Herald.com | 04/11/2005 | America having doubts about Christian right

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Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts totally misses the mark with his column about Christians’ influence on society. He completely warps the term fundamentalist to mean something other than its original (adhering to the fundamentals of the Christian faith) or currently accepted definition (conservative Christian), which are both devoid of any political connotation. He then blames the fundamentalists for a whole host of activities.

He writes:

The movement — well-organized, well-funded and with true believer zeal — has made itself the primary ideological engine of the Republican Party, climbing to power from school boards to state legislatures to Congress to the White House.

And along the way, books were burned and banned. Religion masquerading as science elbowed its way into classrooms. Legislation requiring recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance became law. Pharmacists, citing religious objections, refused to fill prescriptions for birth control pills. A lawmaker suggested unmarried pregnant women be prohibited from teaching in schools.

Alarmist? Yes.

Exaggeration? Double yes.

But the real horror of Pitts’ viewpoint is his own hypocrisy:

The only way that works is if we inculcate respect for difference and, more to the point, respect for the laws and customs that protect difference. The Schiavo case offered an up-close and unpretty look at the sort of respect fundamentalists have for difference — in this case, difference of opinion.

Do you see it? He suggests we should tolerate and respect differences of opinion, unless the difference of opinion is held by Christians.