NYT: Political Split Leaves a Church Sadder and Grayer (East Waynesville)

[DeepModem Mom]

Political Split Leaves a Church Sadder and Grayer
By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: May 16, 2005


WAYNESVILLE, N.C., May 15 - From the pulpit of East Waynesville Baptist Church, the temporary pastor offered an unusual message for his adopted flock: "I don't mind telling you before I start off this morning, this is not where I want to be."

No one blames him. Over the past two weeks, the modest brick church with baskets of artificial lilies on the doors has found itself at the center of a national debate, a crash test site in the mixing of politics and religion. The Rev. Chan Chandler, the young minister who led the congregation of about 100 people for the last three years, is gone, having resigned under fire last week and taken his mostly younger followers with him. And nine longtime church members who said he had ousted them because they did not support his increasingly political sermons are back.

When Mr. Chandler, 33, resigned on May 10, some said the battle had been won. But the congregation that regrouped on Sunday was smaller and grayer, teary-eyed and leaderless.

"All the young people left, the young couples," Ernestine Parton, a white-haired woman in pastels that matched the church's colored windows, said after services on Sunday, the first without Mr. Chandler at the head of the congregation. "That's what really hurts."...

***

Even Mr. Chandler's opponents acknowledged that he brought new life and new members...."He was energizing them," said David Wijewickrama, a lawyer for the ousted members. "But he was not energizing them with religion, he was energizing them with hate."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/national/16church.html

[Catch22Dem]

1. These are not people of faith, they're slaves to hate

Fuck them all. I don't give a shit.

[MGKrebs]

2. Faith is Found, not Forced.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. Very good article. Thanks.

".. he was energizing them with hate."...

Chan Chandler wasn't the only republican that did this.

[DeepModem Mom]

13. Indeed! NT

[Warpy]

4. There is nothing in the world sadder than a young conservative

It's like they went straight from diapers to being beaten down and over 50 as they sit in cigar bars, puffing stogies bigger than they are, listening to the music their grandparents made popular, and swilling cheap scotch from an expensive bottle.

At least howling lefties over 50 get to have fun with it, even if we look a little ridiculous.

[PennyLane]

12. Well Stated.........

.......at least WE know how to have fun. Young conservatives are
void of a sense of humor. They only laugh at "liberal-bashing" fodder
from the likes of Hannity and Coulter.

Interesting side: My youngest daughter caught AC on Leno the other night. She wanted to know who or what she was. I told her she was
Satan's spawn! She said it was painfully clear, Leno felt that way too! :dem:

[glitch]

5. Shame.

Disgusting to treat elders this way.

And I bet he does very well as a bushco minion. For awhile.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

6. So the Good News is that it's a really small Congregation

And the bad news is that the young members are the Fascists. And I mean ugly, hateful fascists.

[young_at_heart]

7. The Citizen-Times had many letters about this

The overwhelming majority were outraged. Many were appalled at his false self-righteousness.

[enigmatic]

11. I'm really glad to hear this..

Because this story made me sicker than just about any story recently.

These nutcases want The Rapture right now, folks. And they'll speed it along because they think they will go to heaven, so screw everyone else if the world goes down in flames; it's not "their" problem.

Ugh.

[last_texas_dem]

8. They'll be better off with the smaller congregation

It's best to keep nuts like Chandler and his flock to hate among themselves. Christians can only fight the extremist element within their own ranks by not staying silent and not allowing this fringe element to continue building up enough power to eventually totally dominate their religion.

[Spiffarino]

9. Here is what's really sad

The worst part of the story is that these young people refuse to listen to or learn from their elders. Those they leave behind are mostly Appalachian mountain folk from the WWII/Korean War generation. They have lived through poverty, war, prejudice (think of the word "hillbilly"), McCarthyism, Watergate, etc., etc.

One of the parishioners (a Republican, IIRC) said, "He's young and he thinks he knows everything." She summed up the problem neatly.

[SoCalDem]

10. This is WHY separation of church and state WORKS..

People who have a belief in a certain religion, should have the ability and opportunity to come together over their religious beliefs, and unless they MUST associate with each other outside of church, and NEED to know political leanings, IT'S NO ONE'S BUSINESS!!
Just like sexual activities are NO ONE'S BUSINESS..

