Quickthinking.net

Found this today at Newsweek:
Rabbi Marc Gellman's Five Most Important Religious Trends of 2005

Of particular interest is number 3:

The energizing of the evangelicals. Although only 7 percent of adults are evangelicals, their voice is the loudest and their energy, charity, Bible study, and prayer life is the greatest. They give away more than three times as much money as other Americans. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it was the evangelical volunteers who came in the greatest numbers and stayed for the longest time. I hope that even people who are suspicious of their motives for America can admire the power of their good works when America needed good works the most. Even if they wanted to evangelize the storm-tossed remnants after giving them food, shelter and clothing—who cares? They were there, and most other religious groups were not there in anything like their numbers or sacrificial kindness. People who cannot appreciate the energy of evangelicals for good after the experience of their posthurricane mobilization have eyes, but they do not see. Most pious people flee from the culture and its needs. Evangelicals are engaging the culture and producing the most constant and cogent critique of cultural crud that we are seeing from any religious group in our time.

Evangelicals get a lot of shit right now for anti-science squabbles, fear of de-Christianization, support of unjustified Executive orders, and general dumb-headedness. And they (i.e., we) deserve it.

But this is the first time lately I've seen the Internet (found this link at Fark of all places) declare that we're more than deep wells of imbecility.

Every time a cheap-thinking nonbeliever tries to bring up some historical failure of Christians as proof that our faith is worthless, I wonder how it is that they never recognize the billions of kindnesses, large and small, that Christians do regularly. Quietly. Relentlessly. They never say, "Okay, you harbor fatheads, but you're also filling a necessary role that I won't/can't do myself."

Admitting that we might have our shit together in some areas would mean that nonbelievers might have to take us seriously in some areas.

The inevitable next step is taking our God seriously. Which is why cheap-thinking critics will never say it. That's the end of the cheap fun, and the beginning of something that requires investment.

Rabbi Gellman is clearly not a critic in the negative sense of the word. After a steady stream of low-grade ridicule though, it's a happy surprise to see someone addressing Evangelicals evenhandedly.

Digression: Newsweek seems to put Jesus/Christian iconography on the cover roughly semi-annually. I wouldn't have guessed off the top of my head that Jesus sold so well, but now that I think about it, it makes sense. You can't play the Jesus card too often, because people assume they know what you're talking about and tune you out. But every so often, a shot of Jesus gets everybody's attention.

There's probably some lesson there or something.