Why I dislike Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Atheists....

[theboss]

Actually, I don't dislike Jews, Muslims, and Atheists. But if I started a thread where I did everyone would rightfully call me a bigot.

Yet, for some reason, dozens of Christian-bashing threads seem to be okay.

[Missy M]

1. So its just Buddhists you dislike!!!!!

[theboss]

43. Oops...left them out...my bad

Sorry

[China_cat]

2. When Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Atheists

start knocking on my door trying to convert me or insist that their theocratic dogma be codified as laws, then I'll start bashing them too.

[cags]

3. Its the actions of a lot of Christians that are being bashed

Not the Christians themselves.

[gollygee]

8. Love the sinner, hate the sin?

I'm not a Christian and I don't want Christianity imposed on me, but most Christians are not right-wing fundamentalists. Most Christians don't want to force their religion into law.

I think some of these threads are going too far.

[mslux]

4. Christians are under attack

from those passing themselves off as "Christians." Unfortunately, the word has come to describe the religion of our current administration, who seem to worship power and money. It may be necessary for true Christians to adopt another name.

The rise of Hasidic Jews in the 17th century caused the main body of European Jews to become the "Misnagid," which translates to "opposed." Although the name came from their oppostion to the Hasidim, the name Misnagid remains in use today.

So there is a precedent for such an action.

[aden_nak]

5. I don't dislike Christians. Many of my friends are Christian.

I do dislike the structure and political influence of many Christian-based religious organizations. There's a difference, and I will admit that some people slowly lose track of the line between one and the other.

[Beetwasher]

6. When Was The Last Time A Jew Tried To Make it Illegal for EVERYONE To Eat

Pork?

When that happens, then you can talk shit.

[patcox2]

39. In Israel, jews stone ambulances for driving on the sabbath.

Noone is free from fault.

[Beetwasher]

44. We're Not IN Israel

So your point is irrelevant...They don't have OUR constitution in Israel. Israel IS a JEWISH state. Very different.

And anyway, that claim is most likely bullshit. I'm sure you can't provide any source or documentation except "I heard it somewhere!"

[dhinojosa]

76. More Jews in NY than in Israel.

[Rebecca_Remarks]

45. I highly doubt that...

I'm going to ask for a cite, because under Jewish law, saving a life *overrides* the Sabbath (i.e. one is *required* to violate the Sabbath to save a life). As such, I can't see Jews anywhere stoning an ambulance for riding on the Sabbath.

Rebecca.

[Beetwasher]

46. You Are Correct, That Claim is a Bullshit Rumor

Used by anti-semites to slur jews and israel.

There are some very religious neighborhoods in Israel where the children may throw rocks at cars that drive through their neighborhoods on Sabbath, but that's it and it's very isolated and it's not ambulances.

[patcox2]

51. But the point remains, doesn't it?

The statement was "I don't see jews outlawing pork." And the sole point of my response is to suggest its not a christian problem, this desire to force others to be like you, its a human problem, affecting all humans, and if jews were the majority, you likely would see jews advocating laws forcing their religion on others (or better yet, they could actually make citizenship dependant on religion, imagine that).

[Beetwasher]

54. Umm, no, Your Point is Still Irrelevant

That's Why We Have Separation Of Church And State in this country and it's ONLY christians (not all of them, but enough and the President is one of them) who seem to have a problem with it. Why aren't there any jews in this country trying to force a constitutional ammendment banning pork products? If that were the case, you might have a point. But it's NOT the case, so your point is irrelevant and nonsensical.

[patcox2]

58. You really do think christians are unique?

You really do think only christians would try to use the law to impose their views?

You are incredibly naive. And verging on bigoted.

Christians are the ones who do it here because THEY CAN; because they are the majority, they have the power to.

Of course you don't see minorities trying to impose their views, they can't, they don't have the power. (Actually, they do try to impose their views, but they don't have legislative power, so instead they bring lawsuits and get christmas pageants thrown out of the schools, etc.)

I made a valid point that in Israel, where jews are the minority, there are in fact jews who try to legislate uniform observance of jewish beliefs, and even if the specific rocks and ambulances thing is inacurate, you cannot deny that fundamentalist jews in Israel are doing there exactly what the fundamentalist christians do here, they are being intolerant and trying to impose their views in law.

[Beetwasher]

60. No, You're Point Is NOT Valid, Not At All Because Israel is NOT The US

Duh. Israel is a Jewish nation and set up that way from the beginning.

