RUSH: A liberal evangelical is saying that conservatives — and this was on NPR last Wednesday. I’ll get to it. We got audio sound bites. I’m just teasing you with this now. A liberal evangelical has said that conservatives choose me over Jesus.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Here’s the audio sound bite from NPR. Last week, program called Fresh Air, the host is Terry Gross, interviewing the founder of The Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. Did you get that, Brian? The Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good, and the former vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, the Reverend Richard Cizik. The NPR host, Terry Gross, said, ‘From your point of view as an insider, how did the evangelical movement damage evangelical witness in American culture?’
CIZIK: It damaged it because it became perceived by millions and millions of Americans as captive to a conservative ideology, not captive to Jesus or the Gospel but captive to an ideology that, uh, has departed from — in so many ways from — historic evangelicalism. We’re trying to say, ‘We’re for these things,’ and among those is you see, uh, this, uh, command to — first and foremost in everything — follow Jesus. Not the Republican Party or Rush Limbaugh or anybody else, but to follow what the Gospel says.
RUSH: This guy can’t be an evangelical. I mean, it says here he’s an evangelical. But every evangelical that I’ve ever heard on radio or TV does not say ‘Jesus.’ He says, ‘Jeeeee-SUS!’ and ‘God-duh.’ You don’t just say ‘Jesus.’ ‘ Jeeeee-SUS!’ So then Richard Cizik and the host had this exchange…
GROSS: (whispering) You mentioned the Republican Party and Rush Limbow. (sick) Do you think that some of the positions that evangelicals have been taking politically are to keep that alliance with the Republican Party and with powerful people with microphones like Rush Limbow?
CIZIK: Oh, of course! In other words, there are strong forces within evangelicalism against change.
RUSH: Well, this is a bunch of gobbledygook. There are ‘a bunch of forces within evangelicalism that are against change.’ Does this mean that I am more popular than The Beatles? Well, I’m just asking a question. More popular than John Lennon? Ooh! Ooo! Did you notice the NPR babe? (whispering) ‘Uh, you mentioned, uh, the Republican Party and Rush Limbow. Do you think, uh, that some of the positions that evangelicals been taken politically are to keep that alliance with the Republican Party with powerful people with microphones like Rush Limbow?’ (laughing)
‘Oh, yeah! Oh, of course!’ Richard Cizik is the founder of the Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good and the former vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and he says here that the evangelicals of the country have chosen me over ‘Jeeeee-SUS!’