Vision America (via Nathan Nance)
Who knew that Self-Righteous Zealots could be so oppressed?
These folks are downright scary.
Man, I had NO idea that it was so incredibly challenging and difficult to be a Right-wing zealot. Everywhere you look, the forces of Darkness are trying to reign in your God-given right to dictate social policy and ensure that our world reflects your narrow, ignorant, fear-based belief system. Yes, the forces of ungodliness are upon us, and they are coming at Believers from all directions with temptation and promises of secular glory and riches (and maybe even some nookie)- if only they will forsake their beliefs.
Thankfully for all good, God-fearing, American zealots, the good folks at Vision America are a strong and courageous lot, willing to pee into the winds of sin and idolatry if that is what it takes to prevail. Sure, they’ll end up wet and they’ll smell horrible, but isn’t this what Jesus would do?
Perhaps the #1 battle for the Religious Right at this point in time is what they so prosaically refer to as “activist judges”. In truth, this term can be, and is, applied to any judge who happens not to rule as the Religious Right expects. That’s right; piss these folks off and you are forever on their List. When the Law takes a distant second place to the “correctness” of Right-wing theology, what are we on the verge of? Yep, if you guessed “theocracy”, go to the head of the class.
Of course, if you want to rub elbows with like-minded zealots and trade war stories about how The Man has been oppressing you and keeping you down, you can always make reservations to head to “The War on Christians and the Values Voters in 2006” in Washington, DC at the end of next month. Yes, while you’re commiserating with other rich, white Fundamentalists about your miserable lot in life, you can also edify yourself while listening to the likes of Sen. John “Box Turtle” Cornyn, Rep. Tom (“Orange Jumpsuit”) DeLay, Phyllis Sclafly, Rick (“My God Can Beat Up Your God”) Scarborough, and many others certain to convince you of the righteousness of your beliefs (even as they separate you from large sums of your disposable income).
Yes, you can revel in panels discussions on pressing issues like:
The Gay Agenda: America Won’t Be Happy [Yes, it’s true; Gays really DO have an agenda. They just want to be left alone. This is why the Religious Right wants to extinguish them.]
The ACLU And Radical Secularism: Driving God From The Public Square [So much for the separation of Church and State]
Hollywood: Christians Through A Distorted Lens [Or, one person’s honest portrayal of ignorant, judgemental zealtory is another’s propaganda]
Jews Confront The War On Christians [When they’re not too busy drinking the blood of Christian babies]
The Judiciary: Overruling God [When you have a hotline to God, you can be upset about this sort of thing]
The Media: Megaphone For Anti-Faith Values [Damn that Liberal Media]
Taking Our Faith To The Ballot Box [The separation for Church and State is for losers]
And if you happen to be looking for “evidence” that you can use to convince other, less worthy humans that there is indeed a war being waged against Christians, look no further:
Our government is moving each day closer to a theocracy, where a narrow and hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism will rule.
- full page ad in the NY Times (12/2/05) signed by Jane Fonda and others
“Under God” in The Pledge of Allegiance violates a student’s right to be “free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.”
- U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton
There is an anti-Christian bias in this country, and it is more on display at Christmas than any other time.
- Bill O’Reilly, The O’Reilly Factor
59% of Americans believe “Christianity is under attack” in the U.S. today.
- 11/05, Fox News poll
What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?
- Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism
Dr. Dobson and Focus on The Family “are the anti-Christ of the world.”
- U.S. Senator Ken Salazar
Evangelical Christians are “a clear and present danger to religious liberty in America.”
- Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich
Religious people are “moral retards… They are an ugly, violent lot.”
- Timothy Shortell, professor of sociology, City University of New York.
Christians are under a constant, relentless attack — from Hollywood, the news media, activist organizations and the cultural elite.
There. Convinced that righteous, committed Christians are under attack? Me, neither….
The reality is that our government IS moving inexorably toward a theocracy. Some folks may not view that as a bad thing, but those of us who value American diversity find it a distinctly disturbing and troubling trend. America is not represented by a one-size-fits-all theocratic ideology. America is the sum of it’s parts, some of whom happen to be committed, born-again Christians, most of whom are not. The Religious Right does not have a monopoly on God, and they have no right to present themselves as if they do. Their beliefs are no more or less valid than anyone else’s, though they clearly believe that they are significanly more equal than those who do not share their narrow beliefs.
Timothy Shortell is without a doubt an idiot, but Robert Reich hits the nail squarely on the head. Socially Conservative Evangelical Christians DO representative the greatest threat to religious expression in this country today. What their beliefs have in common with the teachings of Jesus Christ is beyond me. Mahatma Gandhi once said that he respected Christianity, but had no use for the Christians who think they are practicing it. I couldn’t agree more.
If these folks don’t scare the hell out of you, it’s only because you’re clearly NOT paying attention. As their star becomes increasingly more ascendant, the louder their bleating and whining becomes. Who would have thought that a collection of zealots possessing so much political power would be marketing themselves as the few, the proud, the horribly and irredeemably oppressed? Yet that is exactly what is happening. Of course, demagogues prefer to sneak up on the ignorant and the unsuspecting..and it’s certainly worked for the Religious Right so far.
