This week the PBS Newshour had a segment on the alarming rise of Christian Nationalism. Florida governor Ron DeSantis preaching like a televangelist and saying “putting on that full armor of God” unsettles me. Do I believe he Believes? Sure, as much as I believe that Trump believes in anything but himself.
The “God is White and Guns are Good” movement really scares me. Here is another discussion, with an Evangelical Christian pastor’s views.
Campus Crusade for Christ, now called Cru, is an organization that was started by former candy salesman Bill Bright. My past involvement with CCC gave me an early view into what’s been going on politically with Evangelical Christians over the past 50 years.
Campus Crusade’s growth was built upon the old multi-level marketing model. “Bring a friend who will bring a friend.” There were two adults, unaffiliated with the school, who were in charge of the campus operation — a man for the boys and a woman for the girls. The more I met with them and, especially, their boss who coordinated activities across multiple campuses, the more I began to get a sense of the organization’s conservative views.
Before attending a retreat where we would meet students from another college, who belonged to InterVarsity, we were warned against the organization’s “liberal” views. After meeting some of the other kids, I wished InterVarsity would open a chapter at my school to compete with Campus Crusade.
The more I saw of Campus Crusade for Christ, the more I realized there was more Crusade than Christ in the organization. After several years I walked away and never returned. I was deeply in love with a girl who had also come to question Cru’s messaging. She got me into Campus Crusade, and she left around the same time that I did, but for a reason that was paradoxically both the same and the opposite. She felt the organization wasn’t sufficiently committed to the Word of God. As I was letting go of my faith, she was looking for a greater religious experience and joined a Charismatic Christian group. I attended a couple of meetings with her, but they were too much for me. Kinda like this, but with a white congregation. 😉
https://youtu.be/mCF_xzxhxME