One of the things I “love” about the Religious Right is the arrogantly selective filter through which they choose to view the history of America. Lost in their madness and self-righteousness is the reality that this country was founded by committed Christians fleeing religious persecution in their homeland. Having conveniently managed to forget that little truth, they’ve gone about creating a world view that allows them to work toward oppressing those who happen not to be enlightened enough to believe as they do.
No reasonable could accuse Robert Jeffress (one of the faces of the American Taliban) of possessing an overabundance of religious tolerance or humility. Totally convinced of the unquestioned superiority of his flavor of Christianity, Jeffress believes that religious freedom means that we’re “free” to believe as he does. If Jeffress had his was, that would not be optional.
Yes, 80% of Americans self-identify as Christians, but that doesn’t make America a Christian nation. As intended by the Founders, America is a secular nation that happens to have a Christian majority. Christocrats like Jeffress will endeavor to convince you that the Founders intended for America to be a Christian nation ruled by Biblical tenets. Somehow, they conveniently manage to forget that Thomas Jefferson was a committed atheist and that the Founders recognized that mixing religion and politics was a recipe for disaster. History is all in how one chooses to interpret it, no?
Contrary to Jeffress’ assertion, neutrality is not code for antipathy toward religion. Failure to endorse the majority religion is not a rejection of that religion; it’s merely recognition that while 80% of Americans are Christians, there are 20% (myself included) who aren’t. What Jeffress fails to realize is that his expectation that government endorse Christianity is a recipe for tyranny. And it’s not as if Christians in this country are suffering from neglect or oppression.
