Ever since Cheryl brought Rachel Maddow’s interview of Frank Schaeffer  to
my attention, I’ve dithered and agonized over whether to post it.  Frank Schaeffer is a former leading
member of the religious right who was deeply involved in Republican Party
politics, saw at least part of the light, and now has written Crazy for God:
How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived
to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back. 

I
plan to read that book. 

I am not
sure that simply ignoring them as Schaeffer recommends is a good idea, because
this is such a big population of village idiots and by capturing the Republican
Party have effectively given control of our country to the corporations because
the alternative is worse.  Also, on a religious site I wondered whether posting a guy who says these folks are beyond reason was appropriate.  On the
other hand, in almost every
case I have personally encountered they are utterly impervious to reason or evidence.      

I have personally decided the
only “cure” for the problem Schaeffer describes is to tell them their ‘god’
is a good example of a demon, that he is not worthy of worship, the world
already is hell if he is truly its creator, and if he were human, his character
would be that of a psychopathic sadist. There are good people who worship him,
but only because they are paralyzed by fear and don’t know of a viable alternative.

He is a failure as a god and a demonic snare to the trusting. These people are still fellow human beings, and as such must still have a core of awareness that the deity they follow is ghastly, and the world he promises them one of eternal subordination to a arbitrary tyrant deeply alien to love, mercy, or fairness.   

I hope I have been
clear.     

But
maybe Schaeffer is right, and these people really are beyond hope of redemption
in this life.  His interview is
well worth listening to.