Tag Archives: Evangelicalism

Father-son Rivalry & the Chas/Andy Stanley Conflict

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Cnn.com had a compelling story yesterday regarding televangelist Charles Stanley and his televangelist son Andy.

The story grabbed me first because it so vividly illustrates the complexity of family dynamics, even in an evangelical faith which has historically not addressed the issue. Andy clearly had…and has…father-son issues and needed to draw boundaries with his prominent and powerful father. He needed to “differentiate”, to use a clinical term. He had to “cut the cord” from his family of origin and as a reward appears that he is being blessed in a ministry that his now his own.

I was also impressed with the humility of both men and the respect that both men maintained for each other even in extremely painful times. Usually in these “father-son” conflicts, one or both parties will dig their hills in and not budge.

Finally, I admire the faith of both of these men. Charles has suffered greatly, not just with this conflict with Andy but in the break-up of his marriage. In evangelical culture, persons and families are supposed to be squeaky clean and the Stanleys were not and are not. That is because they are human.

And, as shared in the past, I am an “ex” evangelical. But I appreciate seeing how two men could suffer like they have and maintain their faith. Sure, their faith is defensive, compensatory, and ever has its “denial system” features. So what? So does mine. So does yours. We are human and we “hold this treasure in earthen vessels.”

I encourage you to “cut and paste” the following link into your address bar and read this very moving report of an eternally recurrent tale of “father-son” power struggles.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/17/us/andy-stanley/

 

Paean to Modern Evangelical Faith

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I am an ex-evangelical but one who avoided “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” I am very comfortable with my non-evangelical faith and could never go back. BUT, my heart still lies with evangelical emphases, most specifically an appreciation for the Bible. And I take great heart to have discovered in the past year or so a lot of evangelicals on the blog-o-sphere who have found that they can make adjustments to the modern world and not jeopardize the basics of their faith. God does not need any of his followers to bury their head in the sand, refuse to approach the scripture and faith with intelligence and critical thought, and rely with hackneyed bromides like, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.”

Here I share from one of these bloggers who this morning was high-lighted by Cnn.com, and you might have to “cut and paste” into your browser:

My Take: The danger of calling behavior ‘biblical’

Book review: Carolyn Briggs

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I just finished reading Carolyn Brigg’s book, “This Dark World: A Memoir of Salvation Found and Lost”. This is the story of a young woman’s conversion to fundamentalist Christian extremism and how that she eventually became disenchanted and left that faith for what some would call “secular humanism.” This is one of a growing genre of books by people who have left fundamentalism and adopted a more open-minded faith or have eschewed faith altogether.

What I admire most about this book is its description of how social pressures and manipulation are used to “convert” people, especially young people, into the fundamentalist fold and how those same pressures are used to keep them there. Religion of this genre is not about the Spirit of God leading but about “group think” and the powerful human need to belong. And it is important to “belong” to various social groups…and certainly to the human race!…but this social belonging must not be confused with mature spirituality.

I have noticed that many readers of this blog are evangelical Christians. When I made this discovery I was really surprised for I assumed that the beliefs I’m promulgating would be anathema to them. I’m pleased to learn that this is not the case. My heart still lies with evangelical Christianity though I can never go back. I don’t need to and don’t want to. But I’m pleased to see how that an open-mindedness and humility is springing up in the evangelical faith here and there. So, my dear evangelical brethren and sisters, I strongly recommend that you read this Carolyn Briggs book. It does not have to shake your faith but it will bring your attention to the social pressures and manipulation that are often the bedrock in your churches. It is possible to see through those “social pressures and manipulation” and still maintain the rudiments of your faith.

And I might add, “social pressures and manipulation” is not the exclusive domain of evangelicals! It is present in any grouping, “spiritual” or otherwise. In fact, Ms. Briggs wrote a very insightful article several months ago about the same sort of pressures being very apparent at a gathering of atheists. See the link provided below:

(http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/5283/waiting_for_lightning_to_strike%3A_a_wobbly_agnostic_among_the_atheists)

Anti-intellectualism and anti-science: Keep ’em on the reservation.

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Karl Gilberson has another post in the Huffington Post in which he, an evangelical himself, addresses the issue of anti-intellectual, anti-science stances taken by the evangelical movement. He attributes this issue to driving away the youth from evangelical churches and cites statistics to prove his point. And his position brings to my mind the work of Richard Hofstadtner on anti-intellectualism in American history (Anti-intellectualism in American Life), a tendency which Hofstadtner links with religious and political conservatism.

Some Christians feel that God wants them to turn their brains off and not think critically. Their stance reveals a perception of God who wants to be merely adored and worshipped, who will, after “the end of the world “comes will get his jollies from having all his believers fawn over him for eternity. And “eternity” in this mind set is a quantitative term, not qualitative. In other words, it will go on and on and on forever! AND, of course, meanwhile those “non-believers” will be roasting in hell for the same “eternity.” Why is it so important for Christians to have and to maintain this perspective? (There are some revisionist interpretations of hell in evangelical circles and they are not appreciated. That is putting it mildly.)

A key issue here is the very nature of identity. People who subscribe to this world view reflect a very rigid view of themselves; for, as we see God so do we see ourselves and the rest of the world. This is just another variation of my oft-used bromide, “What we see is what we are.” This static view of the world was reality at one point in the past and still is in many cultures. And that “static world” created static identities. But reality has evolved so far beyond that limited grasp of the world.

Identity…and the rest of the world we perceive…is ephemeral. When this understanding comes to an individual whose grasp of the world is otherwise, it is admittedly disturbing and potentially catastrophic. That is why conservative believers cling so desperately to their static world-view, their static identity, and amuse themselves with mindless repetition of dogma. I must insist, however, they could “let go” of their dogma and discover that their “dogma” would still be valid, though in a radically different way. The “letter of the law” would then give way to “the spirit of the law”. When identity has been transformed, worship of “god” becomes worship of “God.”

But I must offer a caveat to any True Believer (see Eric Hoffer) who might have stumbled upon my musings— “You had better keep your kids on the reservation! Yes, home-school ‘em and try to keep them out of college. And if you let them go to college, make sure it is some diploma-mill where their belief system will not be challenged.”