Right Wing Take-over of our Mainstream Churches?

'STATE OF BELIEF' WAKE UP & LISTEN,

May 21, 5 pm. Radio program

This Sunday, May 21, on the national radio show State of Belief, Rev.
Welton Gaddy exposes the coordinated effort to undermine mainline
Protestantism -- and render America's largest denominations incapable of
standing up to right wing politics.

This unprecedented look into the takeover of America's churches reveals
the ugly truths, personal experiences, and exhaustive research of four
leaders: Dr. Bruce Prescott, Executive Director of Mainstream Oklahoma
Baptists, is, like Welton, a veteran of the purges that marked the
conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. The strategy,
says Prescott, is to keep mainstream denominations in turmoil over wedge
issues such as gay marriage, so that conservative leaders can be free to
achieve their political and religious goals.

Dr. John Dorhauer, minister for the St. Louis Association of the United
Churches of Christ, has seen congregations around him descend into
in-fighting, provoked by right-wing propaganda. Dorhauer explains, "What
the politically motivated achieve is the silence of the religious
conscience voice that has historically led this country....If you take
out the 45 million people that are represented by the National Council
of Churches, you are going to hollow out one of the cores of our
nation's democracy."

Dr. Andrew Weaver, a United Methodist pastor and research psychologist,
has traced the campaign against mainline Protestantism largely to the
Institute on Religion and Democracy, a think-tank funded by
uber-conservatives such as Richard Mellon Scaife and The Adolph Coors
Trust. Weaver says that the IRD and so-called religious "renewal" groups
are funneling money in "a systematic effort to undermine mainline
churches that still have democratic, transparent processes." The problem
in countering these efforts, he says, is that "All of these traditions
have niceness at the core; while we've been thinking it's touch
football, they've been playing tackle."

Welton offers listeners a wake-up call: "The Southern Baptist Convention
was lost not because of those trying to take it over, but because of
people arguing that it wasn't a big deal." This issue has never before
been discussed on national radio, and continues State of Belief's focus
on how religion is being manipulated for partisan political purposes. It
may stun listeners - and it is sure to inspire Protestant congregations
to reclaim their role as a positive and much needed healing force in our
nation.

State of Belief: religion and radio, done differently. State of Belief
is heard nationwide on Air America Radio on Sundays. In Asheville, you
can listen on Air America Radio, 801AM, from 5 to 6 PM EST. Information
about other affiliates, listening live via the internet, or podcasting
can be found at www.StateofBelief.com