Castelli on the "War on Christians" Conference

I was listening to C-Span yesterday and Washington Journal had Rick Scarborough on talking about the role of relighion (specifically Christianity) in politics. While most of what he said wasn't that surprising (he thinks if you are a Christian it is your duty to be involved in politics and to push forward the "Christian agenda")he said one thing that really got my attention. Now this is as best a recreation as I can do from memory but... They got on the subject of illegal immigration and Scarborough made a direct connection from abortion to illegal immigration. he said somethin along these lines.

"I think that abortion is directly responsible for the lack of workers that would be doing the jobs that the illegals do now."

uh...scary

Ed: thanks for the pointer. I would never have seen the essay otherwise. Speaking to teachers tomorrow on the persistence of the Colonial period in modern American politics and culture and the essay will be useful in that regard. But that aside, informative and blessedly [no pun intended... well, maybe a little one] well-writen.

Here's an interesting addendum to Castelli's article which shows how easily the religious right forgets how things really were in early American history: Talk To Action

flatlander wrote:

Speaking to teachers tomorrow on the persistence of the Colonial period in modern American politics and culture and the essay will be useful in that regard.

That sounds interesting, can you give more details on what you'll speak about? In many ways, we are still refighting the battles that were fought during the formation of the nation. The same three sides of the separation question were represented then by accomodationists (Washington, Adams), separationists (Jefferson, Madison) and outright theocrats (Patrick Henry and others). The real difference is that the religious right position back then was that the Constitution was a godless document that would bring down the wrath of God upon us. Sometime in the mid-20th century, they suddenly reversed themselves and began arguing that the Constitution was a Christian document all along and "leftists" and "secularists" have distorted that history. It's not much question which side is really distorting history.

Here's one of my favorite bits:

But what of the biblical Jesus and his message of nonviolence and nonresistance? As Rick Scarborough explained it at the end of the panel on persecution, all of those demanding gospel values -- submission, tolerance, turning the other cheek -- are fine in one's private life, but they have nothing to do with the public mission of the church. As for those who draw attention to the gospel's message of nonviolence, this is simply a matter of "the Left using our own tradition against us."

So "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" only applies when you're alone? And "Cut up the concubine!" is how you're supposed to behave in public?