fundamental than, say, our doctrines regarding the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the sacraments, etc. Because the GBCS is located in a building on Capitol Hill and self-consciously engages in political advocacy, it is often the part of the UMC that gets national media attention. But its budget is small, its staff modest, and much of its work low-key.

    I will admit that there is legitimate debate over the work of the GBCS, if only because direct political advocacy (which is often a form of church lobbying) is going to be polarizing no matter what. Some people within the church really like what they do, while others disagree with them strongly. But the problem with the guy in the linked article is that he immediately moves to the kind of language that makes careful reasoning impossible. If you find what I’ve written in these two paragraphs to be boring, that’s fine. But the parsing of different issues, related to different organizational subunits, within a complex institution like the United Methodist Church (which is almost 250 years old and has 11 million members worldwide) is needed lest we allow our public discourse to devolve into inane statements about Karl Marx and Socialism. Such things are unhelpful and, in the original sense of the term, simply vulgar.

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