I tried to ignore this press release the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission put out earlier this week chronicling the “Top Ten Instances of Christian Bashing in America, 2008,” but now that it is generating coverage from right-wing outlets like WorldNetDaily and OneNewsNow, I suppose I should weigh in.
Among the instances that make the list are Funny of Die’s “Prop 8 – The Musical,” Bill Maher’s film “Religulous,” the so-called “firing” of several police chaplains in Virginia, and various other trumped up episodes.
But one of this listed instances did strike me as rather odd:
INSTANCE #3: Barack Obama Defames Christianity
According to research into President Elect Obama’s own statements about faith, and an examination of Obama’s position on moral issues, CADC has determined that by any biblical and historic Christian standard, Barack Obama is not a Christian, although he claims he is a “devout Christian.”
Apparently, Barack Obama considering himself to be a “devout Christian” is now taken by the Right as evidence of anti-Christian bigotry. Does that make any sense at all?
You’d think that Obama having his faith declared “woefully deficient” and the basic tenets of his faith mocked while his “religious commitment” is questioned might warrant inclusion in the CADC’s list of instances of Christian bashing – but no. Apparently, Obama’s being told he is not a “true Christian,” that he doesn’t “meet the requirements” to be a Christian and that his faith “tramples on the historic teachings of Christianity and the Bible” didn’t warrant inclusion either. Nor did his being told that he is the harbinger of the Anti-Christ who has “no right to claim” to be a Christian because he is “not a Christian by any Biblical or historic measure.” In fact, the CADC was probably the most consistent offender on this issue and even released its own seven-part video series leading up to the election in which they savaged Obama’s faith on a variety of fronts – yet it is not their overt and politically motivated attack on Obama’s Christian faith that warranted inclusion on their list, but rather Obama’s faith itself.
And that pretty much tells you all you need to know about CADC, its motivations, and its self-serving attempts at playing the victim
