The Wake Up Call of Words
This is an
article circulating through the emails on the internet. We feel the sentiments expressed here are of
real concern. Religious fanaticism can
come in many forms and is dangerous in any form. We feel that those who condemn others in the Name of God are in
denial of their own shortcomings, arrogant beyond belief, and only promote the
concepts of intolerance and hatred --- which are the antithesis of Love and the
Divine! To imply that God used such an event as took place on Tuesday
as some kind of retribution for any human failing is not only absurd, but it is
blasphemous and an insult to God Him/Herself.
Such ideals are the food for the evil that took place in the terrorist
attack! To use such an event to foster
one’s theological concepts is selfishness in one of its lowest forms.
Printed with
permission by Todd Tuttle
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The Wake Up Call of Words
By:
Todd Tuttle
From: HeartStrong
Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 04:37:47 AM
To: windowbooks@windowbooks.com
Subject: The Wake Up Call of Words
The Wake Up Call of
Words
by Todd Tuttle
I was trained by men who
believe that God’s holy wrath will shower down from heaven upon any nation who
doesn’t repent of sin. Men, who believe that God will pour out judgment on
those who do not believe like they do. Individuals who do not profess the same beliefs
as the religious men who trained me are labeled heathen, wicked, and sinners.
These men taught me passages like, "The righteous shall rejoice when he
seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked"
and "The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will
he destroy." The men who taught me these things are not Osama bin Laden or
rulers of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan . They are men like Jerry Falwell,
and Focus on the Family’s James Dobson. And the verses I quoted above are not
from the Koran, but from the book of Psalms, chapters 58:10 and 145:20.
When I heard that Jerry
Falwell had made some horrible statements regarding the terrorist attacks on
the 700 club television show, I was not surprised. Jerry Falwell is my former
pastor and the chancellor of my former college, Liberty University. What is
surprising to me is the response that these comments have received. I am not
surprised that these comments are causing quite a bit of controversy and
rightfully so. I am surprised that it has taken a national tragedy for people
to really listen to the words of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. These men
have been saying these kinds of things for many years.
Like those who tried to
warn our government that terrorist attacks might occur in this country before
last Tuesday, I have committed my life to trying to educate people on the
segregating belief system that is Fundamentalist Christianity. I am a former
fundamentalist Baptist minister, and after leaving that belief system behind, I
am now an out gay man. As such, I made the list of persons who Falwell believes
has awakened God’s wrath.
"I really believe that
the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians
who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People
for the American Way — all of them who have tried to secularize American — I
point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen,’" Falwell said on the 700 Club.
Jerry Falwell released a
statement today regarding the comments he made on that broadcast.
"My statements on the
"700 Club" on Thursday, September 14th, were called divisive by some
whom I mentioned by name. I had no intention of being divisive. I was sharing
my burden for revival in America on a Christian TV program, intending to speak
to a Christian audience from a theological perspective about the need for
national repentance. In retrospect, I should have mentioned the national sins
without mentioning the organizations and persons by name."
It seems that Mr. Falwell
thinks that he should have hidden his true feelings and not mentioned the
people he was trying to implicate "by name." But I am very glad Mr.
Falwell let the nation see and hear exactly what he believes. And it is not just
Jerry Falwell. On a September 13th radio broadcast, Focus on the Family’s
founder, Dr. James Dobson, concurred with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.
"Yes I believe that
the attacks are God's punishment because we are in a moral decay in this
country, with abortion, forcing children to be taught about homosexuality,
removing God from the schools, sexual immorality on television, and in our
government. And this is God's way of punishing the wicked".
These words need to be the
same kind of wake up call that the terrorist bombings in New York have been. We
all must remember that these men have huge followings that believe what these
religious leaders say. I heard Vice President Cheney tell the American public
on "Meet the Press" this Sunday, that the Taliban leaders are not
"religious" leaders. My question is , "by whose
definition?" Not understanding or agreeing with an extreme religious
position, does not negate the fact that many people would give their lives for
their extreme religious convictions. I would have given my life for
Fundamentalism thirteen years ago.
And to say that Jerry
Falwell’s and James Dobson’s words are not "Christian," I would again
ask, "by whose definition?" We must begin to understand that there
are two competing world views at war here. Simply labeling a philosophy as not
"Christian" or leaders as not "religious" serves absolutely
no purpose in understanding and combating spiritual terrorism. After all, when
these leaders claim to speak for "God" and proclaim judgment and
retribution upon those who differ theologically, then we are dealing with
spiritual terrorism.
Dealing with spiritual
terrorism in our country is a very important matter. There are reports of
religious schools in Afghanistan turning out zealous young men trained in Jihad.
There are many churches and religious schools in our own country that train
young people to fight with their very lives a "spiritual" war with
darkness. Darkness was personified this week by religious leaders Jerry
Falwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson. They made it clear that those who
differ theologically with them are their enemy as well as an enemy of their
God. But, we must also remember that there are many religious leaders in our
country that believe and teach the exact same things. We must as a nation,
denounce this segregating philosophy, just as we denounce radical religious
Fundamentalism that we find in other parts of the world. And we must recognize
that this philosophy is not only an enemy of a pluralistic nation, but of
individuality and the basic tenants of freedom itself.
Todd Tuttle can be
reached at ToddTuttle@aol.com. Tuttle is the author of "Fundamentally
Speaking: Fundamentalist Christianity’s Segregation of America," and a new
children’s book, "Spot," published by www.windowbooks.com.