As I write this editorial, it’s less than a couple of hours after the 112th session of the Congress of the United States gaveled in. Most significant is the fact that the overwhelming majority of this Congress are ultra conservative, identify as “committed” Christians, and have little or no regard for true equality rights for any group or persons outside of their political and theological ideology.
Having said that, this best defines them, their viewpoints, and their treatment of their fellow citizens:
dis·in·gen·u·ous (dsn-jny-s) adj. 1. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: “an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who … exemplified … the most disagreeable traits of his time” (David Cannadine). 2. Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naïf. 3. Usage Problem Unaware or uninformed; naive.
Usage Note: The meaning of disingenuous has been shifting about lately, as if people were unsure of its proper meaning. Generally, it means “insincere” and often seems to be a synonym of cynical or calculating. Not surprisingly, the word is used often in political contexts, as in It is both insensitive and disingenuous for the White House to describe its aid package and the proposal to eliminate the federal payment as “tough love.”
The Human Rights campaign assessed this new Congress as a threat to the well-being of the greater LGBTQ persons saying:
An HRC analysis shows a pick-up of 53 House seats to anti-LGBT lawmakers as well as a 5 seat addition in the Senate. Not only do those opposing basic equality hold positions of power as House leaders and committee chairmen, their ranks have swollen to 225 – a solid majority of the chamber. This presents not just a roadblock to progress but also the threat of legislation that could be damaging to the community. [Link, PDF.]
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The Christian Right is well represented in this new Congress and those who subscribe to their beliefs cry loudly that there’s a homosexual agenda- creating the case for a growing ‘Christophobia’ problem in the United States that needs to be countered.
In a recent interview, Dr, Gary Cass, an Evangelical minister and one of the principal architects of the controversial Manhattan Declaration- which sets out Christian belief & dogma as the only true acceptable faith for the American Republic on issues concerning marriage and Christian standards of normality, told The Christian Post:
“There are examples of a growing phobia toward Christians, this has been going [on] for years. Seculars and non-believers have been trying to discredit Christ,” he asserted. “It’s been getting more intense each year,” he maintained. “If these same types of actions were taken against other groups, one would call it bigoted,” he argued. “Everyone says if you oppose homosexuality, you’re homophobic. If you oppose Islam, you’re Islamophobic. If you oppose Christianity, you’re Christophobic,” he opined.
Recently, Cass, who is president & CEO of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, which owns DefendChristians.org, published the following so-called “Top Ten” Anti-Christian events of this past year:
10. 88 Pro-Lifers were arrested for protesting President Obama’s participation at a leading Catholic university, Notre Dame, and await trial for standing up for true Christian values.
9. Southern Poverty Law Center; A liberal ACLU-like organization that has continued to label many Christian organizations that hold traditional values as “hate groups” in lists that include violent racists groups.
8. Larry Grard; Christian journalist fired from his job for sending an e-mail from his personal account on his own time in support of traditional marriage.
7. Stephen Ocean and Tite Sufra; two young men who were murdered in Boynton Beach, Florida while out sharing the gospel in their neighborhood.
6. Chai Feldblum; a liberal law professor and open lesbian, appointed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Feldblum stated that in any conflict that might arise between religious liberty and homosexual “rights” she would have a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win; or “Gay’s win; Christians lose.”
5. Michigan Muslims attack AGAIN; Christians attacked, denied their civil rights and falsely arrested for disorderly conduct at a public festival for peacefully sharing the gospel. This happened the previous year, too. They were again acquitted of all charges.
4. Elena Kagan; President Obama’s radical appointment to the Supreme Court bench. While serving under the Clinton Administration, Kagan successfully corrupted unfavorable evidence on partial birth abortion to deceive the Supreme Court.
3. Julea Ward and Jennifer Keeton; two women expelled from their respective Master’s programs in counseling at two different universities because they wouldn’t deny their faith and affirm the validity of the homosexual lifestyle.
2. Vaughn Walker; California judge who overturned Proposition 8, a State Constitutional Marriage Amendment, and the will of the people by making homosexual marriage legal.
1. Employment Non-Discrimination Act; a proposed federal bill that would force ministries to hire people who oppose their beliefs or who live in open defiance of their values.
(You should note that No. 1, ENDA, hasn’t even made it out of committee and to the House floor for a vote.)
What is worrisome is that the new members of the Congress buy into this type of political demagoguery as evidenced for example by the “Don’t Ask, DOn’t Tell” repeal vote in the lame duck session and vividly illustrated today by the incoming Governor of Florida, Rick Scott, who issued an executive order that limited the state’s non-discrimination law to cases involving race, gender, creed, color and national origin.
Governor Scott, by the way, is a Tea Party type whose political aims are lockstep with the new majority in Congress. This was the background on the Florida story:
A request for the order had been made last month by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council. The Council, a nonprofit organization founded in 1988, is dedicated to dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
In a December 6 letter to the Scott Transition Team, Council President Rand Hoch requested that the incoming governor’s first executive order address equal opportunity in state employment.
“By doing so on the day you take office, you will assure all Floridians that the State of Florida is committed to providing equal employment opportunity in state government to all qualified individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, pregnancy or marital status,” Hoch wrote.
It’s not just Congress either. Watch the following video by former Nixon Administration official and Christian Right Activist Chuck Colson:
The larger issue is really the question of what precisely does the Christian Right see as the solution to the cultural wars? Colson points out that the LGBTQ community and its allies are acting as though history was repeating itself and the movement for Equality is equivalent to the Nazi Party ideology or communism or some other form of fascism.
The truth is that they are being disingenuous in their public statements and expression of ideological dogma that they hold dear and that they blanket this nation with.
The truth is that LGBTQ persons are simply a variant of human traits no different than the color of one’s skin or hair. Sadly, they [The Christian Right] cannot see this as they cannot accept even their own so-called religious beliefs that are based on what that Jewish carpenter taught all those years ago.
“The Christian Right is Neither” t-shirt image via Zazzle.com.
The Christian Right’s rhetoric is disingenuous at the very least