What I just Heard on TeeVee II
"Everything I do comes from being a Christian." -- Ann Coulter
You know, my intent tonight, or yesterday, really is NOT to just bash either Christian conservatives or conservatives. Or any night. Far from it.
Conservative Christianity is not a monolith. There are many "flavors," and far more diversity there, at least based on my personal experience, than is regularly depicted (and there is even more diversity among Christians generally.) And there are so many individuals, and collections of individuals, who are deserving of so much respect for the often unsung and even unnoticed ways in which they live out their faith.
It is also true, however, in my estimation, that Christianity is done a great disservice by some of what comes out of the mouths of "celebrity Christians" in parts of the religious Right. I mean, sometimes it is literally breathtaking, as it has been for me this evening, to hear certain statements put out there, as blithely as you please, without, apparently, any awareness of implications or contradictions.
Could I call out the religious, specifically Christian, Left as well? You betcha. (Most especially when it seems certain sectors of that--again, not monolithic--bloc appear to want to morph the entire religion into another one entirely, or at least into an arm of Left-wing politics, in an interesting mirror image of exploitation.)
I just didn't happen to hear examples of that tonight, reverberating through my kitchen.
One more thing: Isn't it interesting that both statements that I highlight, in this post and my previous one, came in the context of high-profile people promoting their books?
Figures.
You know, my intent tonight, or yesterday, really is NOT to just bash either Christian conservatives or conservatives. Or any night. Far from it.
Conservative Christianity is not a monolith. There are many "flavors," and far more diversity there, at least based on my personal experience, than is regularly depicted (and there is even more diversity among Christians generally.) And there are so many individuals, and collections of individuals, who are deserving of so much respect for the often unsung and even unnoticed ways in which they live out their faith.
It is also true, however, in my estimation, that Christianity is done a great disservice by some of what comes out of the mouths of "celebrity Christians" in parts of the religious Right. I mean, sometimes it is literally breathtaking, as it has been for me this evening, to hear certain statements put out there, as blithely as you please, without, apparently, any awareness of implications or contradictions.
Could I call out the religious, specifically Christian, Left as well? You betcha. (Most especially when it seems certain sectors of that--again, not monolithic--bloc appear to want to morph the entire religion into another one entirely, or at least into an arm of Left-wing politics, in an interesting mirror image of exploitation.)
I just didn't happen to hear examples of that tonight, reverberating through my kitchen.
One more thing: Isn't it interesting that both statements that I highlight, in this post and my previous one, came in the context of high-profile people promoting their books?
Figures.