The US is NOT a Christian nation and was NEVER meant to be. And Christians are NOT the majority, they may be a plurality, but NOT a majority. The US is NOT 51% Xtian. So that point is moot too.

It's NOT just the US, but the WHOLE world they are trying to force their views on. The Jews never started a crusades. There's no such thing as a Jewish missionary.

[patcox2]

61. I didn't get the memo that this discussion was confined to US borders.

All you said is "you don't see jews making it illegal for everyone to eat pork." And you are wrong, because where they have the power to do so, they will. The fact that it is outside the US is imaterial to that point. You might not like the point I am making, but your effort to distinguish is lame.

The fact is that authoritarian tendencies are a personality trait, not a religious trait, and its the same with people who crave certainty and a leader who will tell them what to do, and people whose sense of self-worth depends on looking down on and judging others, and these people with these traits become fundamentalists and they bully and they think they alone are right and that they have the right to tell everyone else what to do. Some people are just that way.

And it has nothing to do with their religion, they come in every flavor and size, if they're not that way about religion they will find another way to express their authoritarian-bullying small-mindedness, there are a thousand other ways.

And thats why I disagree with your argument that its only christians who do this. That is the case here, as I did point out above, only because they can get away with it here because they are the majority. But the urge to do it is universal and present everywhere.

Peaceful buddhists my ass, by the way, there can be no law more discriminatory than to ban all outsiders from your country, as Tibet did for so long.

[Beetwasher]

62. That's Bullshit, Because Xtians DON'T Have That Power

in this country. That IS the point. That's WHY this country was set up the way it was, so that NO ONE RELIGION has that power. Get it? They are trying to change the country so the DO have that power, and that's my problem w/ them (not all of them, just the one's that want to force their religion on me, and unfortunately there are way too many of those).

Again, Xtians are NOT THE MAJORITY in this country. They just happen to have the most power right now, but they are definitely NOT the majority.

I really don't care that this is a human personality trait. Right now it's manifesting itself most with the idiot Xtians who want to force feed their beliefs to everyone on the planet, so I'll take it up w/ them. And since I live in the US, and this country has laws against that, I have every right to tell them to fuck off. When jews start to do it IN THIS COUNTRY, I'll tell them to fuck off too. Same w/ the muslims, the buddhists etc. But right now, it's the Xtians and they are the ONLY ONES doing it IN THIS COUNTRY WHERE IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL and they can go fuck off. It's wrong to do it anywhere as far as I'm concerned, but specifically in this country IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL and that makes a big difference.

[theboss]

68. Technically, Christians are the majority in this country

44 percent of Americans desribe themselve as "born again" or "evangeicals" while another 24 percent are Catholic. Together, that's nearly 70 percent of the country as "Christian."

http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/04statab/pop.pdf

[Beetwasher]

71. Technically??

If you classify Catholics as Xtians that's, but presumably that's not what we're discussing...We're discussing the faction that wants to force their religion on others, and that's presumably the evangelicals (for the most part, though not all of them either), who are NOT a majority, but a plurality...

[theboss]

72. Catholics are Christians

And I assume that you think Rick Santorum and Justice Scalia are the "enemy" too so...there you go. They ain't evangelicals.

[Beetwasher]

74. I Couldn't Care Less

What someone labels themselves. If you're not trying to shove your religion down my throat, I got no problem w/ you. My point stands. I don't see jews doing it, buddhists etc.

[Rebecca_Remarks]

67. Not, it doesn't.

Becuase Judaism, unlike Christianity, is not an evangelising religion. Jews who keep kosher only care if other Jews keep kosher. They don't have a problem with non-Jews eating pork, driving on the Sabbath or violating any of the other rules of the religion. Judaism teaches that the commandments are for the Jews to keep, not everyone else. As such, you'll never see Jews forcing non-Jews to not eat pork.

Rebecca

[Mandate My Ass]

7. ooooooooooooooh goodie, flamebait

That should be conducive to rational conversation.

[bryant69]

This is flamebait

but not much different than posts on how people who believe in creating God are idiots. We need to have an evolution/religion forum, and confine these discussions there, in my opinion, but what are you going to do.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Mandate My Ass]

18. You're correct, that would be flamebait too

Two wrongs and all that....

IIRC, there is a Christianity group in the groups' forums. Comments such as the OP's and the one you mentioned here would be forbidden there.

