Defining right-wing religious deviancy down

Over at Salon.com, Gary Kamiya looks at why "the press gives [Sen. John] McCain a pass for consorting with batshit holy men, but condemns [Sen. Barack] Obama to talk-show hell for the same sin." From the article:

The dirty little secret of mainstream American journalism is that it operates within invisible constraints that conform to some imagined Middle American consensus. The issue isn't that journalists share Hagee and Parsley's views so much as that they know that they are widely held, which makes them reluctant to acknowledge how truly outrageous they are. After years of nodding at the whacked-out likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, the media has, to borrow Daniel Patrick Moynihan's famous phrase, defined right-wing religious deviancy down. More or less "orthodox" Christian-right insanity, of the sort espoused by [Rev. John] Hagee and [Rev. Rod] Parsley, is familiar and normal, whereas black-church radicalism, with its ties to left-wing liberation theology, is not. In 2000, 45 percent of the population told Gallup they were either born-again or evangelical Christians.
.....
By incessantly attacking Obama as strange and scary, which is certain to be his strategy, McCain will be tapping into [the] already existing media bias toward sensationalism. His and Bush's outrageous charges that Obama is an "appeaser" are intended to play into this, and much worse is sure to be coming....

Comments

[DanV]

First of all, thanks to Religious Right Watch for the work it's doing. It's very courageous.

There is one thing that I've been trying to tell people about, but very few seem to be listening: calling people like Parsley (which, by the way, rhymes with "arse"ley), Hagee and a whole host of others "batshit crazy" "Psycho Christians" "loony tunes" and the like does nothing to alter their popularity. They've been called those names and worse millions of times and it makes no difference to them or their viewers and congregations. There is probably only one word (with variants) to call them: IDIOTS. While they are smart enough to con people out of their money (not hard to do), they are very stupid in their theology. First off, hatred is man's most stupid emotion: it accomplishes nothing and most times creates a negativity that is dangerous to our survival as human beings. These people preach hatred whether they admit it or not.

Forget the "love the sinner, hate the sin" crap. Preachers such as Parsley know that that platitude is against human nature. Christ preached it, but even he knew it would be a very hard sell. These people pander to the worst in human nature. And they know it. They count on it. Their hatred, therefore is very stupid because it contrary to survival. They, like their counterparts in Fundamentalist Islam, want us to kill people in the name of God.

O.K., that's a bit oblique, but then there is one other thing: they hate biblical scholars. Have you ever heard of a true biblical scholar who was an inerrantist? Scholars who have studied ancient Hebrew, ancient and classical Greek, Latin, Coptic, some Assyrian, some Sumerian, anthropology, archeology, sociology would never tell you that the Bible is inerrant in any way - no, not even in the original language. Bart Erhman (U of NC Chapel Hill)who has taught textual criticism of the Bible for over 20 years (and whose books are heralded as works of genius) is now an admitted agnostic.

As an example, look at Rod Parsley, who admits to not having finished college. Look at his past legal papers (IRs, etc.) and you will find a bewildering array of bogus or bible colleges. He's not intelligent enough to cover his tracks, yet he doesn't care. He can be caught on any passage he cites. He may not even be able to recite the Ten Commandments in order and without help. Hence, he should be branded an "idiot" not a "psycho-Christian".

Hagees and Parsleys and Copelands all know one thing: if you can convince your public that they are dumber than you are, you've got it made. Get a title like "Rev." (even if from a box of Cracker Jack), get in the media, say "God, God, God, Bible, Bible, Bible," some other great buzz words and always end with "send money." People will send you money. Always.

People do not want to be considered stupid. They may want to be considered "religious" by following anyone's sermons, but they will steadfastly resent being called "stupid." They don't want to follow anyone who is considered stupid either.

The sacred cows of American Christianity (now being known as "Christo-fascists") are to be belittled as stupid.

As Kate Smith used to say after every broadcast, "Thanks for listenin'"

Dan Vojir
dan-vojir@sbcglobal.net
http://thedevilanddanvojir.blogspot.com

[m.sinjohn]

While the amount of religious insanity in this country was surprising to me a few years back, the number of people who honestly believe Hagee and his ilk's crapolla is not near what the MSM thinks or pretends it is.

But I have to say this: the more the MSM and Cabal news focuses on the religiously insane and their twisted, hateful belief systems, the more mainstream America wakes up. As I told a friend of mine 6 years ago, there is nothing better for this country than to let the christian, crusading crackpots and the far-right wingnuts rant. They will hang themselves.

They are doing just that.