America has Become the Pottersville of "It’s a Wonderful Life."

[JimBowie1958]

This is a fairly good article about the deChristianization of the US.

My Take: When Bedford Falls Becomes Pottersville – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

The author recalls how in the movie, Jimmy Stewarts character is fighting to keep the evil old cantankerous Mr. Potter from taking everything over. These words particularly got my attention:

As financial pressures crowd in on poor George, he begins to question his value to the community. So much so, that he wishes he had never been born. To demonstrate to George the folly of his wish, an angel is sent to give him a glimpse of what Bedford Falls would look like if that wish were granted. In Dickensian fashion, the angel takes him from one scene in that small town to another. The difference is stark. Indeed, Bedford Falls isn’t even Bedford Falls anymore, but a place called Pottersville. The town’s main street is a red-light district, crime is rampant, and life there is coarsened.

The evil bastards have won. America has become Pottersville, and it has mostly been due to Americas clergy being a bunch of spineless cowards who gave up their role as social leaders of our society so they could pursue making more money instead.

How our clergy managed to turn into the confused, divided, bunch of losers that they are today is beyond me.

I guess that is what happens when you sell your own soul for lucre.

 

[JoeB131]

This is a fairly good article about the deChristianization of the US.

My Take: When Bedford Falls Becomes Pottersville – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

The author recalls how in the movie, Jimmy Stewarts character is fighting to keep the evil old cantankerous Mr. Potter from taking everything over. These words particularly got my attention:

As financial pressures crowd in on poor George, he begins to question his value to the community. So much so, that he wishes he had never been born. To demonstrate to George the folly of his wish, an angel is sent to give him a glimpse of what Bedford Falls would look like if that wish were granted. In Dickensian fashion, the angel takes him from one scene in that small town to another. The difference is stark. Indeed, Bedford Falls isn’t even Bedford Falls anymore, but a place called Pottersville. The town’s main street is a red-light district, crime is rampant, and life there is coarsened.

The evil bastards have won. America has become Pottersville, and it has mostly been due to Americas clergy being a bunch of spineless cowards who gave up their role as social leaders of our society so they could pursue making more money instead.

How our clergy managed to turn into the confused, divided, bunch of losers that they are today is beyond me.

I guess that is what happens when you sell your own soul for lucre.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that we've turned the country into Pottersville.

I think the problem is that some businessmen act too much like Potter, and it is rewarded.

Let's not forget, George Bailey was a businessman, too. He made saavy deals. He steered that one guy into investing in Bedford while putting the moves on his girl. But he was a businessman who saw he had a duty to the community, something that I think has become lost when you report to stockholders and have to make a profit above all else.

I think the other part of the problem is that if the Clergy or REligious right has gotten into bed with the wealthy, it is because the religious left acted ashamed of its own beliefs.

Quick, name the most prominant clergyman associated with the Demcractic Party. Your list would include Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and a few others who are politicians first and clergymen second, but no one ever complains about them mixing church and state.

The religious threw in with the right because the left had embraced the counter culture, feminism, abortion, and gay rights. It wasn't a financial motive as much a theological one, I think.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Another good post, Joe.

You contrast the situations very well.

But I am afraid I am getting to be past the point of caring who is who any more.