My “bad”: How a desperate Jesus First will distort and deflect (by Pr. Charles Henrickson)

The political machine known as “Jesus First” is revving up into high gear and has begun sending newsletters to convention delegates. Their “Special Edition” Delegate Letter #1 (a pdf file) is a case study in how a desperate Jesus First will distort and deflect, in order to achieve their ends. (The article in question is also printed in their general April 2010 newsletter.) My purpose here in this post is to forewarn delegates of the tactics JF will employ in their campaign literature.

Rather than dealing with the issues facing the convention or with the leading candidates in the election, Jesus First decides to deflect attention away from those matters, and they have to distort the truth to do so. So instead of discussing President Kieschnick’s Blue Ribbon Task Force proposals, or instead of discussing the relative merits of Rev. Kieschnick and Rev. Harrison, Jesus First instead chooses to . . . go after me! Imagine my surprise when I see my name as the focus of their attack! Last I checked, I’m not running for anything in Houston.

Here’s how they do it, and this is where the distortion comes in. They dug up a comment I made two years ago in which I happened to use the word “bad.” And they twist my “bad” into a meaning different from what the context would indicate. They don’t even mention the context.

The comment came up in a discussion on the restructuring proposals that President Kieschnick’s Task Force had just come out with. People were commenting on how bad those proposals were and what could be done to stop them from passing. So in response to that, I wrote: “This is why it so important to ELECT CONFESSIONAL DELEGATES AT THE CIRCUIT FORUMS IN 2009. That is how we can defeat bad proposals–and defeat our bad president–in 2010.”

Clearly, the comment had to do with the “bad” proposals and the president behind them. The point was that I thought the president had been doing a bad job in pursuing this course. But to say someone has been a “bad president,” in the performance of his office, is certainly not the same thing as saying he’s a “bad person,” in the content of his character.

Jesus First, of course, twists my words to make it sound like I was saying “bad person.” They even accuse me of sinning. Did they ask me what I meant by my words? No. Did they speak to me back in 2008, when I made this comment? No. Have they spoken to me now before publishing this accusation? No. Will they apologize for what they’ve done? Don’t hold your breath.

Jesus First must really be getting desperate, if they are going to stoop this low. Delegates should learn from this example to know what to expect from them in the weeks to come.

If the discussion has to do with the restructuring proposals or with a comparison of Rev. Kieschnick and Rev. Harrison, they lose that discussion. So expect Jesus First to continue to distort and deflect.

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