Keeping the Faith. At Arm's Length.

By Justin Darr

February 20, 2005

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Books of Interest

When television personality Bill Maher stated on MSNBC's  "Scarborough Country" that the religious suffer from a neurological disorder that "stops people from thinking," he committed a grievous sin.  Not against the Christian Community that he was mocking, but against his fellow liberals.  You see, the Left as their own set of  "10 Commandments," and like our own, they do not want anyone seeing them in public.  And, Bill Maher has broken one of the most sacred of these Commandments by being honest and articulating what he, and many other liberals think about America's Christians.

Liberals have a problem, in general, with people of faith, morality, and values. They do not have any and the majority of the American voting public does.  However, ever since the 2004 Election, where the Electorate made it clear that they will hold candidates accountable for their ethical and moral beliefs, liberals have been scrambling to find someone, anyone, who holds traditional Christian values in their ranks and might be able to win an election outside the San Francisco Bay area.

Alas, the search has been largely futile.  Liberals at the head of the Democratic Party are awakening to the realization that their years of ridiculing, insulting, and marginalizing Christian values has pushed the majority of not just Christian Americans into the fold of the Republican Party, but the majority of Americans who hold any form of traditional morality central to their lives as well. 

In traditional liberal fashion, rather than even considering the fact that their convictions and beliefs are immoral, impracticable, or even wrong, liberals have decided that Christians are in fact the ones with the problem and need to change.  In the past, liberals would have just attacked and demonized Christians.  Call a few folks "Jesus Freaks," throw up a few "Welcome to Jesusland, Jesus Juice to the Right" banners and a couple of those "evolve" fish with legs bumper stickers on some cars and the Christians would go running right back into their box.  But that does not seem to work anymore, so the liberals themselves have to evolve.

So now, in addition to the usual insults toward the religious, liberals are refining their attacks into arguments saying; first, we are ignorant of what it really means to be a Christian.  That is why we support such silly ideas as the sanctity of marriage and the lives of the unborn.  The "Los Angles Times" has for years led the media wing of this Leftist charge portraying Christians as illiterate bigots in such articles as Stephen Prothero's, "A Nation on Faith and Religious Illiterates,"  where he claims studies "[paint] a  picture of  a nation that believes God speaks through Scripture but that can't be bothered to read what he has to say."  And Geraldine Brooks', "Rattling Sabers of Bigotry," where she claims "'An eye for an eye' has become our shorthand for the hot satisfactions of revenge," because 75% of Americans supported military action against terrorists in the weeks after 9/11.  This is nothing more than the standard liberal elitist belief that regular people are unable to think on their own and must be given their ideas through a properly vetted and indoctrinated intellectual caste.  It is not enough to be a person of humble and sincere faith to be a good Christian, but now you have to submit your university credentials as well.

Second, we do not practice our beliefs properly.  Perhaps the liberal ideal for how religious belief should be reflected in public life was said by former North Carolina Senator and Vice Presidential candidate, John Edwards, "My personal faith guides and affects my personal decisions in my personal life. But as President of the United States . I think you have to be very, very careful to not let your own personal faith beliefs. influence national policy."  So it is alright to be a religious person, so long as you leave your faith at the door and not let it interfere with the liberals' agenda.  The implication in this is that as voters, we too should not allow our values and beliefs to influence our votes.  But what is a "value" if it is not part of the core of your being, influencing your every decision and action?  It is an "opinion", a simple preference you have like what breakfast cereal you eat or how you feel about the color or your neighbor's house. 

The liberals' failure to hold any real values makes it impossible for them to understand those who do.  To them, everything is an opinion so there is nothing that they can see that would make a person act outside of their own self interest.  They will never understand how an out of work mechanic in Ohio could vote for George Bush because he wants his daughter to be able to protect herself with a gun from criminals when she is grown, or does not want his son indoctrinated into the glories of the gay lifestyle at school.  They will never understand what it means to believe in something bigger than yourself, or taking on the challenges of doing what is right even when it might be inconvenient.

In the next few years we will be inundated with the "new liberals" attempts to portray themselves as having and supporting Christian values.  But do not be deceived by their propaganda.  The faith of the Left is a faith kept at arm's distance.  A shallow and passive preference that can easily be cast aside at the whim of expedience.  And, most of all, something that will have no impact on the actions of liberal government officials once Election Day is past.


© 2005 Justin Darr
justindarr@juno.com
http://justindarr.tripod.com