Savage Christians

Stuff about the thankfully departed Jerry Falwall is still trickling in. This one's from Black Agenda Report. Don't miss it!

It seems the corporate media can sanitize and white-wash even the most putrid bigot. Evangelist hit-man Jerry Falwell's career as a racist propagandist was excised from the record, following his death last week. The man who called the Civil Rights Act a "civil wrong" and preached that African Americans were the cursed descendants of Ham, is resurrected as a benign theologian. The pattern fits nicely with the national practice of demonizing all things non-Christian (or Judeo-Christian), while sanctifying the unspeakable crimes of Bible-holders.

The terror attack that took place on September 11, 2001 was an aberration in more ways than one. Muslims were the perpetrators, but that is usually not the case. The purveyors of hate and violence in America are almost always Christians.

Just as it is unfair to smear all Muslims with the legacy of bin Laden, it would be unfair to smear all Christians as disciples of Jerry Falwell. Muslims are constantly asked to denounce their members who are terrorists. Why is there no similar demand of Christians? Will the good Christians, the peaceful ones, ever speak out against their co-religionists who carry bombs in their cars or drop them on civilians in Iraq?

The public reaction to Falwell's death showed how ineffectual the supposedly good Christians have become. Few were willing to point out the numerous examples of his hate speech. An opportunity was lost because of ridiculous prohibitions against speaking ill of the dead. The good Christian soldiers don't know how to fight.

Christians perpetrated the crusades, the inquisition, the slave trade and imperial adventures too numerous to mention. It may be comforting to pat ourselves on the back and consign those behaviors to past centuries. We are living in the 21st century after all. Who would use the name of the Christian God to justify mass killing? A majority of modern day American Christians, that's who.

Perhaps the argument used against Muslims should be applied to Christians instead. Their religion has been hijacked by fundamentalist fanatics while the non-fanatics remain silent. The term clash of civilizations is definitely a misnomer. There can be no clash unless both sides are in fact civilized. Any assertion of American civilization is clearly open to question.

If more of the phony christians would follow Falwell's lead and croak, it'd help. Maybe the real Christians, if there are any, could improve our 'culture' by getting back to Matthew 25:35 instead of worrying about Tinky Winky.