I may have to do this piecemeal. I'll indicate when I get to the end.
But let's start at a beginning. The Bible, translated to English.
These were based on heretic Tyndale's!
Tyndale was still dead. Unicorns were still in. It would be a while before that was thought odd.
So the bit about predestination wasn't a detour. It's why we're visiting this history. I'll sew that up after we cover planes & TV!
Evangelism begins.
Wesley was invited to the colonies. What he started during his time here, became separate & evangelism took aim at natives
This is more compatible with notion of slavery. Perhaps you can see where this is headed, already?
But now we come up upon the Gilded Age. The age of western expansion, railroads, and steel.
And Andrew Carnegie, a self-made man, rose to the top of the heap.
And he wrote a booklet, "The Gospel of Wealth".
But let's give that idea another century to percolate. I promised you airplanes. And on that track, I must correct a small error. The Mennonites make a brief appearance, by kicking out Martin Boehm.
In 1889, same year as Carnegie's Gospel, there's an argument. One of the bishops leads the conservatives off on their own.
We'll join up with the majority later.
Meanwhile, meet Bishop Milton Wright. His sons invented the plane. More planes later!
They are the founders of the Pentecostal movement.
In 1906, Seymore was invited to preach in LA.
But our story lies with the white branch. And we return for a while to the United Brethren majority who did not join Wright.
Meet my grandfather, Rev. Dragoo.
Meet my father, Rev. Kerns
Meet bigot Steve King (IA-R). He grew up half-way between my fathers' and grandfather's churches.
And I have no idea where he gets his hateful ideas, nor why he got elected. Hopefully @Scholten4Iowa will put an end to that.
So we haven't quite arrived at our toxic destination.
And Pentecostal televangelist Oral Roberts became an Elder, believing this made him a part of the UM clergy.
And now we can begin to see the pieces come together, answer just out of reach.
Prosperity gospel. Predeterminism. And jet planes. And a surprise personal encounter with bigotry.
We're starting to get at "so many"
Sekulow's family now controls ACLJ. Became Rich
Sekulow is Trump's Mueller lawyer
And of course, TV evangelists need jet planes. Remember Carnegie's Gospel?
This is all part of the message. Riches are a sign of God's blessing. Wanna be rich? Get blessed. Donate!
Massive reach, pushed by really big money, and penetrating deep into politics, even the presidency
A religious justification for accumulation of wealth, and wealth as a sign of religious and personal worth
& Predestination
LGBTQ? Born that way?
Predestination. And damned.
But we have a theme here. Remember Tyndale? Remember predestination justifying slavery? With predestination, you can if you choose, write off anyone you disapprove of. LGBTQ? They belong to the devil
Maybe God is telling them they should work harder
Maybe gays aren't trying hard enough to be straight
Maybe my religion requires me to hate those who would help
It's a long story. This is just one of the challenges we face. Evangelism was never ABOUT this kind of thing, any more than it was about slavery, which it opposed
But it was the original viral message, and it can be weaponized.
And that is one of the things we face today
Christianity is not unique in this. And I don't write this as an anti-religion screed. But it is the context for why so many of TODAY's evangelicals, can countenance very unchristian behavior. There's history, precedent, and ideology.
Best of luck in coping with it.