WASHINGTON - American society looks down on Christianity, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay asserted Tuesday at a conference of religious conservatives, but God and Jesus Christ have chosen Christians to stand up for faith. DeLay, who is facing tough times of his own, offered a half-hour speech that was part history lesson and part sermon to a crowd of about 300 gathered at a Washington hotel for a two-day conference titled “The War on Christians and the Values Voter in 2006.”
I’m going to be in trouble at home for this one, but I am sick to death of Christians claiming that they are the victims of discrimination, of some insidious war against Christianity and those who practice it. Generally speaking, in order for a group to reasonably have a credible claim of oppression, that group must be a minority, and generally the less economically well-off the better. Christians are a majority- a powerful, wealthy, well-connected majority in this country. Whenever I listen to narrow-minded, vindictive know-it-alls like DeLay claim that they are somehow the victims of a war on Christianity, I want to puke. This egregious twisting of reality to fit your narrow worldview is the height of arrogance and absurdity.
I think most people in this country respect Christianity. Most of us grow up being taught Christianity as the dominant religion. Speaking only for myself, my views on the subject closely parallel Gandhi’s; I admire Christianity. It’s those alleged Christians with whom I have problems. The religion itself is fine, but too many narrow, judgemental, inflexible, fearful sorts interpret Christianity in a manner that paints both them and the religion they profess to practice in a very unflattering light. I would offer Tom DeLay as Exhibit A.
The Sugar Land Republican said some commentators - the “chattering classes” - will argue that there is no war on Christianity in this country.
“But in a sense, there always has been and always will be,” he said. “Our faith has always been in direct conflict with the values of the world. We are, after all, a society that provides abortion on demand, has killed millions of innocent children, degrades the institution of marriage and all but treats Christianity like some second-rate superstition.”
Despite those factors, DeLay said, “we have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned. … God made us specifically for it. … Jesus Christ himself made us just so that we could live in this nation at this time.”
Ah, yes, it must be wonderful to be able to consider yourself one of the Chosen…and to do so with a straight face. People like Tom DeLay are everything that is wrong with modern Christianity. As it’s practiced for the most part today, Christianity is less about the teachings of Jesus Christ and more about narrow-minded acquisitiveness, the willingness to marginalize and hate those who do not live and think as you do, and the willingness to use your narrow beliefs to define “right” and “wrong” in a way that places you in the best possible light. It’s more about arrogant, self-absorbed narcissism tha loving thy neighbor.
The religion I was taught as a child was about love, compassion, and comforting the afflicted. The religion I see practiced today is about prejudice, fear, and hatred. Is it any wonder I’m fed up with it?
The conference was convened by Vision America, a group founded by the Rev. Rick Scarborough to mobilize “patriot pastors” of all denominations to promote Christian involvement in government.
Scarborough, the former pastor of the First Baptist Church in Pearland, is a long-time DeLay ally.
“This is a man, I believe, God has appointed … to represent righteousness in government,” Scarborough told the audience, which included Eagle Forum Founder Phyllis Schlafly, former ambassador Alan Keyes, and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.
That Scarborough would openly and willingly trumpet DeLay’s bona fides as a “man of God” is laughable in the extreme. It also puts the lie to any credibility that Scarborough may have had as a minister. No, this all has NOTHING to do with Christianity or honoring the teachings of Jesus Christ. It has everything to do with political power and the creation of a virtual theocracy, where believers pull the levers of power and marginalize those whose ideas and lifestyle they despise.
And “righteousness in government”? That’s just fundie-speak for doing whatever it takes to enforce your narrow agenda on those of us who happen not to share it. Compassion? Understanding? Love thy neighbor? Not f——g likely.
Jesus called…He wants His religion back….
