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An entry for our Useful Idiots Department from the St. Petersburg Times, with thanks to Olivia:
TEMPLE TERRACE - During his seminary days, Pastor Warren Clark earned the nickname "el hippie."An avowed pacifist, he also believed the ministry should promote nonviolence and social justice. He worked in shanty towns in Argentina during the time of the "disappearances," when thousands vanished at the hands of the military.
When he resumed the pulpit seven years ago, he chose First United Church of Tampa, whose core missions closely matched his own convictions - to be open and affirming to individuals of any sexual orientation, and to actively promote peace with justice.
Today Clark, 58, has taken on a cause that some perceive to be outside the Christian mainstream: He is an outspoken supporter of Sami Al-Arian.
Al-Arian is the former University of South Florida professor who was tried on charges that he supplied money to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Clark, and several church members, were very visible during the trial, from attending court proceedings, to holding prayer vigils, and staging rallies for a fair trial.
The church council also passed a resolution on human rights and issued a call for a fair trial, which it then submitted to the prosecuting attorney, the attorney general and the judge.
It is not always an easy position to defend....
You can say that again.
Clark does not believe Al-Arian has received a fair trial.Still, he points out that Al-Arian was cleared of the "major charges" against him. In those on which the jury could not agree, only two out of 10 jurors found him guilty.
"Helloooooo," Clark said. "He's been found by a jury of his peers, after a lengthy trial, to be innocent on all major charges, and hung on the others because of only two votes. Gosh, I think he should be a free man."
Subsequent court hearings have focused on whether the prosecutor will attempt to retry Al-Arian, so for the meantime, he is still being held in jail....
Clark believes Hamas' recent political victory is a positive sign for peace.
"One thing you can say about Hamas is that they're honest," he said. "Let's let the process work, and let's see what good will come of that. They will not be able to lead and still advocate terrorism because the majority of the Palestinian people want an end to the violence."
Yes, that must be why they voted in such large numbers for a murderous terrorist organization.
As for Al-Arian, Clark said he feels the issue has already grown to unreasonable proportions. Al-Arian, he said, was just a flash point. People should refocus their energies on the real problem, which is securing a lasting peace with justice for the Palestinian people, and for Israel."It's a much broader issue than just Sami Al-Arian," Clark said. "Get off it already. Let's use our energies for what will help to bring peace. Sami would say that too."
Yes, I'm sure he would, in between shouts of "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!"
Posted by Robert at March 4, 2006 7:56 AM
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Let's start with the obvious. How can a pacifist support HAMAS? Mental illness doesn't count.
I'll get my fringe Left harangues and Jew-hatred from DU, Kos, or Al Jazeera, thanks. To be fair, I don't want to hear about hurricanes punishing Florida for Disney's "Gay Days" (Pat Robertson) either. I'm so happy Fred Phelps is a Democrat.
There are many interesting things going on in religion (Dead Sea Scrolls, for one), but radical politics isn't one of them.
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at March 4, 2006 8:15 AM
Many Christians labor under misconception that Islam is just another religion. I recently got a letter from the White House stating such an inanity. I will post the letter at my web site in the near future.
Posted by: WatchfulEye at March 4, 2006 10:39 AM
This guy is Christian in name only. I dare say the mainline Protestant denominations, including the left wing restorationists, have almost no Christian content left. Which is why they have to go outside of their tradition to find causes to interest them. There is nothing left in their own tradition to believe anymore.
Posted by: American_Palamite at March 4, 2006 11:54 AM
About four months back one of the local Baptist churches here in Tampa advertised a guest speaker giving a talk about islam. I’m not normally found in a church but decided to attend. The speaker was a young Intelligence officer stationed at MacDill AFB. I found the talk to be a little on the PC side (all muslim’s are not bad, yada, yada yada,) but he did a great job with getting his main point across that there is no way to change a radicals mind or to live next to them in peace. The Q&A after he had given his briefing really seemed to open a few eyes. At least in that church the folks stopped seeing the muslim’s as just another religious order and more of a cult. I’m not sure that was his intended message but that’s what resonated. All we have to do is get people to question islam and it’s driving purpose and they will discover the truth. I have known and worked side by side with many muslim’s (mostly military) and found them to be decent people one on one. I quickly learned not to talk about religion and politics but that is a good lesson most of the time. We however, have to talk religion and politics to anybody we can get an audience with. The people need to be made aware of the threat so they can decide for themselves if they are going to help spread the message or just convert.
Posted by: Ronin at March 4, 2006 2:31 PM
Pastor Clark is emblematic of a larger problem here in the West. Self described Christians, with no sense of history or geopolitics, take on some fashionable cause such as Palestinian rights. One of the reasons they take these causes as their own is that it compensates for some perceived personal inadequacy. It satisfies that primal, emotional need we all have for justice. It gives one a sense of purpose and meaning, especially when one feels they are on the side of the “oppressed”. What I find striking it is mostly leftists that have this attitude.
