There has been a fair amount of discussion in the blogospher regarding a post by Jeff Jarvis, And God Rolled his eyes. His premise is that it is wrong to think Christianity is under attack in the U.S., citing worse examples in places like China, but also thinks it ridiculous that some think Christians are attempting to establish some sort of theocratic state. In his view, both notions are just overblown rhetoric. A key quote:
"... there are those in the so-called Parents Television Council who argue that any joke that mentions God is an attack on religion. That's just crap. Freedom of speech goes hand-in-hand with freedom of religion -- that's why they are both protected in the First Amendment -- and there's nothing with a joke about God. It's not a sign of a war on God.
And then there are those who say that America has been taken over by a red-state religious jihad because the other side won the election and because a bogus made the insulting presumption that some of us don't have moral values and because the afore-dismissed PTC manufactured complaints about pop culture the way Tootsie makes Rolls. The truth, as I proved, it that it is a phantom army of the few on the fringe. "
Problem, we heard this kind of reassurance regarding the abortion issue, that it was silly to think that Roe would lead to slippery slope. Christians argued thirty years ago that Roe would lead to widespread late term abortions, infanticide and euthanasia. The pro-life movement was told such notions were reactionary and overblown. But what was unthinkable became reality and now we see the results in the work of Dr. Kevorkian, the case of Terri Schiavo, the Groningen Protocol, the cloning and stem cell research debates, the harvest of fetal tissue and organs.
Sounding the alarm is not the same thing as being alarmist. There has been a steady drumbeat of marginalizing, dismissing and demonizing conservative Christians. As I pointed out in an earlier post, most of us do not want to eliminate all criticism or even jokes about faith. We simply want the same level of respect that is accorded to any other group. And that means that when the history of this country clearly and unmistakably shows a foundation of Christian morality and piety, history should not be rewritten. Freedom of religion should not be freedom from religion. The state should make no law regarding an establishment of religion nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
Most conservatives want that balance, to NOT establish a state church, but not exclude faith from public life and the political process. So Jarvis' second point should be acknowledged. We should make it clear we don't want a state church. Especially one founded on the secular religion of humanism. There should be no compulsion to a particular religion or lack thereof. Currently, the public schools are leaning toward a compulsion to a secular faith. It is not yet totalitarian. Not yet. Diligence.
Interestingly a couple of minor news items might be related. In spite of his personal faith, the president has been pretty cautious this Christmas on the "official" level. There seems to be a fairly PC Christmas at White House Perhaps this is a minor item, but it shows the hypersensitivity that exists today and should not.
A second article notes how Arnold the Governator has been chided for urging the GOP to move left. This is significant because apparently that leftward move he urges is related in part to moral issues conservative Christians are most concerned about. It asserts that Arnold is just plain ignorant for suggesting that the GOP wink at gay marriage after an election which may have been turned toward the GOP precisely because of opposition to gay marriage. It reveals a cluelessness to the sensibilities and faith of millions.
Last, I'm no expert on the war, but I do believe there is a lack of balance in the media. So I am including this link to some good news from Iraq
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