The American Family Association Is at It Again
AFA president Tim Wildmon made the following ridiculous remark on his radio show:
"Whereas our opponents, quite frankly, a lot of them, the ideological opponents, the liberals, they don't have the kind of family responsibilities that most people have, and certainly not church responsibilities. So they've got more time, even though their numbers may be less in the battle, then [sic] we do oftentimes."
As someone who has been branded a liberal on several occasions, I am hurt by Wildmon's comments. Though I would be lost without my wife, I have a number of family responsibilities (cooking, cleaning, yard work, changing diapers, changing cat boxes, repeatedly reading Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb, and so forth). I also have quite a few church responsibilities (teaching Sunday school and playing piano for example). And I am by no means an anomaly. I know several other "liberals" who have loving, healthy families and who are active in their churches.
About two years ago, the AFA ran an article about me on its website. It included the following:
"The __________ is refusing to allow one of its editors to be interviewed about controversial remarks he made recently in front of 9,000 Methodist young people.
"At a recent event called 'Youth 2003,' Josh Tinley told teenagers in attendance that biblical scholars do not believe Old Testament heroes Daniel, Job, Ruth, and Jonah were historical figures."
For one, I conducted four workshops, each for between 150 and 200 youth and youth ministers. I gave my presentation (which was on Harry Potter, by the way) to no more than 700 people. Neither the writer of the article nor Mark Tooley of the IRD (the one person interviewed for the piece) was in attendance. Secondly, I said that some Bible scholars do not believe that these Old Testament heroes were historical people. I did not suggest that books such as Ruth or Job were fabricated historical documents, but that they were illustrative narratives (not unlike Jesus' parables) used to convey a greater truth.
I hate to rehash my past struggles with the AFA, but that article is still listed sixth when you Google me.
"Whereas our opponents, quite frankly, a lot of them, the ideological opponents, the liberals, they don't have the kind of family responsibilities that most people have, and certainly not church responsibilities. So they've got more time, even though their numbers may be less in the battle, then [sic] we do oftentimes."
As someone who has been branded a liberal on several occasions, I am hurt by Wildmon's comments. Though I would be lost without my wife, I have a number of family responsibilities (cooking, cleaning, yard work, changing diapers, changing cat boxes, repeatedly reading Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb, and so forth). I also have quite a few church responsibilities (teaching Sunday school and playing piano for example). And I am by no means an anomaly. I know several other "liberals" who have loving, healthy families and who are active in their churches.
About two years ago, the AFA ran an article about me on its website. It included the following:
"The __________ is refusing to allow one of its editors to be interviewed about controversial remarks he made recently in front of 9,000 Methodist young people.
"At a recent event called 'Youth 2003,' Josh Tinley told teenagers in attendance that biblical scholars do not believe Old Testament heroes Daniel, Job, Ruth, and Jonah were historical figures."
For one, I conducted four workshops, each for between 150 and 200 youth and youth ministers. I gave my presentation (which was on Harry Potter, by the way) to no more than 700 people. Neither the writer of the article nor Mark Tooley of the IRD (the one person interviewed for the piece) was in attendance. Secondly, I said that some Bible scholars do not believe that these Old Testament heroes were historical people. I did not suggest that books such as Ruth or Job were fabricated historical documents, but that they were illustrative narratives (not unlike Jesus' parables) used to convey a greater truth.
I hate to rehash my past struggles with the AFA, but that article is still listed sixth when you Google me.
posted by Tinley | 7:04 PM
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