{"id":8833,"date":"2006-04-09T17:44:35","date_gmt":"2006-04-10T00:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2006\/04\/09\/the-warriors-who-cried-wolf.html"},"modified":"2006-04-09T17:44:35","modified_gmt":"2006-04-10T00:44:35","slug":"the_warriors_wh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/04\/09\/the_warriors_wh.html","title":{"rendered":"The warriors who cried wolf"},"content":{"rendered":"

The problem with religious loonies that spout off like this<\/a> …<\/p>\n

There are those who would say Tom DeLay lost his job as House majority leader because he was indicted by a Texas grand jury for money laundering and conspiracy, or because of his extensive ties to lawbreaking lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But they would be wrong.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Texas Republican fell from power because he is a Christian.<\/p>\n

That, at least, is the view of Rick Scarborough, convener of a conference this week called “The War on Christians.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

… is twofold.<\/p>\n

First, it gives scumbags like DeLay an easy out for their behavior. “I didn’t do anything wrong! They were just picking on me because I’m Christian!” <\/p>\n

Second, it dulls the senses to cases where someone’s Christian faith might actually get them in trouble. Such cases are, I suspect, few and far between, but the prospect, at least, is there. I read more and more intolerant passages by anti-Christians (and anti-religionists) online almost daily. (That they are, themselves, a reaction to the reactionary fringe of the Christian Right is, of course, loaded with irony.) At some point, it will, if it has not already, spill into discriminatory action (“How can someone be a real scientist if they believe in God?” which is as goofy a sentiment as the all-too-real “How can someone be a good Christian if they are a believer in science?”).<\/p>\n

But, frankly, nobody’s going to pay attention if the cry of “wolf!” has already been heard in clearly ludicrous cases like DeLay’s.<\/p>\n

“I believe the most damaging thing that Tom DeLay has done in his life is take his faith seriously into public office, which made him a target for all those who despise the cause of Christ,” Scarborough said, introducing DeLay on Tuesday. When DeLay finished, the host reminded the politician: “God always does his best work right after a crucifixion.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In many ways, there are parallels to Cynthia McKinney<\/a> in this case (which is amusing on so many levels). Racial bigotry and the like are quite real. But they become discredited<\/a>, or automatic outrage over them becomes muted, when the “race card” is played. It lets folks say, “Well, yeah, that guy claimed he was beat up by the cops because he was black, but, hey, it’s probably just another case like that whack-job congresswoman who who thinks if she’s restrained by a security guard because she walked past without her ID that it’s all because of racism. Sheesh.”<\/p>\n

McKinney, by the bye, has kinda-sorta apologized<\/a> for the incident — or, at least, sort of, for hitting the capitol policeman. She hasn’t apologized for playing the race card. And, I suspect, if Tom DeLay ever does time for his crimes, he won’t apologize for his supporters playing the “War on Christians” card, either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The problem with religious loonies that spout off like this … There are those who would say Tom DeLay lost his job as House majority leader because he was indicted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20732,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/04\/13\/unblogged-bits-wed-13-apr-11-2330.html","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":0},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Wed. 13-Apr-11 2330)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 13-Apr-11 11:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Texas GOP Rep. Introduces Sharia Ban Because He Heard Sharia Is A Threat On The Radio, Asks \u2018Isn\u2019t That True?\u2019 - Stay classy, Texas! Walker And Prosser Crushed Regulations On Koch Industry\u2019s Phosphorus Pollution\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marriage Equality"","block_context":{"text":"Marriage Equality","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/marriage-equality"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12093,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/11\/21\/note_to_texas_baptists_in.html","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":1},"title":"Note to Texas Baptists: “Interreligious” really does mean more than “Christian Interdenominational”","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 21-Nov-07 6:33pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Texas Baptists (at least the folks at Hyde Baptist in Austin, Texas) don't seem to be aware of the distinction. Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, the city's largest interfaith organization, announced...","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133418,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/07\/trumps-wall-faces-its-biggest-opponent-texas-landholders.html","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":2},"title":"Trump's Wall faces it's biggest opponent: Texas landholders","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 7-May-17 10:13pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Despite being on the border, and facing all sorts of problems because of it, the Texans who would be most directly impacted by Trump's Great Wall are the ones who are most opposed to it. (Emphasis mine.)'Indeed, those closest to the perceived dangers of illegal immigration are providing perhaps the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131027,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/08\/the-struck-down-texas-anti-abortion-laws-served-their-purpose-sort-of.html","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":3},"title":"The struck-down Texas anti-abortion laws served their purpose … sort of","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-Jul-16 5:07pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Abortions in Texas in 2014 were, overall, down -- but precipitously down among Latina women, at least as far as official statistics go. There was a recorded uptick in women going to neighboring states but indications that a lot of those abortions changed over to medicinal abortions using less-safe meds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133019,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/03\/12\/delaying-science-for-fun-and-profit.html","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":4},"title":"Delaying Science for Fun and Profit","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 12-Mar-17 4:06pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Because if you can make it more difficult for the EPA to use scientific studies -- require repetition of experiments (or exclude studies you can't repeat) and disclose all raw data (even if it's based on medical records or trade secrets), then you can delay scientific conclusions.If you delay scientific\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11887,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/01\/08\/affirmative_fiat_2.html","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":5},"title":"Affirmative fiat","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 8-Jan-08 2:22pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in my debating days in high school, \"affirmative fiat\" was the assumption that the proposed legislation by the affirmative side (the one debating in favor of the resolution) would...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8833\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}