USUALLY YOU have to be a particularly repressed man not to acknowledge the importance of feelings.
Ter theret as a whose is spec tacularly bad on the question. Think of the stereotyped image of a Good Marxist, and nine be lavishly endowed with an intellect, unsurpassed in objectivity. cal wingof the protestant Christian rension claims to under stand feelings. Like fundamentalists of all kinds, they are remarkably adept at manipulating the very real emotional despair and alienation that people experience today.
he socalice charisas revival of evangelism started in the yous, along with a whole wave of interest in alternative ways of looking at religion and spirituality. During the 1980s evangelical christianity really boomed and those tambonnes were heard being unashamedly see the sacrousnou the world. Hallelujah - JC will Drugs But few socialists seem interested in matters of an ecclesiastical nature. After all, one of the whole points of marxism is its compicte and total rejection of religion - the 'opium of the masses', This is undoubtedly philosophical level, but it would be a grave mistake to ignore the ideological power 1 am not talking here of lohovah's Witnesses. Mormons, the Jesus Army and other assorted sects of especially nutty nutters. Your mainstream evangelists are far more serious and, more importantly, are often overtly political in their Consider the case of Brazil, a that has been predominantly Catholic since the Portugese conquest. With the decline of the influence of liberation theology in the last couple of years and in the ab sence of a strong ideological algelism has overtaken poor and rich alike. aspect of this is to lend ideologiDream' model for Brazil's fulor. Many of Collor's advisors are evangelists, trained by latter-day missionaries imported direct from the US.
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But evangelism is not just something important for the 847880008 world, in the country of its birth, the US, the political ana economic cout of evangelism is amply demonstrated by the vociferous Pro-Life lobby. While they still have not conquered public opinion in the US, their influence has pushed abortion into illegality in a successive string of states recently.
In Britain, many would think that evangelism is far too loud, arrogant and excessive for the rather reserved tastes of the populace. But think agair Readers may like to be in formed that the largest demonstration in London since the Trafalgar Square anti-Poll Tax one in 1990, was not the biggest demo against the Gulf War, but a 'March for Jesus' last September that attracted over 200,000.
Promising to 'take the world by storm for Jesus', the marchers are part of a growing movement in Britain militantly committed to saving as many souls as they canbefore the skies roll back in apocalyptic fashion and jCdescends, in shining glory, to restore the rule of heaven on earth.
Many evangelists devoutly believe that we have now entered the last days of earthly rule prophesised in the Book of Revelations. The final historic battle between Good and Evil is about to come.
Is it so hard to sec why people are attracted to evangelism? Faced with the enormous horrors produced by a capitalist world in crisis, evangelism offers security. peace and eternal salvation for those that are saved'.
The process of being 'saved'itself, is not a pas sive one. The individual has to actively 'welcome Jesus into their life'.
Adversity Being born again absolves a person of all the things they feel guilty about. It is a process of spiritual empowerment, made all the more attractive if you feel completely helpless in the face of adversity.
Perhaps it is this that explains why evangelical christianity is particularly good at ensnaring women and black people, even more so if they are young.
Guilt is a powerful emotion. When the emotion is transformed into faith, it changer content but not its form. Of pressed people are often made o feel guilty about their oppres sion.
Evangelists manipulate this by declaring that they 'hate the love the sinner Anyone who has come into conSpot the charismatic priest Unions while at college will nave neard this one before - ap plied to women who have had abortions, lesbians and gay men, masturbation, and sex before marriage.
The 1990s has been declared the Decade of Evangelism'. The Evangelical Alliance has around a million members in Britain, recruited mainly from the Church of England and Baptist church.
The new Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, is a committed evangelist. The movement is certainly growing again, feeding on rising chaos and confusion.
Without providing a strong ideological alternative, that foes indeed take up the 'per sonal political debates brought out by the women's liberation movement, the left will not be in a position to effec tively challenge evangelismand other milleniarist ideologies.
There nevertheless demands that can be campaigned around - separation of church and state, no state fundrepeal of the blasphemy laws and so on.
Apart from campaigners around abortion and lesbian hat takes the threat of evangeli cal christianity seriously is Women Against Fundamentalism Revolutionary marxists should start to take it seriously too.