Christian Bashing in 2007

The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission (Headed by Gary Cass) released a list of the seven worst offenses of “Christian bashing” in 2007.

First, the list:

1.) Colorado Church Murders — “You Christians brought this on yourselves I’m coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. … God, I can’t wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don’t care if I live or die. …” Posted by a troubled young man, Matthew Murray, 10 hours after killing two at the Arvada missionary base and two hours before killing two at a Colorado Springs church. Churches used to be considered sanctuaries, but now they are targets for the hateful and the deranged. The CADC calls on every church to be prepared to use deadly force, if necessary, to protect their congregations.

2.) Federal Hate Crimes Bill — The 2007 Federal Hate Crimes Bill, which threatens religious liberties and lays the groundwork for “thought crime,” which has no place in American law and violates the concept of equal protection under the law. As has occurred in other nations, these laws pave the way for Christians to be silenced and even arrested because they believe that homosexual acts are sinful. It is totalitarian regimes that punish thoughts, not free societies. Thomas Jefferson declares that “the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions.”

3.) Violence on San Francisco Church — In September, Christians in San Francisco spoke out against a blasphemous anti-Christian advertisement for the Folsom Street Fair, a perverted “fair” for the sadomasochistic, leather fetish community. The ad mimics the classic Christian painting of Christ at the Last Supper. In the ad, Christ and the 12 Disciples are portrayed as sexual deviants provocatively posed before a table of sex toys.

4.) Attack on Jerry Falwell — CNN reached a new low when Anderson Cooper invited Christopher Hitchens, editor of Vanity Fair Magazine, on his show the day of Jerry Falwell’s death to make critical remarks about Falwell. Hitchens made the most reprehensible and offensive remarks one can imagine against a Christian minister, Jerry Falwell, even on the day of his death. Christopher Hitchens called Falwell “a little toad … a horrible little person…an evil old man… a conscious charlatan and bully and fraud…an actual danger to democracy, to culture, to civilization.”

5.) CNN’s “God’s Warriors” and HBO’s “Friends of God” — Two biased, anti-Christian documentaries were produced and aired. One by Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra, “Friends of God” on HBO and the other by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, “God’s Warriors.” At least they tried to act as if they wanted to be fair. Of course, they failed. Evangelicals are almost 100 million strong and very diverse but are reduced to clichéd caricatures or are portrayed as the moral equivalents of Islamic terrorists.

6.) John Edwards’s Campaign Bloggers who called Christian supporters of President Bush his “wing nut Christofascist base.” One asked, ‘What if Mary had taken Plan B after the Lord filled her with his hot, white, sticky Holy Spirit,’ to which she replied, ‘You’d have to justify your misogyny with another ancient mythology.’ They posed the thoughtful question of religious conservatives, “What don’t you lousy %#*@!+# understand about keeping your noses out of our britches, our beds and our families?”

7.) “Golden Compass,” the movie — Phillip Pullman’s atheistic answer to C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” series, because destroying the church and killing God in the mind of every child is the best revenge. Why be damned alone when you can take a few million souls with you and get rich on the proceeds?

Number 1 is definitely Christian bashing by a person who “hated Christians.” And the reaction was overwhelmingly in support of the church. No matter which faith you belonged to, or how ardent an atheist you were, you never wanted to see something like that happen.

If someone gets physically hurt or injured because of their Christianity, or slandered for something that is untrue, I think most atheists would be on the Christians’ side in all those cases.

The rest of the items on the list? Not so bad at all. If those are the worst offenses against Christians this year, they had it pretty good.

#3 isn’t even accurate: “Violence on San Francisco Church”? What violence?

#7 only references The Golden Compass movie. Not the book? Apparently in the 12 years since the books came out, they were never offensive… until now.

Most items on the list are individuals’ opinions of certain Christians or groups of them (4, 5, 6, 7). Another is an advertisement that used religious imagery (3). And the Federal Hate Crimes Bill would have only concerned people who commited violence against gay people. If a church wanted to say being gay is a sin, no one was stopping them. They’re allowed to do so. That wasn’t bashing Christians at all.

Eileen Flynn, of the Austin American-Statesman, wrote about this list:

… I agree that some of this stuff could reflect a real anti-Christian sentiment in our culture. And don’t even get me started on No. 6. Whether you believe in the Virgin Mary conceiving God’s child or not, that John Edwards blogger was tacky, tacky, tacky. But I wonder whether Christians, a powerful majority in this country, are truly facing the kind of danger the commission would have us believe they are…

They’re not facing real danger. Christians are going to be just fine next year.

Hell, a follower-of-Christ will still be elected president, regardless of which way the votes go. Meanwhile, the LGBT community faces actual (literal) bashing in many parts of the country. And atheists will have a rough time getting elected to any position no matter where they are located.

Flynn also got a number of worthwhile comments.

Like this one:

Ok all of this sucks…i am tired of these hard core so called christians who thinks that they can judge every little thing that is said and done and make it seem as if the world is against christians. I believe in God, and I have faith in a higher being, but looking at what has gone on within our churches, our church leaders it is no wonder why people are angry and against church people and religious groups. Stop judging others before placing that mirror in front of your own self.

And this:

So let me get this straight. Gary Cass is whining about “Christian bashing” because of a proposed law that would increase penalties for committing a crime against someone because of their sexual orientation??

He’s whining because he’s afraid he won’t be allowed to bash gays even in a metaphorical sense?

Maybe he should spend his time being Christlike instead epitomizing the very modern model of today’s hypochristian.

Reed Braden also makes an interesting observation:

I think the most telling part of this list is that they couldn’t come up with 10 anti-Christian events in 2007. They could only come up with 7.

I’m trying to find instances of actual Christian bashing that occurred this year and I’m having a hard time. Outside of insane people shooting up churches, are there other cases of Christians being legitimately discriminated against?

In other words, is there anything that should’ve been included on this list that was not?

(via Unorthodox Atheism)


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]