1022 Can it get any more crazy?

James Taranto and Christopher Hitchens engage in a little name calling in today's Wall Street Journal (May 5, 2005). Taranto says he is not a Christian and not religious, but he is put off by the self-righteousness, close-mindedness, and contempt for democracy and pluralism of all that characterizes the opposition to the religious right.

Hitchens also claims not to be a Christian, but has a laundry list of complaints and fears against "growing religious factions" trying to force government leaders to follow their position. He calls them "moral majority types," "Bible thumpers," "all-fired pious," "grotesque," "back stabbers," "crusaders" and "clericalist bigots."

Whoa! I've been a Christian all my life in liberal, traditional, and evangelical congregations. I can assure all the non-Christians (especially the bizarre, twisted thought that went into the current Harper's witch hunt which lowered that esteemed publication to the level of those pulpy newsprint things that report on three headed aliens) and Taranto and Hitchens types that there is no cabal or movement.

How do I know? You can't find three Christians in two churches that agree on anything--not baptism, work of the Holy Spirit, abortion, war, end times, environmentalism, divorce, parenting, vaccines or what to bring to the pitch-in- dinner. Last week we had at our church a Christian "long-age" (about 17 billion years) creationist. I happen to be a 6 day creationist myself, but I'm not going to tie my shorts in a knot over someone saved by the work of Jesus Christ who is confused about Genesis! The week before we had a beautiful Catholic mother whose son was murdered talk to us about the importance of forgiveness. So we don't see eye to eye on Mary; she could write the book on forgiveness and what hate can do to a person. Everyone in her Lutheran audience was crying.

If you're so worried about the "religious right" (a strawman invented by a displaced and powerless left), drop by Barna.org and see what flimsy beliefs undergird people who identify themselves as born again or evangelical "Christian." You can point all the fingers you want at the political right, but be careful about throwing in the adjective "Christian." That just makes you a religious bigot.