Are you the kind of person who's a little scared of talking about God to other people? Maybe want to keep your lips and opinions closed off to other people, too scared to see how others may judge you? Frank Schaef fer, bestselling religious author, politi cal commentator and film director, de cided he wanted to let down the fear of judgment and be able to discuss his life, politics and religion and the influ ence religion has on American politics on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Blackwell Ballroom.
Earlier that morning, Schaeffer had a presentation for Hampden-Sydney students in Johns Auditorium at 11:30 a.m. titled, "Sex, Mom and God." The title of the religious presentation to Longwood students that evening was titled, "Crazy for God: Navigating Pol itics and Faith," both titles based off of two of Schaeffer's publications.
The event was sponsored by Hamp den-Sydney clubs and organizations, including American Democracy Proj ect, Longwood's Department of His tory, Political Science and Philosophy and the Department of Religion, and also included Longwood clubs and or ganizations, including the InterVarsity Fellowship and the Secular Student Alliance. The event was brought upon by the efforts of both Associate Dean of Faculty and Elliot Associate Profes sor of Religion Dr. Michael Utzinger of Hampden-Sydney College and Asso ciate Professor of History Dr. Stephen Isaac of Longwood University.
Dr. Michael Utzinger said, "Part of the interest I think that Frank Schaeffer had is that his father, Francis Schaef fer, was an alum of Hampden-Sydney, graduated 1935. So, that was part of perhaps the intrigue of coming to Farmville and also that there was that connection with Dr. Isaac in particu lar." He commented on the excitement of the community for influential alum nus to visit the campus.
Utzinger added, "The talk today was based on his new book, which was "Sex, Mom and God." It's really an au tobiographical talk about his work in the religious right as well as where he came from and his background with his father and how that sort of led to radicalization in the religious right."I also think that it's a wonderful opportunity that his ideas and his background will bring dialogue [and] conversation, and as a professor anything that allows that is good in terms of pedagogy because that's what you would want," said Utzinger.
On the Longwood website, Dr. Isaac describes "Sex, Mom and God" as being a "trilogy of memoirs." He also described the presentation by Schaeffer as a "lecture series [that] will examine the role in religion in American politics … Frank Schaeffer was there at the creation of the American Religious Right, and his parents were major evangelists in the 1970s and early '80s. I have been in touch with him since around 2008."
Before beginning his discussion on his influences, his goals or his publications, Schaeffer began by saying what his motivation for the event that night was, say ing, "This is not just another speaking tour event [or] book tour [or] whatever. I do plenty of those things, but this is really a day of pilgrimage, reflection and nostalgia for me."
While discussing religion, politics and the effect both have had on each other, Schaeffer was never shy to express his own beliefs and influences and was also never shy to express that "I could be wrong." While discussing a hot topic, Schaeffer never pushed an agenda onto the audience or a personal perception on what is right or wrong, focusing solely on what is.
Schaeffer described America as having politics that bring a "religiosity and a kind of fundamental astute pulse of dividing the human race into the lost and saved if you're an evangelical Christian or into the ‘real' Americans and everyone else if you're Sarah Palin … that impulse comes out of a religious history, which, whatever you think about it, is undeniable. So, when the slavery issue was argued you had pastors on one side with Bible verses talking about how Paul was for slavery, and you had other pastors using the exact same Bible verses to prove the opposite point."
Concerning politics in history, Schaeffer said, "The dialogue was religious in nature, and therefore, it was angry, and therefore it was absolutist because you see if you take the religious paradigm … and you ap ply them to politics, which is by nature an exercising compromise between imperfections – otherwise you can't get anything done – you have the stalemate … where you have … fresh congressman hot out of the Tea Party going to Washington with a bee in their bon net who agree or disagree, who literally are running to shut down the process of government entirely … not on the basis of what's good for the country let alone the economy and not even on the basis of rational thought necessarily, but because it fits in with an intel lectual agenda that has a kind of religious impulse of no compromise."
"So, you bring a theological type of spin to American politics from the beginning of our history, which says, ‘You're not just wrong because I disagree with you, you are evil because I'm on the side of God and you're on the side of Satan,'" said Schaeffer, adding, "That sets up a level of conflict and a level of incivility, which we now see all around us from all sides."
Schaeffer made sure to emphasize that "I'm not pointing the finger at one political group."
"The point I'm trying to make, " said Schaeffer, "is that whether it is the result of our politics … you cannot discuss American history or religion without discussing both. They are completely intertwined."
Associate Professor of Sociology and Faculty Advi sor of the Secular Student Alliance Dr. Carl Riden later commented on the event, saying, "I liked the fact that he talked about how a person – not just a person's faith – but a person, overall, changes throughout their life, and that we have to keep that in mind when we're interacting with people … that we shouldn't expect ourselves to stay the same. He connected that up with education and civic engagement, and I think that's something that we really try to instill in our students."
Publications by Schaeffer were available at the event for purchase, including, but not limited to, "Faith of Our Sons: Voices From the American Home Front – The Wartime Diary of a Marine's Father," "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back" and "Sex, Mom, and God: How the Bible's Strange Take on Sex Led to Crazy Poli tics—and How I Learned to Love Women (and Jesus) Anyway."