[maxsolomon]

9. poor poor victimized christians

christians are by far the dominant religious affiliation in the country, and the unenlightened, bigoted beliefs of some of its more radical & judgemental denominations have the ear of all 3 branches of the federal government. oh, you poor poor victims of the terrible, omnipotent atheist lobby.

you realize like 99% of the people criticizing the church, evangelicals, fundamentalists, christianity, & christians (but not christ) were themselves raised as christians? maybe they have THOUGHT about it.

i usually extend my critique of christianity to judaism & islam. all 3 western monotheisms are deeply flawed & misinterpreted from their beginning. is yahweh/god/allah a war god or is god love? eternal damnation or infinite mercy?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. while i dont agree with christian bashing

christians are the powerful majority in this country...to cry discrimination/persecution in the same way minorities do is intellectually dishonest.

[Warpy]

11. Perscution complex alert!

I've seen very little evidence of Christian bashing threads and few Christian bahing posts.

I do, however, see a lot of televangelist bashing threads and Bush fake religion bashing threads and CINO bashing threads.

Perhaps if one falls into one of these groups of Paulists who have completely suppressed the words and teachings of Jesus in favor of the rantings of Paul and the horrors of whatever Old Testament bigotries one has picked and chosen, one might have a point.

However, Christ was a liberal. He was a radical. That makes a lot of smug people terribly uncomfortable, while catch phrases from Paul and the OT that support their own bigotries are in their comfort zone. However, in no way are they Christian except by the theft of the name.

I do hope this clears up the confusion.

[asthmaticeog]

12. When fundamentalist Christian tenets become the basis

for public policy, those tenets and policies are fair game. If you're unable to distinguish between that and "Christian bashing," you might try learning to do so. If you're not unable to distinguish those things, I suspect your post to be more than somewhat disingenuous.

[K-W]

13. False comparison.

First off, Christians are the powered majority. And that makes a huge difference when discussing issues of prejudice and bigotry.

Secondly, you misrepresent what goes on in this forum. The lionshare of people on this forum who critisize christianity are doing so without implicating all christians.

A faction of the christians in this country has a great deal of political power and is using it to try and oppress the rest of us. Discussing that is not bigotry and even discussing how the religion plays into thier behavior is not bigotry.

Im sure some people have expressed anti-christian bigotry, this is a public forum, but I dont see why we need a thread to point out that there are some people on this forum who are bigots. I think we can juse assume that from the size and openness of the forum.

[devilgrrl]

14. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

:boring:

flamebait

:boring:

[Kingshakabobo]

15. Go cry on Bill O'Liely's shoulder. n/t

[seabeyond]

16. hey boss you are right on. not that i care about the battle

i can understand, but the silliness of it. total non productivity of it.

thought your post funny, knew just what you were going after

[UL_Approved]

17. What threads bashing Christians do you refer to?

What threads do you speak of? Where are we Christian bashing? What are we saying?

Personally, I believe all religion to be bunk at some level or another. Buddhism holds some promise for me, since it is based in philosophy rather than divine rite and rule. Religion serves two purposes, as far as I can tell.

1. Keep people occupied with ridiculous rituals and practices so as to keep people from understanding flaws in a given faith.

2. Maintain society as it is. This is to say that advancement is strictly prohibited and punishable.

My signature line:

"If ever our creator chooses to greet us directly, our first task will be to apologize for the creation of religion."

[arwalden]

50. You Might Find This CHEAT SHEET To Be Of Some Help

Whenever anyone criticizes, scorns, or otherwise speaks unflatteringly about ANY group or subset of Christians... then the most delicate "victims" think that it's an attack on ALL Christians.

WHAT YOU SAY ------> WHAT THEY HEAR
======================================
Fundies ---> "ALL" Christians
Conservative Christains ---> "ALL" Christians
RW Christians ---> "ALL" Christians
Bible Thumpers ---> "ALL" Christians
Bible Beaters ---> "ALL" Christians
Fundamentalists ---> "ALL" Christians
Zealot Christians ---> "ALL" Christians
Bigoted Christians ---> "ALL" Christians
Hateful Christians ---> "ALL" Christians
Jerry Falwell ---> "ALL" Christians
Pat Robertson ---> "ALL" Christians
The Pope ---> "ALL" Catholics

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Sniff!

Victim status for the people who claim to have elected a president. A thing that make one go, "Hmmmm".
The Professor

[UdoKier]

20. Actually it was "christianity" being bashed, not Christians.

The poster should have considered that there are many Christians who don't think in the way he describes - AND, the value systems he complains about are common to all the Abrahamic religions Judaism and Islam included.

