Submission + - Another letter I posted to Salon ...
Daniel Dvorkin writes: ... in response to another letter attached to this story.
Chloe, we secular liberals are perfectly aware that Christians, as a group, are not the enemy. Liberalism has never seen Christianity, or any religion, as the enemy. Regrettably, the idea that liberals and Christians are naturally at each other's throats has become such a successful Republican talking point that even liberals, whether secular or religious, have to spend time arguing about it; this has more to do with the success of the Republican propaganda machine than it does with any inherent political divide between believers and nonbelievers. Liberal Christianity has a long and proud history in this country, from the Abolitionist movement on.
But.
The fact of the matter is, there are a large number of Christians, generally self-identified evangelicals, who are the enemy. These are the people who cheerfully disregard their Savior's advice in regards to the poverty, suffering, and intolerance, while telling us quite earnestly that God wants them to get rich at others' expense, spy on their neighbors' bedrooms, teach our children fairy tales in place of science, and fight an apparently endless war in, um, Babylon and the Holy Land. In short, they're theocrats, which makes them the enemies of America. And in case you haven't noticed, these are the people who have been the public face of evangelical Christianity in politics for quite some time.
Fighting against these people does not imply any intolerance of religious belief; it implies a belief in America, no more and no less. Do liberals need to prove themselves to evangelicals? Maybe so. But evangelicals also need to prove themselves to liberals. If Obama can do that, on both sides, more power to him. But there's a long way to go.
Discuss.
Chloe, we secular liberals are perfectly aware that Christians, as a group, are not the enemy. Liberalism has never seen Christianity, or any religion, as the enemy. Regrettably, the idea that liberals and Christians are naturally at each other's throats has become such a successful Republican talking point that even liberals, whether secular or religious, have to spend time arguing about it; this has more to do with the success of the Republican propaganda machine than it does with any inherent political divide between believers and nonbelievers. Liberal Christianity has a long and proud history in this country, from the Abolitionist movement on.
But.
The fact of the matter is, there are a large number of Christians, generally self-identified evangelicals, who are the enemy. These are the people who cheerfully disregard their Savior's advice in regards to the poverty, suffering, and intolerance, while telling us quite earnestly that God wants them to get rich at others' expense, spy on their neighbors' bedrooms, teach our children fairy tales in place of science, and fight an apparently endless war in, um, Babylon and the Holy Land. In short, they're theocrats, which makes them the enemies of America. And in case you haven't noticed, these are the people who have been the public face of evangelical Christianity in politics for quite some time.
Fighting against these people does not imply any intolerance of religious belief; it implies a belief in America, no more and no less. Do liberals need to prove themselves to evangelicals? Maybe so. But evangelicals also need to prove themselves to liberals. If Obama can do that, on both sides, more power to him. But there's a long way to go.
Discuss.
