What's up with this new interpretation of Christianity

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. In the early years of DU, we had a poster who was the son of an Assemblies of God minister

This poster's father claimed that the denomination known as Assemblies of God had been infiltrated and was being steered by right-wing operatives. I wonder if this is true of other denominations, such as the Southern Baptists (which Jimmy Carter quit), and I'm almost positive that it is true of the free-lance fundamentalists, those self-proclaimed "ministers," untrained and unrecognized by any denomination, who somehow have the money to build huge churches overnight.

It is an open secret that right-wing groups are funding dissidents within liberal denominations, aimed at dividing them and reducing their influence on public life:

The IRD (Institute for Religion and Democracy) has established a network of so-called "renewal groups" within each mainstream church and a coordinating body called the Association for Church Renewal.[26] In a review of Leon Howell's United Methodism at Risk: A Wake-Up Call, Rev. Andrew Weaver concluded that the reason why "ultra-right-wing" foundations such as the Scaife, Bradley, and Olin foundations have funded the IRD since the 1980s is to counter mainstream Protestant churches that "have been and remain a powerful and influential voice for moderate and progressive social values in American society." Weaver observed, "If you control the activities and leadership of mainline Protestant churches you can do a lot to muffle the social conscience of the nation and stifle civil discourse." In his book, Howell advocates that the United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., and Episcopal Church assume a "fighting mood" to defend themselves against the IRD's takeover campaigns through right-wing renewal groups.[27]

More at
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Institute_on_Religion_and_Democracy