Cross Purposes

A suburban fellow, who voted for Kerry, was wondering why people had been befuddled by the "Christians for Kerry" bumper sticker that he was now anxiously peeling off of his SUV. "Not all Christians believe abortion and embryonic stem-cell research are murder. Not all Christians believe marriage is limited to the union of a man and a woman. Not all Christians believe a commander in chief who prays should never change his mind or admit a mistake. Not all Christians believe the only thing that matters ultimately is an individual's personal relationship with Jesus," he complained.



Oh really? Then perhaps you can explain the letter Bob Jones III, president of the private, fundamentalist Bob Jones University sent to George W. Bush:

"In your re-election, God has graciously granted America -- though she doesn't deserve it -- a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly."

Or maybe you've noticed the instant and intense attack on Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), an abortion rights supporter and likely Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, by Christians intent on packing the courts with judges who will represent "Christian values."

"He (Senator Specter) is a problem, and he must be derailed," said Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family. And what about Patrick Leahy (D-VT), former Chair of the Judiciary Committee? Dobson told The Daily Oklahoman that "Patrick Leahy is a 'God's people-hater.'" When it was pointed out that was not a particularly Christian thing to say about the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Dobson shot back, "I don't know if he hates God, but he hates God's people. Do you think you ought to lecture me on what a Christian is all about?"

It is a fact that most Americans attend church with some regularity. And it certainly seems that most Americans would really like to believe what they hear there. But if they are honest, most Americans would admit that they have their doubts. They notice that what they hear from the pulpit does not square with what they see on the street and in their lives. And they wonder when they learn that in the "Red States" teenage pregnancy rates are about double those of the "Blue States" despite the high priority placed on religious values in the "Red States." But while they wonder and seek answers, they continue to attend church, or at least send their children to church, because it's "the right thing to do," even though they really cannot tell you exactly why.



Time to wake up to a harsh new reality: America has become a place where you are no longer allowed to have doubts or nuanced beliefs about religion. Where once you had a guaranteed right to thoughtfully determine your own beliefs, now you are either saved or damned, the choice is yours. Indeed, god has a plan for you, the Christians are all too eager to tell you what god's plan is, and then you can accept it or go, literally, to hell.



If you want to call yourself a Christian these days, then you'd have to deal with this new fact: the likes of James Dobson and Bob Jones are your people.



But, consider this: if you can't bring yourself to buy into the bible thumping fundamentalist Christian view of the world, then perhaps you are not a Christian. After all Christians say that in order to use the name of their lord you must buy into their whole story, not just the parts that seem innocuous and comfortable on Sunday morning.



Sadly, in the new America it's not enough to believe in and work for "the ideals of Jesus." And, after all that has been done in the name of Christianity, if you still insist on calling yourself a Christian you'd better be willing to heed your brethren because if you don't they have a plan for you that's the same as their plan for the rest of us Pagans.



The Day (CT) - After A Hard-Fought Election Victory, Evangelicals Want Faith Rewarded