I THINK WE’VE BEEN INSULTED
Evidently the intersection of the sets “progressives” and “homeschoolers” is assumed to be the null set:
Now there is a fertile new middle ground to be plowed in churches such as Saddleback, whose leaders like Warren eschew divisive partisan talk and political wedge issues. Instead, they “emphasize much less the notion of a vengeful, judgmental God,” said Mathew Schmalz, professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.
The approach has proved successful in appealing to millions who want religious experiences that “emphasize the Bible and teachings of Jesus as a blueprint for living, a guide for living a full and healthy life,” he said. That has forged a new evangelical profile which “is becoming more diverse … interested in more socially progressive issues” such as poverty, illiteracy, the AIDS epidemic in Africa and the violence in Darfur.
Churches such as Saddleback now offer Christian families “a sense of community and Bible-based truth, but they apply it more flexibly,” Schmalz said. “They are people who are more upwardly mobile, urban professional types who don’t necessarily live within a traditional evangelical homeschooling world.”
It never ceases to amaze me how ingrained is that homeschooling=wingnut meme. HSLDA has done its work well.
3 Responses to “I THINK WE’VE BEEN INSULTED”
Comment by Anonymous November 30th, 2007 at 12:31 pm |
Since when has fighting illiteracy, poverty or disease been labelled as “socially progressive, anyway”? Is that not as traditional as mom’s apple pie? Here is my favorite line: “a sense of community and Bible-based truth, but they apply it more flexibly,” … more flexibly??? I’d love to hear what they mean by that. As for homeschooling, progressive HSers have been much too easily cast as black sheep…. something that seems to be slow in changing. |
Comment by Darren November 30th, 2007 at 12:50 pm |
Thanks for the compliment 😉 I agree with Anonymous’ comments. As a homeschool graduate, I was working on fighting violence in southern Sudan in the mid-90s under a guy who homeschooled his kids and whose political views make me look postitively left-wing. We didn’t see it as some betrayal of our conservative or Christian views; in fact, it was a logical outgrowth of them. |
Comment by Daryl Cobranchi November 30th, 2007 at 12:59 pm |
The ’90s was a century ago. This was written yesterday.
Compassion and conservatism seem to be mortal enemies at this point. |