But to put the shoe on the other foot, I think it's great that this is a place where Christians are put on the defensive a bit. In the mainstream society, there is a church on every corner, Christians feel free to proselytize at any time or place and foist their beliefs on everyone else.

If you are a Christian, people who think differently are constantly walking on eggshells around you to avoid offending or outraging you. If you want to be coddled, just go almost anywhere else, and you will be.

[junker]

21. watch your language. Bigot = bei gott = mei gott - from xtain conquest of

germany. The xtians (paul's church's advance guard) in both gaul and the german lands were so repetitious with the phrases 'mei gott' and 'bei gott' in condemnation of everything outside the ken of their rigid, dogma blinded little minds, that the local germans and gauls started to label the whole prostelyzing group as the 'beigots' which later became firmly identified with the rigid castigation of all things/ideas outside one's own personal philosophy and then was simplified into the word now known as 'bigot'.

So the use of the bigot word is very revealing. Do you feel like a bigot? Mei gott! Iff'n der shoe fits, then you must be theboss.

Of course, one hesitates to note the derivation of the word 'boss' and its christian church roots going back to torture of the 'infidels' which also was a word used by the early church to denote 'those, who in spite of severe bodily torture, refuse to be 'in loyalty (fidelity) to it'. Note not the same as unbeliever. Pauls church then, as now, has several categories for enemies, and one list is the general unbelievers, the other the infidels, and there are more....

better to sing along with bowie

god and man
need no religion
god and man
have no division

et al

[Darknyte7]

22. *sigh*

[trotsky]

23. Sincere question:

What do you consider "Christian bashing"?

In other words, where do you draw the line between religious criticism and "bashing"?

[HoosierClarkie]

24. I understand your frustration,

but lets face the facts... The rightwing has hijacked Christianity while Dems sat back and let them do it. Me included. Instead of arguing over who is bashing who, I think we need to focus on taking our religion back. We have to do something about the evangelicals that are doing the opposite of what Christianity is based on. It is disgusting and scary.

[franksumatra]

25. Mainly I dislike dumbasses

and some of them also happen to be of the sect in question. dumbasses come in all shapes sizes colors and religions.

[Hoping4Change]

26. I dislike "fundamentalists" of every religious persuasion.

I despise anyone who can't entertain the notion that his or her beliefs are products of a human imagination and therefore fallible. That there is something greater than ourselves I have no doubt, but I believe that no one group has ever had a direct link to the Almighty. Anyone who can't entertain doubt about his or her beliefs is an egomaniac and therefore dangerous.

[Melynn]

27. Well, excuse me

Yes, Christians are so oppressed and they really do need our help. END OF SARCASM.

[Kitka]

28. Who says they need our help?

They do, however, deserve common decency and respect. Making statements bashing a whole religion based on the actions of some displays neither of those.

[txaslftist]

29. What on Earth do you have against Buddhists?

[Canuckistanian]

30. Damned serene bastards

/sarcasm off.

[txaslftist]

31. Yeah...now that you mention it...it IS kind of creepy.

[toddaa]

32. Jesus was not the Son of God

Some Christians will interpret this subject line as Christian bashing. What's strange is that if you look on the bookshelves of these same Christians, you will occasionally find books describing, usually inaccurately, the world's major (and minor) religions as cults and false religions. This is called irony.

If the fact that I find most of the beliefs of Christians to be absurd and silly makes me a bigot, than so be it.

[peacetalksforall]

33. Can Buddhists, Muslims, and Atheists please say and do the

equivalent of fundamentalists in demanding their faith runs this country? Let's get the debate out in the open. Buddhists, Muslims, Taoists, and others are too quiet a voice in this country. Demand your God. Maybe we could have progress out of debate if others claimed what fundamentalists are claiming for their takeover - a debate that would expose the hypocrisy of domination.

I've always felt Jews were defenders of the separation of church and state in this country.

We went from treating people of other faiths with respect to giving them no respect.

[Stirk]

34. Christians seem prone to having a martyr's complex.

[txaslftist]

38. Well, we did sort of name the religion after a martyr....

[TexasSissy]

35. Of those you named, Christians are the only ones who...

"witness" and try to convert others from their own belief system into the Christian belief system.

The other religions, and atheists, are more "you believe in what you want, and I'll believe in what I want."

