-By Don Boys, Ph.D.
Frank Schaeffer often speaks of Christians who teach the rapture of the saints as an end time “cult.” He declared that that “cult” and the “Fox News fantasy take on Obama and the fact he is black” was simply too much heat applied to the weak minds of the Michigan militia and the pot boiled over. There again, is Frank reading minds and throwing out verbal hand grenades, slandering good Americans. No person of character would agree that the main opposition to Obama has anything to do with his race, after all, he is not black, he is multiracial.
Calling the Left Behind phenomena “American background noise,” Schaeffer wrote, “Less innocuous symptoms include people stocking up on assault rifles and ammunition, adopting ‘Christ-centered’ home school curricula, fearing higher education, embracing rumor as fact, and learning to love hatred for the ‘other,’ as exemplified by a revived anti-immigrant racism, the murder of doctors who do abortions, and even a killing in the Holocaust Museum. And now we have a cult/militia [in Michigan] dedicated to the same idea.” From that confused, contorted, and contrived statement, it is obvious that Frank is not a clear thinker. Notice again how he mixes the good guys and bad guys in order to take an unfair, untrue, and unreasonable swipe at the good guys. None of the abortion killers have turned out to be fundamental/evangelical, Bible practicing Christians. Furthermore, no informed, thinking person says that concern about our borders is racism. Frank has swallowed the loony left’s Kool-Aid.
Frank then recommends “A time-out for disclosure is in order” where he writes of his past alliances with Jenkins and LaHaye; however, the “time-out” would be better used if Frank would take a deep breath, count to ten, then repent of his apostasy and trashing of his parents then ride into the sunset and spend the rest of his life doing something worthy like painting sunsets. He has admitted that he should not have been his famous father’s sidekick in the evangelical/fundamental culture war but should have gone into painting. I would also prefer him as a painter than a preacher or pundit. Painters can’t do as much harm.
He suggests that the rapture “cult” as promoted by LaHaye, Van Impe, and others is based upon a literal reading of the book of Revelation that Frank calls “a bizarre pastoral letter” that may or may not have been written by the Apostle John who “appears to have been far from well when he wrote it.” He then suggests that “it reads like Jesus on acid.” So much for the inerrant Word of the Living God!
Frank writes of “the deepening inferiority complex suffered by the evangelical/fundamentalist community;” however, as usual, he is wrong. Frank doesn’t seem to understand that knowledgeable evangelicals and fundamentalists have to fight a constant superiority complex since the largest churches in America fall into that group, most of the successful missionaries for the last hundred years are of that group, all the major colleges and universities were started by those people, and generally the most kind, generous, godly people in the world fall into that group. Frank’s babblings would embarrass even the American leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church that I have corresponded with.
Frank suggests sarcastically that evangelical/fundamentalists believe after the rapture people left behind will finally know that rapturists were right and the deniers will know they were wrong. “They’ll know because Spaceship Jesus will come back and whisk us away, leaving everyone else to ponder just how very lost they are because they refused to say the words, ‘I accept Jesus as my personal savior’ and join our side while there was still time! Even better: Jesus will kill all those smart-a**, [He’s of that new breed of “Christians” who think it is chic to curse.] Democrat-voting, overeducated people who have been mocking us!” Frank obviously loses control rather often and waxes eloquent (similar to Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan) as he froths at the mouth.
Frank believes that what the “folks in Michigan did was decide to start the killing a little early” beating the “rapture cult” to the punch. To think they killed a living tree to print such tripe!
He admitted, “I used to be part of the self-pitying, whining, evangelical/fundamentalist chorus.” Now he is part of the self-pitying, whining, left wing losers that informed Americans dislike, distain, and distrust.
Frank is not subtle when he often associates Bible believing Christians with some of the far right political hate groups realizing that some feeble people (mainly those who read his columns) don’t have the ability (or desire) to delineate between the two. Moreover, Frank equates many “mainstream” Republicans with far rightists who are critical of the Federal Reserve, want gold-based dollar, are critical of abortion, and are racists and hate homosexuals. He then says that we preach that even paying taxes is unconstitutional, adding, “I know them well.” Evidently, he does not know us well if he thinks we hate homosexuals or refuse to pay taxes!
Frank, with his background and education, should be more informed and politically and religiously sophisticated but he shows otherwise when he says “Christian Zionists” and other rapturists believe “war in the Middle East is God’s will.” However, God is not willing for any war or killing to take place but that all men should repent (take note Frank). While it is not God’s will, He will permit it to happen. Big difference.
He asserts that the “far, far loony right of the Republican Party represented by oddities like Sarah Palin” are the same people who “insist that President Obama is a ‘secret Muslim,’ ‘not an American, and/or a communist.” He is saying that anyone who insists on proof that Obama (or any politician) is an American citizen or who takes the facts as they are as to his birth into a Muslim home, registration as a Muslim in school, and statements of ‘My Muslim faith’ makes that person an oddity. I think it is an oddity that Frank could be born to highly principled parents, receive an excellent education, come in contact with America’s top conservative religious leaders and turn out to be a political and religious leftist hack. He declares, “If you think Palin’s fans are nuts; they are. If you think the tea baggers are odd; they are.”
In his final paragraph Frank mixes the “crazies” in Michigan with millions of evangelicals along with the Tea Party movement and “you have a self-fulfilling ‘prophecy’ of Armageddon. Sadly we have not seen the last of such action.”
Sadly, we have not seen the last of such balderdash from Frank Schaeffer, an immature, impulsive, and indignant person who should go back to painting.
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Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, author of 13 books, frequent guest on television and radio talk shows, and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years His most recent book is ISLAM: America’s Trojan Horse! His websites are www.cstnews.com and www.Muslimfact.com.)
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