Letters to the Editor
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Spare me
Let's take a look at the comments of some of the Christians posting here.
"As a Christian myself I am sad that political 'use' of the Christian right has made so many potential allies (people I want to work with on poverty or whatever) think that Christianity = hypocrisy."
-- Thinking
"I'm also a Christian, the politically liberal variety (yes, we do exist), and I hate how the actions and beliefs of right-wing Republican Christians have led to a false image of how the rest of us operate."
-- Moniwash
"He looked at me and said 'Now the Republicans...they're the Christians, right?' As both a lifelong Christian (although not an evangelical) and Democrat I was totally taken aback."
-- WEP
Gosh Thinking, Moniwash, and WEP. How could people believe those icky extremists represent *good* Christians, such as yourselves? Could it be because you let them? Could it be because the whiff of school prayer and faith-based initiatives and other theocratic nonsense was in the air and lulled you into silence and complicity?
No? Then where were the *good* Christian voices? Where were the howls of protest as the *bad* Christians slowly took over our country during the last 25 years? Why weren't *good* Christians picketing Jerry Falwell and shouting down Pat Robertson? Even the most extreme, hateful Christians were left to their own devices. I saw little if any dissent from *good*, or, if you prefer, *moderate* Christians. What I saw was a lot of smugness and glee as Christians of all stripes took control of our politics and lawmaking to force their beliefs on all of us.
Spare me the pleas that you were speaking out but the MSM wouldn't listen, or that your were bullied off the pulpit by the extremists. You sold your souls to a bunch of false prophets for power, and now you want to feign innocence and ignorance and dismay.
And finally, there's this additional howler from WEP...
"The abortion and gay rights issues are particular hot buttons for a lot of people and as a result a great many very well intentioned people end up getting hoodwinked into casting a vote for candidates..."
Which "well intentioned people" would those be, WEP, that respond in lockstep to the "hot buttons" of abortion and gay rights? The homophobes and anti-choicers? The ones who want to deny that ALL Americans should have full access to civil rights? The ones who were blowing up abortion clinics and gay bars and assassinating health care workers until 9/11 made terrorism unfashionable? Not the best group to point to when you're trying to make the case for *moderate* Christians.