One of my theories on why this attitude is more prevalent on the left than the right is because leftists are willing to embrace that false humanistic philosophy that humans are naturally good. From this view, Palestinians cannot possibly desire evil on people, they must have been driven by poverty or despair. (of course these humanists have no problem attributing evil to the Israelis) This philosophy is logically consistent with the “root causes” leftist explanations for the world.
I recognize this attitude with many of my leftist, anti Israeli friends. If I attempt to have a rational discussion with them about why Israel occupies the West Bank, they immediately descend into emotional-victimology diatribes. If you tell them that Israel has been attacked 5 times by the peaceful Arabs, they find this fact irrelevant. If u tell them that Jews have been there for over 3000 years, they just brush it aside, as they do most inconvenient facts.
The same attitude that allowed people to excuse black crimes against Koreans during the L.A. riots is also at play here. With this mental condition, whites—and that includes Israelis— are held at a higher moral standard than everybody else. This infantile view of the world is held by no other than the 64 Harvard professors that signed a disinvestment protocol from Israel.
The Christian peacemakers are example of an even more bizarre mindset that promotes anti Israeli attitudes. These people actually believe that when they pray, God speaks to them and encourages them to stop U.S. or Israeli policies. This is what inspired the four that are currently being held hostage in Iraq. These nutbars have the same mental condition as Hamas: they believe they are on a mission from God to defeat the evil U.S.
I think a deeper question that should be addressed at JW is why this attitude is so prevalent among the left, not only in America, but in Canada and Europe as well. What is it about the leftist mindset that creates a mental filter of the world where suicide bombers are excused as poor victims while targeted assassinations of terrorist leaders incites opprobrium and condemnation that is peculiarly reserved for only Israel and the U.S. This could be an excellent pol sci dissertation
at March 4, 2006 2:54 PM
leftists embrace [the idea] that humans are naturally good. [that], Palestinians (or Communists, or criminals) cannot possibly desire evil on people, they must have been driven by poverty or despair. of course these humanists have no problem attributing evil to the Israelis, (or Americans, or corporations, or whites, or Christians)
I edited Filippo_28
Posted by: dococ at March 4, 2006 6:14 PM
I have difficulty taking anyone serious who starts a sentence with "Hellooooo".
Posted by: t-ham at March 4, 2006 10:42 PM
Filippo,
another part of the problem is that people generally, including the educated [who have been fed with frauds]-- know little real Middle Eastern history, or history in general. Indeed, infantile views of history are prevalent. Among Harvard profs, too, as you point out. This problem is compounded by the propagandist profs in the Middle East studies field, as at Columbia's MEALAC or even simply within the field of teaching Arabic language, as at Middlebury College, otherwise famous for its accelerated language courses. If people are not learning history IN GENERAL, or not even learning to think, in the universities, then we really have a big problem.
Many big name profs --Henry Laurens of the College de France-- specialize in turning Middle East history upside down, whether out of ignorance or fanatic belief.
at March 5, 2006 7:33 AM
Will somebody PLEASE give this pastor an IQ test? Publication of the test results should put a much-deserved end to the brainless shenanigans-- and credibility-- of lunatics like this.
Posted by: pythagoras at March 6, 2006 7:40 PM
Who was it here on JW/DW that coined "Leftist bum cleaners"... Hmmm... Anyway, I think it's pretty catchy. It fits the dhimmitude/lefty/sellout/hypocrite genre.
Anyway, I have friends at my church. I started to turn them on to JW/DW. They want to understand what's going on in the world too and understand that MSM/Hollywood/PC govt reports will not tell the truth.
Our congregation had to break away from a "mainline" denomination that we were with for over 40 years because of lib sellouts in the ranks like this. We are much happier to keep our worship Bible based rather than popularity based. Matt 8:11-12
Posted by: daveconcerned at March 7, 2006 5:12 PM
This man is as much a Christian as I am a Thatcherite. End of story. Anyone can say that they are Christians, as they can say that they have three nostrils; but the evidence has to be in the presence of Christian doctrine - or of a third nostril. The obstinate assertion that a third nostril exists even where nobody can see one has a lot in common with the mental state exhibited by this sort of quotation-marks Christians.
Posted by: Paolo at March 7, 2006 5:44 PM
Paulo,
I apologize if i sound this way. I am really frustrated with trying to do the right thing and finding that the clergy has sold out to worldly causes. As far as I'm concerned, Truth comes from Christ. I'm not here to hijack the thread or to proselytize, there are many people here who do not believe the way i do and i respect thier opinions regarding resistance to jihad/dhimmitude/subversion.
The point was to illustrate the destructiveness of people like this who hijack thier charges (congregation) for thier personal gain. A lot of people fell away when this happened to our congregation and it really hurt.
I'm a pain in the side for my clergy too because i am one who does not settle for what is presented on the surface. I investigate so if someone has a theological/historical question, I can answer and cite sources. I also share my findings in the appropriate setting to the appropriate audience. This is not the appropriate setting.
As far as whether I'm a "christian" or not, I come from an agnostic background and yes i am still in seeker mode and a sinner. I seek truth. The truth sets us all free. So pardon me if I don't walk on water.
Posted by: daveconcerned at March 8, 2006 1:07 PM
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