Dr. D. James Kennedy died today and most people probably don't know who he was or how important and influential he was.
The Rev. D. James Kennedy, a pioneering Christian broadcaster and megachurch pastor whose fiercely conservative worldview helped fuel the rise of the religious right in American politics, died Wednesday. He was 76.
Kennedy died at his home in Fort Lauderdale, said Kristin Cole, a spokeswoman for Kennedy's Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. The cause of death has not been determined, but Kennedy had not been seen publicly he suffered cardiac arrest Dec. 28. His retirement was announced last month.
Kennedy's voice and face were known to millions through radio and television broadcasts, urging Christians to evangelize in their daily lives, while condemning homosexuality and abortion as assaults on the traditional family. His also preached on the major policy issues of the day, rejecting evolution and global warming.
Kennedy was influential in the founding of the religious right, but did so more often from behind the scenes, as attention focused on his allies, the Revs. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
I would say Kennedy was even more influential than Falwell or Robertson because of the effectiveness of his programs. Among Kennedy's other innovative ways of presenting the Gospel to ordinary people was the creation of Evangelism Explosion, a program for teaching laypersons how to better share their faith. Through that program, Christians became emboldened to share their faith--to the horror of atheists and liberals everywhere.
The fear and loathing of the Christian Right has reached a fever pitch this year, with the printing of numerous anti-Christian, anti-Christian activist books. But it was Kennedy who helped Christians recognize that their faith should influence all their behavior--not just that on Sunday morning. Voting for candidates who supported their causes was another way of expressing their opinions, and it was a way completely despised by the Left...who don't mind doing the same thing.
Pam Spaulding said she wouldn't go KOS on Kennedy, then allowed "John" to imply that Kennedy was speaking for Satan. *sigh* When will their childishness end? Of course, we expect no better from them.
More pearl-clutching from liberals who "aren't going to say anything bad about the dead." But they will pull quotes out of context and let their sycophants fill in the blanks.
More from the "we won't say anything negative" crowd. Are you detecting a pattern here?
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