Diss Christianists, Not Christians

by tristero

In re the Edwards bloggers dust-up many people including Digby have correctly pointed out that when it comes to religious bigotry (and bigotry towards gays), William Donohue is such a loathsome, anti-American theocrat as to be beneath notice when he rails against the presumed motes in the eyes of others.

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether the Edwards bloggers themselves crossed the line. Me, I don’t have an opinion beyond thinking that what was reported was so dull that I can’t see how it had the potential to interest, let alone offend, anyone. Nevertheless, much of our rhetoric about religion vis a vis politics remains naive, often obnoxious, unfocused, ill-informed, and counterproductive.

That this is so today, after 30 plus years of relentless assault by christianists (ie, fascists like Donohue who maliciously exploit this rhetorical failure for secular gain), is simply mind-boggling. It’s high time to develop a genuinely effective rhetoric to confront christianism. To be specific: It is one thing to criticize a person’s political actions, all of which are fair game. It is quite another to insult their religion, which is not.* Why? It’s not because it’s rude, it’s more important than that:

To attack the religious beliefs of someone like Donohue is to completely miss your target. That’s right, to mock Donohue’s religion is tactically useless. Because his christianism, not his Catholicism, is the danger. And it is a very, very grave danger.

Stated another way, the argument is that Donohue’s religious beliefs and practices are none of my, or anyone else’s business other than those in his church. His political actions most certainly are, and they deserve our full, uninhibited, and completely withering contempt. As for his craven hiding behind the skirts of priests to deflect criticism, Donohue and his fellow christianists, whatever their denomination, deserve widespread denunciation from the larger Christian community.

By blaming Catholicism for his vile politics, Donohue has hijacked the spiritual beliefs of all Catholics and demeaned their religion. I suspect that there are not a few extremely thoughtful and pious Catholics who are utterly disgusted by Donohue’s bigotry, which simply reeks of ignorance if not outright blasphemy.

Again, it is quite possible to respect a person’s religious beliefs while attacking them, without mercy, when they advocate theocracy and/or fascism. And it’s high time we did it better.

*I’ll leave for another time to discuss Dawkins’ and others who object to religious practice on principle. To place their arguments within the context of the American discourse on religion is not a trivial task. Suffice it to say that the Constitution and American jurisprudence is clear about a wall of separation so in a sense, whether religion per se is a good thing or a bad thing is not directly relevant here. American tradition is simply not to privilege one religious tradition over another.