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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us March 2, 2006 Commentary Hannity and the Christian calamity Rob Asghar Fox News' Sean Hannity was recently named one of the 50 most influential Christians in America today, according to The Church Report magazine’s poll of readers. Sean Hannity? Hannity is in fact number 40, just 10 spots behind miracle healer Benny Hinn and only 34 spots behind Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Paul Crouch. And he can be proud of being 10 spots ahead of Dr. Phil, who barely snagged the final 50th spot. The extent to which Hannity is a genuinely devout man is not the issue here. Rather, his selection to this list is a sorrowful conformation of how uninfluential Christian orthodoxy has been in the wake of 9-11. Hannity happens to be the man who authored “Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism and Liberalism,” raiding a line from the Lord’s Prayer in order to demonize Americans who line up across the political aisle from him. Since 9-11, Arabs have raged against Israelis, Israelis have raged against Arabs, Hindus have raged against Muslims, Americans have raged against Frenchmen, jingoists have raged against pacifists, and Iranians have raged against everyone. Orthodox Christians of myriad denominations had a chance to leaven the global discourse. After all, the profound theme underpinning orthodox Christian proclamation is the notion of the futility of worldly approaches to conflict and power. Though oft-derided by secularists as a neurotic, self-hating worldview, Christian orthodoxy is far from this: Starting with a humbling sense of shared human weakness, and then speaking of a divine grace that extends universally, it points toward a bridge to reconciliation. Yet, Christian conservatives chose instead to chase the siren songs of the most jingoistic voices of American empire, rationalizing that their Lord’s nice-guy talk is handy advice for dealing with crazy relatives or maybe even crazy neighbors down the street, but lousy advice for dealing with crazy neighbors in other nations. Christian orthodoxy in its pure form is relentlessly anti-tribalist, refusing to place local, familial or nationalistic passions above a shared humanity. But Hannity’s flock gains its identity from combining evangelical faith with nationalistic faith. Wiser theologians are increasingly recognizing this as a cousin of heresy, if not a closer blood relative. The irony flows freely. In no other modern time has Christian orthodoxy so zealously produced an alternative mass culture, with its own music, books and other platforms from which to critique mainline culture. But when it comes to nationalism and jingoism, “me too” is good enough. This stems from a desire to have it all, to have one’s cake and gluttonize it, too, signing on to the Faustian pact that prefers the most thrilling aspects of secularism to the most demanding aspects of the sacred. Millions of American voters believed that the world would yield to the purposes of their evangelical president, just as butter yields to a hot knife. They are now beginning to wrestle with their failing idealism, as any honest person would say things have not gone according to plans or to prayers. The stakes are vast for Christian orthodoxy. While defending its claim to uniquely represent the breaking of God’s kingdom into the world, Christendom has had to defend itself against its enthusiastic tolerance of tyrannical medieval Popes, its crusades that murdered Muslims and Jews so that Christians could make pilgrimages to a crucifixion site that later turned out not to be where Jesus was crucified after all, its clever use of Bible verses to support slavery, and other lapses. Christendom has always explained this away as an internal evolution directed by God, in which the faithful are “always reformed, always reforming.” If so, then another era of reform is needed. The triumphalist nationalism of today’s American evangelicals is a latter-day idolatry, a recapitulation of many ancient Israelites’ tendency to hedge their bets by blending faith in one almighty God with enthusiasm for various convenient, nationalistic mini-gods. One can only be grateful that, in Hannity’s attempts to influence America in such ways, he has been less influential than his fans and the readers of The Church Report realize. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams