Focus on the fundies: the victimology of the powerful

The LA Times has a piece about anti-gay and "ex-gay" groups getting a foothold in public schools.

Just as conservative Christians demanded equal time for Genesis whenever Darwin got a mention, ex-gays and their allies are insisting on equal time for their views whenever homosexuality is discussed.

Precisely. While most people were scratching their heads wondering why the anti-evolutionists were even bothering, fundamentalists managed to change the debate on evolution. Instead of attacking the science of evolution head-on -- a fight they could never win -- they took a page from the other side and simply asked for their beliefs to be taught alongside science. Now they're asking for hatred to be presented alongside, and as if it were coequal with, diversity.

Then, courtesy Chr. Today, two pieces:

First, Michelle Goldberg on AlterNet on The Tyranny of the Christian Right, about:

(right-wing Christians') conviction that true Christianity must govern every aspect of public and private life, and that all -- government, science, history and culture -- must be understood according to the dictates of scripture. There are biblically correct positions on every issue, from gay marriage to income tax rates, and only those with the right worldview can discern them. This is Christianity as a total ideology -- I call it Christian nationalism. It's an ideology adhered to by millions of Americans, some of whom are very powerful. It's what drives a great many of the fights over religion, science, sex and pluralism now dividing communities all over the country.

Second, an op-ed from the Ft. Wayne Ind. Journal-Gazette, about the strange disconnect between the reality of the rising influence of the religious right and their concurrent claims of persecution from "humanists" and "secularists." The writer, an Indiana sociology professor, points out how odd it is for special interest groups to cry they're being persecuted while they occupy powerful places in society -- as if having only three or four Supreme Court justices who agree with most of their positions, from a personal standpoint if not as a matter of law, marks some kind of threat.

About the AlterNet piece -- the comment thread is entertaining, especially the guy who writes:

George Bush is no Christian, born again or otherwise. Rather, he is a Luciferian Illumininist working for the New World Order. The goal of the New World Order is to destroy Christianity and replace it with the worship of Antichrist.

Along the way, the diabolical plan is to TAKE OVER religion, to bribe and corrupt it, pay Christians money to leave their Bibles and the gospel home, and to become, in effect, government social workers and agents.

As John Lennon said, Imagine a world with no countries, no possessions, no religion, with everybody living for today.

fundamentalists, right-wing Christians, Michelle Goldberg