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Originally Posted by lurkette
Why is nobody (the media) pointing out this obvious logical flaw? Nobody is telling Christians they can't practice their faith - we're just trying to impress upon them that according to the constitution they're not allowed to impose their faith - or their morals derived from their faith - on the rest of us.
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Neither of those things is disallowed by the constitution. That is a misrepresentation of the constitution.
Also, your statement above is why many Christian conservatives are feeling persecuted. You are essentially saying you have to choose between religion and politics. You are also saying that you can legislate any morality you want, as long as it's not derived from faith. Why does saying you think something because it's what some guy in the sky wants any different from saying the same thing without giving a justification, or making up some suitably secular justification. For instance, lets say a rep wanted to pass an anti-abortion law. What you are saying is instead of arguing the merits of the law itself, we first need to see what the rep's motives are. Many people get their moral basis from faith, should all these people lose their voice?
What i've really never understood is the importance placed upon religion by non-religious people. They will often talk down about those with faith, and discredit religion as nothing more than a human invention. But I don't understand if they belive this why they fear this particular form of thought over others. They would have less problem with communists or nazis then it seems they do with religion. Why do they seek to simultaneously elevate religion over other forms of belief systems and lower it to nothing but superstition, something to be ridiculed?
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Originally Posted by filtherton
Well, the christian right is just taking advantage of the observation that people will more readily mobilize if they believe they are being threatened.
Anyone who looks at the facts can clearly see that there is no credible threat to christianity coming from inside the united states. Most americans self-identify as christian. Most americans aren't out to cause the downfall of their own religion. If christianity is under attack, it could only be from within. I think that this is the case. Conservative christianity is under attack from moderate and progressive christianity. Unfortunately many christians can't be bothered to make this distinction.
Many conservatives roundly denounce a minority who cries discrimination, yet open their hearts and their wallets when conservative christianity cries discrimination.
I think the media fails to point this out because the media is mostly run by sniveling bean counters who'd sooner cut of their right hand than risk offending christians by telling the truth. Christians are the majority, and you don't make money by telling the majority that it's paranoid, even if it is.
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Many people do self-identify as Christian, true. But how many are practicing Christians, or even think of their beliefs except when asked? I would say that people who call themselves Christian are in the majority, but people who actually ARE Christians aren't. Christianity has almost gotten to the point of being a default response.
And the attacks are real. The only group it is widely acceptable to ridicule is Christians. Any show of faith is often openly mocked. Many forces in the popular media are trying to move any mention of religion out of the marketplace of ideas.