We all lead segmented lives and it's just a fact that not EVERYONE needs to know EVERTHING..


When nosy people cross the line and demand to know more than they should, it only increases the likelihood that somewhere along the line, someone's gonna get burned..

[Maat]

14. This is what is happening in quite a few churches all over the country .

.. in my humble opinion.

If that bill passes (HR 235) that authorizes pastors to politic from the pulpit, I predict that you will see church breakups like never before.

I expected that the Religious Reich would ratchet up their efforts to force their agenda down our throats. What I did not expect was the intense backlash - but I'm proud to say it is there. People are waking up, and fighting back.

[Jacobin]

15. The young couples left

Interesting how Smirky has made it cool and a hip fad to be all for yourself, screw everyone else, blow up anything that moves, cut taxes, fuck the poor and no abortions, praise the lord.

Bodes ill for the future

[wildeyed]

26. Sad thing is, it is likely that the ones who left ARE the poor.

Or at least not so financially secure. NC has been hit really hard with outsourcing.

[jazzjunkysue]

16. What? They couldn't find a human in a coma to parade in front ot the

church? Are these people even trying?

[BadGimp]

17. Religion as a political weapon..

This line would make Gebus pround: "he was energizing them with hate.".

[hector459]

18. Better to have a church with 30 real Christians than 100 fake Christians

Beleive me, if they are people of real faith, they will survive and be much better off.

[Polemicist]

19. That minister was "sin-shopping"...

and one member of the congregation called him on it, saying, "I can't say which sins are most important" to paraphrase his words.

These right wing religious extremist ministers chose "sins" in which to base their political beliefs upon. Not all sins, only particular sins, abortion and homosexuality.

What I can't understand, and have never had anyone answer for me to my satisfaction, is why does the religious right fixates on two "sins", which to my knowledge, Christ never uttered a word about?

And then the sins that Christ did speak out against, such as greed, are not even on their radar screen for oppositional action.

They are "sin-shopping",choosing sins that most likely don't apply to their own congregation, so they can attack others, outsiders, and not offend those sitting in the pews. It helps them build a following, by giving them a target to hate, as the attorney points out. And it avoids the real heavy lifting of Christ's message, to feed to poor, heal the sick, and preach God's word to all the nations.

In my opinion, these people are harming Christianity by perverting the message of Christ.

[Spiffarino]

20. "Sin shopping..."

They are "sin-shopping",choosing sins that most likely don't apply to their own congregation, so they can attack others, outsiders, and not offend those sitting in the pews. It helps them build a following, by giving them a target to hate...

In my opinion, these people are harming Christianity by perverting the message of Christ.

Your preachin' is a-reachin'. :D:thumbsup:

[BrotherBuzz]

23. That be the million dollar question...

What I can't understand, and have never had anyone answer for me to my satisfaction, is why does the religious right fixates on two "sins", which to my knowledge, Christ never uttered a word about?

I like your tag "Sin Shopping"...not unlike cherry picking...

Welcome to DU!

[tedoll78]

21. What I'd like to know is..

what the hell are these young people doing here in the United States? Haven't they already enlisted? They should be off in arab-land killin' brownskinned people, shouldn't they?

:sarcasm:

[Greylyn58]

22. The saddest part of this story

is the fact that this very obviouly not Christian man polluted the minds of the young people and couples in this church. It just boggles the mind that they find this man's hate-filled diatribes to be worthy of any loyalty whatsoever.

I can't stand it!!!!

[young_at_heart]

27. I live near this place, but Asheville is MILES apart in "spirituality"

This "minister" has probably been raised on Rush Limbaugh and I know from reading the LTE in our newspaper that they feel extremely self-righteous about their "mission"....ultra-Christian, that is. From what I've observed in this part of the country, for those who feel like he does, there is only "black and white"......no gray area.

[Az_lefty]

24. Sorry to see this small congregation had go through this...

but I'm really proud of the way this older generation stood up to that demon possessed Chandler. His ilk are not Christian at all, their "Fristian" and in it only for their own glory. I'm sure he'll find a place in the bush squad, but Heaven's out for this joker.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

25. So now Chandler starts the

Church of the Post WWII Brownshirts.

I'll pray for their damned souls.