If you don’t agree with MY specific flavor of Christianity, you’re going to HELL!
- Rep. Cletus McGoatsex (R-Dysfunction Junction, TX)
Despite those who, like Gohmert, put the “fun” into “fundamentalist,” America is NOT a Christian nation. Perhaps they’ve forgotten that this country was founded by those fleeing religious persecution in England. That was a long time ago, and history is just one damned thing after another, right?? Besides, if there are lessons to be learned, don’t you think they’d be in the Bible?
I have no problem granting Gohmert his right to his beliefs, even the ones he insists are paramount and superior to any other belief system. I don’t have to respect those beliefs, but I recognize that, this being America (see Exclusion Clause, 1st Amendment), religious freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution. Would that Gohmert (a living, breathing Aggie joke), an elected Congressman sworn to uphold and defend the Consitution, could be bothered to do the same.
There’s a time and a place to split theological hairs. A Congressional hearing is neither the time nor the place for such a debate.
Rep. Louie Gohmert yesterday conducted an interrogation, insisting that non-Christians are “going to hell” but can be saved by the “good news” of Jesus Christ. The comments came during the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice hearing titled, The State Of Religious Liberty In The United States. The Tea Party Republican U.S. Congressman from Texas spent his time attacking the executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Christian Rev. Barry Lynn.
When a member of Congress can attack a member of the Christian clergy for not being insufficiently intolerant, inflexible, and hyper-Jesus-y, surely our democracy has jumped the shark. Not only was Gohmert violating the Constitution he’s sworn to uphold, he wasted taxpayer money in his effort to invalidate a brand of Christianity not in sync with his own.
There has always been a fundamentalist presence in Congress, represented by those who believe the Constitution is subservient to the Bible. Seldom has someone combined intolerant, judgmental, self-superior hyper-religiosity with an aggressive, arrogant, and astonishing degree of ignorance in the way Gohmert has. His willingness to play the fool for his beliefs is truly something to behold.
The idea of a Congressman lecturing a member of the clergy on “true” Christianity is something that should offend every American- if for no other reason than he’s wasting tax dollars. Gohmert seemed to forget the title of the hearing, itself a questionable exercise in wasteful governance. It wasn’t an opportunity for Gohmert to proselytize and condemn those not fortunate enough to share his brand of Enlightenment. Government should have no place in the religious beliefs and practices of Americans…as long as you share Louie Gohmert’s narrow-minded and intolerant flavor of Christianity.
Somewhere warm and breezy, Jesus weeps mournfully into his Dos Equis….
So how’s that whole “small government” thing working out for you, Congressman?
