As I am trying to right perhaps a question and answer book about this movement-one of the things I have been trying to find is anyone who was killed by a Christian Fundamentalist for religous reasons, just having a hard time. Of course, Jim Jones is always thrown at us despite the fact he did not believe in God and today-would fit nicely in the emerging church with his views. I do not know if anyone has reallymade this connection but he was an admitted socialist/communist and his ideals of much what happened fits into the emergent view. Go see what he said about dying and compare that to how Emergent churches teach about Christ dying-they are not really that far apart.

Of course, guilt by association is never a good way to operate as many do this and at times erroneous while most of the time they do not understand whay their thinking is very good.

Thanks
God bless
David Emme

I added the following to your excellent quote:

I grow weary of hearing about this supposed fundamentalist pulpit-pounding Southern-accented sweating [obese] white male boogeyman [resembling Jerry Falwell] lurking in the minds of emergent advocates.

I hear McClaren is campaigning for Obama. It does not surprise me that he would caricature evangelicals along the lines of the mainstream media — and it would not surprise me to hear much more of the same in upcoming months. Keep in mind the influence Falwell and others had in helping Ronald Reagan, and what the media did back then.

McClaren will be very useful to Obama in this regard.

Could it be this stereotype is only intentionally held onto in order to justify pure rebellion against balanced Biblical truth?

Surely no one can be so dogmatic — yes, I said dogmatic — and closed-minded to assume that anyone disagreeing with you is automatically this-and-such: arrogant, thinks he/she has God “all figured out,” uncaring for the poor, and a racist, bigoted “Bible-waving fanatic.” That’s why I’m forced to conclude that it’s intentional rhetoric, if not on McLaren’s part, at least on the part of some among the divergent “church.”

Balanced and doctrinally solid Christ-followers can do their best to contend for the true faith in Grace, of course. But when the divergents insist they see an imaginary poltergeist of faith-fanaticism no matter what we say, what is there left to do?

This is from McLaren’s book, “everything must change”:

McLaren says “…you can Google my name and find websites and blogs from fundamentalist groups who consider me the son of Satan or on the wrong side of both the “culture war” and “truth war.” P. 2.

McLaren also says on page 2, “It’s a conversation about what it means to be a ‘new kind of Christian’—not an angry and reactionary fundamentalist, not a stuffy traditionalist, not a blasé nominalist, not a wishy-washy liberal, not a New Age religious hipster, not a crusading religious imperialist, and not an overly enthused Bible-waving fanatic—but something fresh and authentic and challenging and adventurous.”

On page 195 McLaren calls those who “reject Darwin” “religious fundamentalists.”

In other words, it is clearly implied, and exceedingly hostile, that anyone who will not willingly go along with McLaren in this “conversation,” agreeing with him every step of the way, is to be called names and disrespected. Yet on page 179 he offers the ONE actual step we can take in being part of the solution to all that McLaren says ails us: stop the name calling.

“Jesus’ disciples must work to dehabitualize and delegitimize even small expressions of aggression like name-calling. They must realize the dangers of language that dehumanizes the other…” Brian McLaren, page 179.

I suggest McLaren start with himself.