[TexasSissy]

36. Two words: Jerry Falwell.

The Christian religion for some reason has a number of right wing extremists in its midst. They are high profile, seek out national and global media attention, and often talk about what others are doing wrong. Oh, yeah, and they also are majorly concerned with acquiring wealth....for themselves.

People like that give the Christian faith a bad name. For some reason the other religions do not have such people.

Jimmy Swaggart, Tilton, Jim Baker, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson......and on and on. They are all part of what used to be called "tent revivalists" in the early days. Snake oil salesmen who have acquired fame and fortune, thanks to the everyday Christian. And what's more, they seek to denigrate those who do not believe the way they do.

[Taxloss]

37. I'm an atheist, and I think I agree with you.

I wouldn't say "dozens", by far, but there have been deliberately provocative posts. Or at least posts that might have a valid point but unwittingly frame it in a provocative manner. And yes, I have hit alert.

I still feel that atheists get a bit of a raw deal, and there have been some very, very provocative things said about atheists here.

[jonnyblitz]

40. i was thinking we were overdue for a persecuted christian thread

its been a few days. :eyes:

[Kitka]

42. Okay, I'll post this again.

I don't think anyone is saying Christians are persecuted in this country, or that they deserve special treatment. They do, however, deserve common decency and respect. Making statements bashing a whole religion based on the actions of some displays neither of those.

[arwalden]

56. LOL... Good one!

>> I don't think anyone is saying Christians are persecuted in this country <<

Oh brother! :eyes:

>> They do, however, deserve common decency and respect. <<

Oh my gay stars! I'm afraid I just don't have that many cheeks. -- Wake me up when the Christians in control of this country start treating me with the same respect they feel that they deserve.

[Name removed]

79. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[arwalden]

82. Way To Go, Kitka...

that's not nice.

[Liberal Veteran]

63. You don't?

What country do you live in? It seems a day doesn't go by that some self-styled xstian is claiming they were "persecuted" in some manner or another and when they aren't doing that, they ARE asking for special treatment (Prayer in schools, creationism in science class, 10 c's on public property, etc).

[Beetwasher]

75. "We're Persecuted Because We Can't Force Our Religion On You!!!!"

"Oh, the humanity! They won't let me force you to pray in school! They won't let me into your bedroom to stop you from having sex w/ the person you love!!! STOP PERSECUTING ME!!!"

Fucking idiots.

[Kitka]

78. I am speaking of your fellow DU'ers.

Not the general public.

[patcox2]

59. I don't know, killbot is trying to make it a persecuted atheist thread.

Lets just make it a general drama queen self-pity thread, "Oh woe is me, I am persecuted for my enlightened views." Then we can throw in revenge fantasies about how "one day they will see, one day I will be vindicated," then we can use romantic hyperbolic rhetoric about the rightiousness of our cause and our commitment to fighting like soldiers for truth and reason and enlightenment (whether atheist, agnostic, buddhist, or even liberal christian). Umm, what a rich fantasy world we could create for ourselves, each of us the star of our own little drama.

[burythehatchet]

41. I hate Buddhists too

they way they go around the world subjugating others, selling their destructive armaments, pushing their pop culture, god I hate them.

[stanwyck]

52. You made me laugh

thanks.

[sarcasmo]

47. As an Atheist feel free to bash any mythology.

Christians enjoy forcing their mythology onto others more than any other cult. If you look up the word cult Christians fall into that group and don't forget to give your ten percent to the church, FOOL.

[arwalden]

48. Oh, Whaaah!

[Kitka]

55. Mature.

[arwalden]

57. Cope.

[Kitka]

80. I always do when I see bigotry.

Unfortunately, I'm used to it.

[arwalden]

81. You're Sending Mixed-Signals...

Perhaps I'm just too "DENSE" to understand what you're trying to say, Kitka. Who are you accusing of being a bigot? What exactly are you trying to say?

I was annoyed at the crybaby whining of the original post and so I posted a snarky response that included a Crying Lucy image. You issued a brief, sharp, and snarky response of your own that would lead reasonable people to believe that you thought my reply was immature. To which I suggested that you simply cope.

Now you respond by telling me that "I always do when I see bigotry." That's a very interesting statement... but it's so ambiguous. What exactly does it mean?

Is this a non-sequitur comment that's crafted for dramatic effect? What bigotry do you have to cope with? If you "always cope" whenever you see bigotry, then that seems to be implying that you are the "victim" of the bigotry. I presume you're referring to the rampant anti-Christian bigotry that's sweeping the DU and the nation.

