Christianity Today Jumps the Shark
Posted on May 11, 2006
Stephen Carter’s naive article is a sad reminder of how effective the ACLU propaganda machine has been.
I would like to say a word in defense of the American Civil Liberties Union. Christians—including me, both in the pages of CT and elsewhere—often criticize the ACLU for advocating separation of church and state in ways that seem less grounded in the Constitution and in history than in an ideological desire for a religion-free public arena. On the other hand, I shudder when fellow Christians blithely dismiss the organization as fundamentally biased against them.
The opening is a farcical self-contradiction. He acknowledges the ACLU’s “ideological desire for a religion-free public arena,” yet “shudders” (in the fine tradition of radical feminist Harvard faculty, I’m surprised he didn’t make a nausea-induced dash out of the building) at the thought that someone would actually say it in public. If the ACLU desires a “religion-free public arena,” what other religion could they possibly target?
…we seem to mimic the secular world’s conflation of disagreement with wickedness, as if not sharing my worldview places my critic outside the realm of rational discourse.
No, Carter conflates disagreement between honest parties with righteous outrage in the face of truly diabolical activity like, I don’t know, say a lawsuit on behalf of a child molester who openly states his desire to rape children to be able to prowl the park for victims…or support for infanticide…or support for the distribution of child porn (hey, if it’s already made, you can’t impede its distribution)…legal defense of a group that educates perverts on how to get away with child rape…we can go on and on. Whereas Carter is prepared to declare that “The ACLU is not Evil,” I take a more measured approach and say that, if they are not evil, they sure as heck do some evil things.
As an antidote to the screechy hatefulness, I recommend Christian love.
So Carter’s condescending position is that we must invaginate ourselves and never call a rat a rat lest criticism be ridiculed as “screechy hatefulness.” Pretty hypocritical statement in light of his appeal to stop the “name calling.”
The next time a fellow Christian disparages the ACLU , try answering with something like this: “Sure, they’re on the wrong side sometimes, but I thank God for the times when they’re right.”
The next time someone disparages Mao for killing 60 million people, try answering with something like this: “Sure that’s a lot of innocent slaughter, but thank God he killed some that really deserved it. After all, Communism is a beautiful idea right?”
The several cases Carter cites as “evidence” of the ACLU’s love for Christianity do nothing to make his point. The ACLU determined from the dawn of its founding that it would take token cases for PR cover. The totality of their record is not mitigated by these few cases any more than Bill Clinton’s perjury could be excused because he didn’t lie about everything.
Interestingly, one of the links he provides is to the Utah ACLU’s list of the ACLU’s battle for “religious liberty.” This is ironic because the former head of the Salt Lake City ACLU office is a plaintiff in the lawsuit that seeks to remove the memorial crosses honoring fallen highway patrol officers from Utah’s roadways. The ACLU is behind the attack on the Mt. Soledad cross, the cross on the LA county seal, the Tijeras seal, the Mojave cross, legislative prayer, graduation prayers by individual students, school board prayer, Christian students that want to opt out of school-mandated indoctrination, public displays of the Ten Commandments and Christmas displays…I’m just getting started.
Either Stephen Carter is delusional dupe…or he thinks you’re stupid. The ACLU’s record of hostility to the Christian faith and to America’s founding principles (from the Communist founder to the current executive director who has stated that the US Constitution is “no longer sufficient” in “protecting our rights”) is too public and too voluminous to deny. Carter does his best to stand on a runway in front of a chaotic heap of burning, twisted metal and charred bodies and ask, “What plane crash?”
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8 Responses to “Christianity Today Jumps the Shark”
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I saw this earlier today and passed it over. You did a great job ripping it apart! Welcome to the team!
“The opening is a farcical self-contradiction.”
Far from it. He’s saying that it’s regrettable that the ACLU seeks a “religion-free public arena” (an exaggeration in itself, but no matter), but that Christianity is not the organization’s special target. And he’s right. With the overwhelming number of religious Americans claiming to be Christians, it’s a matter of simple demographics that leads to most lawsuits and complains centering on Christian doings, not intrinsic bias.
If the feds conducted a huge heroin sting in, say, Detroit or Compton, about 90% of those arrested would be black. If they made a pot bust in the hills of Vermont, 90% of those nabbed would be white. Are the cops racist in the first example but “reverse racist” in the second?
“Carter conflates disagreement between honest parties with righteous outrage in the face of truly diabolical activity like, I don’t know, say a lawsuit on behalf of a child molester who openly states his desire to rape children to be able to prowl the park for victims…or support for infanticide…or support for the distribution of child porn (hey, if it’s already made, you can’t impede its distribution)…legal defense of a group that educates perverts on how to get away with child rape…we can go on and on.”
And I’m sure you will. What does this have to do with the ACLU’s proclivity for trying to ensure that no *specific* religions are favored over any others in public places?
“The next time someone disparages Mao for killing 60 million people, try answering with something like this: ‘Sure that’s a lot of innocent slaughter, but thank God he killed some that really deserved it. After all, Communism is a beautiful idea right?’”
So Mao and the ACLU have proven equally murderous? I always thought the score was around 60 million to zilch. Nice try. And I like the flip side — you’re not content to offer this awesomely inane analogy; you also note that the ACLU is “evil” without noting the untold number of evils perpetrated by the Christian church throughout human history, and indeed, right up to the present day.
