David Korn: Jesus and Springsteen

Nice column from The Nation's David Korn on the Huffington Report (despite Nikki Finki's bash, I am enjoying this new blog).

Many fundamentalist Christians claim victimhood--even though they are free to worship as they like in tax-exempt churches, to send their kids to religious schools, to display the Ten Commandments almost anywhere (such as in their homes, on their front doors, on their cars, on their T-shirts), to vote for politicians who share (if not exploit) their beliefs, and to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a film that graphically depicts the bloody sacrifice of their savior.

Despite all this, ChristFuns maintain they are besieged a repressive anti-Christian bias. Yet of late the religious conservatives and their allies have been the ones on the offense. Pat Robertson, appearing on George Stephanopoulos' show, suggested that American Muslims and American Hindus support the idea of an anti-America jihad (yes, Hindus, too!) and are less qualified to serve in the US government than Christians and Jews. Senate majority leader Bill Frist participated in a religious right rally that claimed opponents of Bush's judicial nominations cannot be people of faith. At the Air Force Academy, commanders are allegedly coercing cadets to convert to evangelical Christianity. Creationists--donning the camouflage of "intelligent design"--are rewriting Kansas' education standards to undermine the teaching of evolution. A Republican state legislator in Alabama proposed a law banning books by gay authors. (Watch out Mary Cheney!) The Georgia state government passed a law that imposes a 24-hour waiting period on women seeking abortions. In the current issue of Harper's, Pastor Ted Haggard, the head of the National Association of Evangelicals (who often chats with Bush), is quoted making anti-Catholic statements. Haggard calls himself a "warrior"--not a peacemaker--"for God."

That's a helluva offensive from people who are supposedly victims. These folks are certainly not bridge-builders. But I assume they believe they are merely following the words of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, their J.C. is a divider-not-a-uniter.

I much prefer the Christ recently offered to us by that well-known theologian, Bruce Springsteen.

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