| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"johac" |
| Date: |
23 Apr 2005 06:23:50 PM |
| Object: |
Hijacking xtianity |
According to this author first they stole the flag, then they stole the
cross.
---
Hijacking Christianity . . .
By Colbert I. King
Saturday, April 23, 2005; Page A19
The American flag was appropriated by the political right wing years
ago. Now the Christian right is trying to hijack religion. This time it
shouldn't be allowed to happen without a fight.
In 1969 I returned to the United States from Bonn with my family after
working for three years on issues directly affecting the security of
American interests. It was the height of the Vietnam War. What did I
find when we reached home? The flag had been taken over by self-styled
patriots, noncombatant domestic supporters of the war and vocal
opponents of the civil rights movement. Nixonites and George Wallace
supporters were sporting flags in their lapels and stickers on their
cars. Old Glory had been appropriated as the exclusive property of those
who believed in "law 'n' order," a hard-line foreign policy and the
primacy of conservatism in American politics.
It didn't help that some Vietnam War protesters stupidly burned the
American flag. But what really ensured the loss of the flag to those who
fancied themselves as having a monopoly on patriotism was the failure of
equally patriotic Americans on the left and the middle to have any
stomach for a fight.
Emboldened by their appropriation of the flag, ideologues on the right
have now set their sights on religion, and specifically Christianity, as
the means to promote their political agenda. And as the promoters of
tomorrow's "Justice Sunday" national telecast have demonstrated, there
is no depth to which they won't sink in their campaign to seize the
country.
The statement by one of the sponsors of tomorrow's event, Tony Perkins,
president of the Family Research Council, is an example of the Holy War
that is being launched by the right. In one of the most outrageous
smears to be uttered by a so-called religious leader, Perkins said that
"activist courts, aided by liberal interest groups . . . have been
quietly working under the veil of the judiciary, like thieves in the
night, to rob us of our Christian heritage and our religious freedoms."
That is an unmitigated lie that should not be allowed to stand.
Which judges are out to rob Christians of their heritage? That is
religious McCarthyism. Perkins should name them, provide evidence of
their attempted theft of "our Christian heritage" or retract that
statement with an apology. Don't count on that happening.
Angered by Democratic opposition to some of President Bush's judicial
nominees, Perkins's group has also put out a flier charging that "the
filibuster . . . is being used against people of faith." To suggest
Democrats are out to get "people of faith" is despicable demagoguery
that the truly faithful ought to rise up and reject.
But will that occur in American pulpits tomorrow? The Christian right
counts on the religiously timid to keep their mouths shut. So why not
exploit religion for their own ends? They will if we let them.
And that's just it. Americans of faith -- and those lacking one -- ought
to vigorously resist attempts by power-hungry zealots to impose their
religious views on the nation. That means standing up to them at every
turn.
It means challenging them when they say of Americans who support a
woman's right to choose; the right of two adults to enter into a loving,
committed, state-sanctioned, monogamous relationship; the right to
pursue science in support of life; the right of the aggrieved to launch
aggressive assaults against racism, sexism and homophobia, that they are
not legitimate members of the flock. Where do those on the religious
right get off thinking they have the right to decide who is in and who
is out? Who appointed them sole promoters and defenders of the faith?
What makes them think they are more holy and righteous than the rest of
us?
They are not now and never will be the final arbiters of Christian
beliefs and values. They warrant as much deference as religious leaders
as do members of the Ku Klux Klan, who also marched under the cross.
They should be resisted, not pandered to by politicians. Case in point:
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The Republican leader is going to
appear by videotape at tomorrow's self-pity party. He shouldn't. But if
he does, Frist should use the occasion to tell the assembled that they
are wrong in saying Bush's nominees are being blocked because they are
people of faith. He should say that invoking Christianity as an
instrument to advance a political agenda or to vanquish a political
opponent is divisive, demagogic and beyond the pale in American
politics. And if Frist shows up on TV and passes on the opportunity to
place his party on the side of tolerance and goodwill, then his
performance will be Exhibit A in the case to be made against his
presidential quest.
The Bergen Record in Hackensack, N.J., editorialized that the attempt by
the Christian right to dominate all three branches of government "has to
frighten anyone who is not a Christian conservative. It should frighten
us all." Baloney. It should make us mad. Fighting mad.
---
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10688-2005Apr22.html
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
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