Your screed is but another Christian demand for special treatment. The sad thing is that you and your Jesus-loving brethren can’t even conceive of being guilty of this, much less recognize it. Carter does, and you see him as a sellout because he’s one of the few Christians publicly acknowledging the truth. Given the reaction here by his supposed comrades, it’s easy to see why so few speak up in the name of honesty.
“The ACLU determined from the dawn of its founding that it would take token cases for PR cover.”
Uh-huh. Well, that’s one way to maintain a delusion — take every case that directly contradicts your hypothesis and pretend that either it didn’t happen or was motivated by treachery.
“Christian students that want to opt out of school-mandated indoctrination…”
What do you mean by this? Areteachers now openly mocking religion in classrooms?
“The ACLU’s record of hostility to the Christian faith and to America’s founding principles is too public and too voluminous to deny.”
Regarding those founding principles — how many times do the words “Jesus,” “Christ,” “Christian” or “Christianity” appear in the Constitution?
Hey “brain”–
RIF (Reading is Fundamental).
You first point is not a point at all. Does this look familiar:
“If the ACLU desires a “religion-free public arena,” what other religion could they possibly target?”
Moving on…you wrote:
“What does this have to do with the ACLU’s proclivity for trying to ensure that no *specific* religions are favored over any others in public places?”
Easy. Carter (just as you do) uses the very few cases where the ACLU appears to support his point that the ACLU “is not evil” and ignores the totality of their record which paints a far uglier picture. The fact is, defense of child molesters’ “rights” and the other abominations I mentioned hit right at the heart my point. The ACLU means to remake this country in its own image — an image incompatible with the Judeo-Christian foundation that spawned and has sustained this nation. I presented a partial list of their attacks on public religious expression…just ’cause you don’t like it, doesn’t make it not so. Allowing a prayer at graduation is not “favoring one religion over another.” If the Founders were so concerned about public worship, how was the largest church congregation in the country in the beginning of the 19th Century housed at THE US CAPITOL (with music provided by the Marine Corps Band)??? You have fallen into the blind trap of an inadequate public school education and have refused to free yourself. Learn some history and break the sad spell.
You have strange “thought” patterns:
1) You say I called the ACLU “evil.” Go back and read what I wrote. Funny you can invent something I’ve not said and…
2) Then, you take something else I wrote quite literally when it wasn’t meant to be. I didn’t say the ACLU killed 60 million people. If you don’t understand the use of this analogy by simply reading it in context, no one can get through to you.
“Uh-huh. Well, that’s one way to maintain a delusion — take every case that directly contradicts your hypothesis and pretend that either it didn’t happen or was motivated by treachery.”
The ACLU’s deception tactics are extensively and publicly documented…sorry if primary sources (like the very words of the ACLU’s founder all the way to its current leadership) are uncomfortable for you. At one time, the ACLU was quite open about their strategies, so the field has been populated with many fruits for ridicule that are easily harvested…now they save them for opportunities when they THINK no one is listening. Read the ACLU vs. America.
“the untold number of evils perpetrated by the Christian church throughout human history, and indeed, right up to the present day.”
While it cannot be denied that the church has had some dark moments in its two millenia history, I’d like for you to talk to me about the present day. Present some evidence of these present-day “evils” or you sacrifice any credibility I am extending you.
“Regarding those founding principles — how many times do the words “Jesus,” “Christ,” “Christian” or “Christianity” appear in the Constitution?”
Straight out of LEFT field. Who made this argument?
Here’s your big problem, son:
You are emotionally invested in a worldview that can only be explained and defined by fantasy world-driven outbursts. Like a Soviet photo archivist, you find it easy to erase the facts in front of your face if they don’t affirm your position.
Do you not think it is evil to put children at the mercy of child rapists and child rapists that want to film their acts?
Or his problem could be that he is just an idiot.
It’s probably that simple Jay. thanks for the reality czech.
Former Combat Engineer George "Rurik" Mellinger sent me an excellent essay recently on what needs to be one on our southern border: What To Do - Part I - The Wall. He and I — and a lot of other Vietnam, and younger, vets if I’m not mistaken — tend to be well to the right of El Presidente on the border issue but I think we’re right in line with a lot more people than Jorge realizes. Since I didn’t write the essay I’m free to say I think it’s excellent and should be widely read — Click here.
Oops, I left that comment on the wrong post. My apologies. — Bill
I wrote:
“…how many times do the words ‘Jesus,’ ‘Christ,’ ‘Christian’ or ‘Christianity’ appear in the Constitution?”
In response, you wrote:
“Straight out of LEFT field. Who made this argument?”
Obviously, you did. More than once. In your post, you link Christianity to “America’s founding principles.” In your reply to me, you were even more specific, referring to “the Judeo-Christian foundation that spawned and has sustained this nation.” This country does not have a tangible foundation of any sort, and if anything it’s the religious zealots that will help guarantee its downfall.
Your comments about child pornography are red herrings. I abhor such crimes as much as anyone else, but your mention of them is irrelevant to everything I wrote earlier.
Also, you didn’t answer my question about public-school “indoctrination” (and It amuses me that just because I reject your pet superstitons, you assume I attended public school).
By the way, even most right-wingnuts recognize that attempting to correlate atheism with communism is an idiot’s refuge. I’m not going to try to change your mind, but I will say that it cracks me up whenever the “writers” here refer to others as idiots. Here we have Jay, who cannot spell or use passable grammar to save his life, is too lazy to fact-check anything, and on top of these deficiencies is biased to the hilt. Exactly what you’d expect from a product of Alabama, the cloest thing to a Third World nation in the Western Hemisphere.