Or or are you implying that you perceive me as being the source of the bigotry with which you must cope? Maybe you intended to respond to someone else? --- We just don't know what you meant. It's not clear. Can you explain?

It's not hard to see that the anger and scorn directed towards zealot Christians is very distressing for many around here. We all know that DU certainly has more than its fair share of hypersensitive individuals. --- But ya know... there are many people on DU (and throughout this country) who would happily trade places with those overwrought "persecuted" people. What a relief it would be to know that someone else's low opinion of their religion was the WORST of all their problems.

-- Allen

Edit: emphasis, clarity, typo, omitted word

[killbotfactory]

49. boo hoo

'round here, in my neck of the woods, when people learn your atheist you might as well have grown an arm on your forehead, or sodomized their dead grandmothers, from the way they react. I'm sick of it.

[Az]

53. Then struggle to change that perception

Its a worthy struggle.

[sonicx]

64. When the head of the US government says you can't be president...

and be a Christian, then get back us.

[slutticus]

65. Oh martyr! Cry me a river!

Christianity (like other religions we have invented) has a lot of blood on its hands my friend.

You're not going to get much sympathy with a thread like this.

[RetroLounge]

66. Dozens?

Yeah right, as opposed to the "Oh Poor Me I'm a Christian Victim" bullshit we get from the right wingers and from some posters here, but I repeat myself.

RL

[sphmug]

69. I have no problem with Christians

I do have a problem with people who use Christ's name to push a hateful agenda.

[chimpy the poopthrower]

70. Christians are not persecuted in this country.

And I don't think any DUers have made that argument, so can we dispense with that strawman right now? Any time someone rightly points out the anti-Christian bigotry that exists on this board, some wise-ass pipes up with the martyr defense. Yeah, any DUer who doesn't like seeing blanket anti-Christian comments must surely be a Christian with a martyr complex, right? (sarcasm)

I'll tell you some other groups that are not persecuted in this country: men, white people, baby boomers, college graduates, suburbanites...I could go on and on. Does a group have to be persecuted and opressed before it has the right not to have bigoted statements made about it? Rush Limbaugh said that if you just count the white vote, Bush won in 2000 by a landslide. So where are all the posts saying how evil white people must be and how it's their fault the republicans are in power? If there were as many white-bashing posts as there are Christian-bashing posts, a lot of DUers would get sick of that pretty fast, even if whites are not a persecuted minority in this country. If you were a white person who had devoted many years of your life to the civil rights struggle, how would you feel if you saw constant posts on DU bashing white people? Well, there are Christian DUers who have donated time and money to causes such as maintaining the separation of church and state and to gay rights activism. How do you think they feel when they see posts bashing Christians?

There are many, many people in this country who identify themselves as Christians and who are no more likely to see themselves as having anything in common with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson than atheists, agnostics, or people of other religions do. In fact, there are people in this country who identify themselves as fundamentalist Christians who vote Democratic. That may not make sense to a lot of people, but it apparently makes sense to them. Terms like "Christian" and "fundamentalist" mean different things to different people.

And it is not the responsibility of Christian DUers to develop thicker skins or to assume that when posters say "Christian" that they're really only talking about a small minority. Comments like "Oh, Christians on DU are different -- so much more enlightened than the average Christian" are equally insulting; they're along the same lines as "you're a credit to your race" or "you're so good at math and science -- not like most girls who just care about makeup and clothes."

But my biggest beef about all this Christian-bashing is mainly that it costs us votes. We are in a constant struggle to bring people to our side, to show them that the left is the side that really reflects their values and cares about their rights and their welfare, that respects their choices and beliefs. It is the republicans that have to use religion and patriotism and other hot-button issues in order to divide people. They are the ones claiming to be the party of "the heartland", the party of true Christians, the party of the successful and hardworking (in republican language, wealthy), and so on. The left doesn't need to play identity politics. Our politics is, or should be, based on our principles. I believe in gay rights. I believe in separation of church and state. I don't mind losing votes because we are sticking up for those principles. I DO mind losing votes because a bunch of jerks on a message board want to vent their own ugly feelings and not accomplish anything at all.

[rucky]

73. All folks have got to do is call them "The Religious Right"

instead of "Christians"

broad brush. no good. - remember?

[dhinojosa]

77. Can't we all agree that we dislike fundamentalism

Be it Christian, Muslim, or Jewish fundamentals; those are the assholes who'd rather have war, sacrifice, and martyrdom instead of peace and harmony.


From your agnostic friend. :)