"I came to incite a riot! Man your battle stations! Ready your weapons! Lock and load!"

how Christ-like.

I'm ashamed of all the people I know(and that's a lot) that support this nonsense. I'm wholeheartedly ashamed of myself for not being able to have a coherent conversation with these hatemongering, racist, xenophobic, hypocritical "Americans." I weep for the future.

there goes my sex life.

They warned that Christianity is on the verge of being criminalized in America

There are several classes of drugs, some with only mild side effects, that can help with delusions.

Was Peter LaBarbera having sex or attending a Gallagher show?

Are these the same generation of religious right leaders who were up in arms by the plight of the Christian convert in Afghanistan? Afghan law afterall is now where they sound like they want America to be. They should have applauded his jailing and possibly death, instead of rejoicing the man was let off as mentally deranged. Apparantly, they don't see the irony in that.

I'd really like to see more politicians (especially Democratic politicians) begin to condemn the hate speech of Rod Parsley. He's a demagogue in the tradition of Huey Long and Father Coughlin, and I do believe he will cross a line at some point and lose support--but another man (and it's always a man) will take his place.

It's time that our leaders--any of them--appeal to Christians themselves, bypassing these "leaders" altogether. Protestantism is, in part, a religion of protest against hierarchy; to political and social leaders of all stripes, I beg of you: appeal to the common sense and compassion within people and ask them to make their own decisions. It is easy to get swept up in passionate speech at events such as this "War on Christians" conference, but I believe (and I see every day) that folks are generally NOT this radical. Many feel threatened by secularism and liberalism, but those terms have been defined as threats by blowhards like Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and Rod Parsley.

It's time to engage in theological debate with fundamentalist Christians, appeal to the rank-and-file Christians to make up their own minds about their beliefs, and stop pandering to hateful demagogues like Parsley. The Republicans love to cling to conservative Christians because it gives them the "values voters" constituency; the Democrats don't want to alienate those same "values voters," but don't know how to address the issues that Parsley, et al. speak about.

To my politicial leaders,

Here is the beginning of your new assault on fundamentalists and their anti-historical, anti-American rhetoric: America exists to preserve diversity, and Rod Parsley, Jerry Falwell, and politicians who pander to their audiences serve only to limit this diversity. Christianity is not being marginalized--Christianity is a hegemonizing force that defines much of American tradition. It's time to live by the Jesus' admonition to love your neighbor as yourself--talk to your neighbor, with whom you probably disagree. Volunteer in a homeless shelter so you know how other people live. Visit a variety of churches to see how other Americans worship. The greatest blessing of America is its wonderous variety, and I will not see that stifled by simplistic appeals to the "War on Christmas." I am not ashamed by America's diversity. Tolerance is on the march, and that is the force that will not stop.

Before our dear president was elected the first time, he made it absolutely clear that he and his White House would be cozy with the more extreme factions of the Religious Right.

Once again, this was *not* a secret. At the time, a number of journalists exhaustively covered the subject. But no one seemed particularly alarmed or even particularly interested.

On this front at least, Bush has certainly not disappointed. The knuckle-dragging snake-handlers have for six years enjoyed direct influence on the highest levels of government and policy. (Guess who wants to nix the broad application of the new HPV vaccine because it might encourage "sexual immorality"?)

I don't know which is more horrifying -- the absolute gains made by relgious extremists, or the absolute inability of liberals and moderates to counter these nutbirds in any effective or meaningful way.

Lord have mercy.

I wish these extreme right wing groups received more attention. If the American public at large could see what has apparently become an important part of the conservative movement, it would benefit the Democrats for a generation.

So, the question is, why don't the Democrats do more to point out the appalling excesses of groups like this? It would be so easy to make any Republican who attends conferences like this look like a complete idiot. The Republicans are convinced that the country is a whole lot more conservative than it really is. This delusion could help the Dems immensely if they chose to take advantage of it (I'm not holding my breath). I've lost track of all of the men, young white men, in particular, who have said that the extreme religious views that characterize the modern GOP are the one thing they really don't like about the party. Lets out these fools!

Hey, can somebody declare a War On People Who Aren't Totally Fucking Bonkers? Cause if having control over all three branches of government, not to mention over what I can watch on the cable I pay for, my sex life and reproductive practices, and my choice of recreational substances - if that consitutes having a war waged against you, then hot damn. Bring on the War On Reason.

Jesus seems like a really nice guy, and would likely be completely horrified to see these people completely ignore pretty much everything he ever said, yet still manage to namedrop him in their spittle-flecked tirades against anything they find kind of icky and/or inconvenient. Heaven forfend they actually act kindly first and foremost, take care of those less fortunate, and conduct themselves humbly and privately. That stuff's for hippie commie liberals! Oh, and it's also pretty much exactly what Jesus said to do, over and over.

I've read the gospels and they have a word for people like these folks: Pharisees. Jesus kind of thought they were tools.