Them’s Fighting Words

Colbert King isn’t happy with the so-called Christian Right and he’s declaring war. His complaints are a laundry list of grievances, perceived grievances, and outright falsehoods that are as outrageous as they are hysterical.

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?

Well, let’s see what’s here. Do most Christians oppose the woman’s “right to choose”? Well, yes because they support a child’s right to live. Do they oppose gay marriage? Sure they do, for religious and societal reasons. Do they oppose civil unions, which would certainly fit King’s definition of a “loving, committed, state-sanctioned, monogamous relationship? As it happens, not so much.

Do they oppose scientific research that enhances and prolongs life? Of course not – with one caveat. They oppose embryonic stem-cell research because it means destroying a human embryo. They don’t, as it happens, oppose other sorts of research that uses stem cells from umbilical cords (which is proving far more useful) and other sources.

Do they oppose assaults against “racism, sexism and homophobia”? Well, yes and no. Of course, it depends on your definition of each term. It’s worth remembering that emancipation of the slaves and the civil rights movement began and was sustained by religious people. If not for churches and Christians, King might very well not have the liberty he does today to say what he’s said. Churches were on the forefront of the suffrage movement as well. Churches have been at the point of the spear fighting for the simple dignity of human beings since this country’s inception and wile you will always be able to find exampls on the fringe, I daresay there will be fewer examples on the religious fringe than the secular. King’s example here is just plain wrong and he ought to be ashamed of ihmself for using it.

But his shame goes far deeper than that.

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.

Indeed they are not. The Bible is that arbiter and unless I missed something in this column, King has not bothered to cite one single Biblical reason why the Christian Right is wrong. To him, they are simply wrong because they offend his sensibilities and take a stronger line than he thinks is appropriate.

Which is why he, in his calm reasonable style likens Christians like me to the Klan. Well done, Mr. King. That’s going to bring around some of that tolerance and understanding you seem to want so badly.

Of course, King isn’t talking reconciliation here. He’s not interested in talking. He wants a fight and so he throws down the KKK card. What was that about lack of civility and stubborn dogma?

King sees a fight – a nasty one. This one, I’m afraid, is one he took on himself. As much as I don’t like what the FRC, as cited in his column, is doing, I also see that they have a very firm grain of truth to their grievances. Democrats did target nominees who were devout people of faith last year – William Pryor is a prime example here – and Christians who cherish their faith ought to be angry about that. It doesn’t mean that people like King should be grabbing their lanterns to ride through the town shouting “The theocrats are coming!”. They should, perhaps, find out what the heck Christians are talking about and decide, with their knees firmly unjerked, whether their complaints make any sense.

King hasn’t bothered to go that far. He just fired a shot in a war he can never win.

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Category: A Voice From the Outer World