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Randy Cassingham's BlogHistorical Details and Author's Notes from This is True®
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Scenes from Last Week, or: Religious Freedom II
Last week I blasted yet another yahoo that railed against me as an "anti-Christian". Before I go on, let me say something: I think people calling someone an "anti-Christian" is just as bad as accusing someone of being anti-Semitic. I think it's a very serious thing to do, since it implies I work against their religious freedoms. In fact, I work for true religious freedom.
But people seem to feel free to make such outrageous accusations and point fingers at the drop of a hat. And why are they accusing me of being anti-Christian? Because I passionately argued for religious freedom in this country -- something our Constitution is supposed to have already guaranteed, something Christians have benefitted from to a great extent, yet some would turn around and deny the very same right to others. I called that hypocritical, and I challenged anyone to read my argument for this incredible Constitutional freedom and let me know if they thought I was "anti" any religion. No surprise: no one did.
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Quite frankly, I get angry at such charges, and sometimes that anger shows. A few people think I overreact. That is, in part, because I excerpt the letters I respond to, and you haven't seen all the back-and-forth that might have taken place. And that is, in part, because they're not the ones being accused of bigotry for taking an egalitarian stand.
A couple of readers in fact expressed dismay at my vocal objections to those charges -- that is, how I worded my reaction to "Bryant in Kansas". (E.g., Bill in Texas: "I enjoy THIS IS TRUE, but I'm dismayed at your response to Bryant in Kansas. Not because of the subject, but at your unprofessional and antagonistic attitude when someone writes you with their own thoughts." Well, Bill, if Bryant had "thought", it wouldn't have been a problem. As for my professionalism, I'm a professional ranter; that's why people read True!) No matter how I approach such people, someone will be bothered. So be it; when people make vile, unjust and baseless accusations, I think that anger is a natural reaction.
So why do I publish such letters in the first place? Because I want readers to KNOW about the crap I get for sticking up for people's rights. And, quite frankly, that's what True is all about: showing just how stupid some people can be. ("What? He wants them dang foreigners to have the same rights as us Americans? Why, he must be an anti-Christian!") As I've said in the past, it's just fine if I make fun of something a cop does, yet I'm not labeled "anti-police". It's great if I make fun of something a stupid truck driver does, yet I'm not labeled "anti-highway transportation". People think it's just lovely when I rant against idiotic school administrators, yet no one thinks I'm out to stamp out education. Of course, to be fair, most people don't think I'm anti-religion, certainly not the hundreds of rabbis, priests, ministers and other clergy of many denominations that read True every week.
I did, of course, get lots of support for how I worded that reaction -- from Christians and "others" alike. Ray in Luxembourg, for instance, said simply, "Well put! Very brief, yet powerful." Darren in Missouri: "I, personally, am a born-again Christian. In fact, I work for a Christian radio station so I have to be very careful what it is that I talk about on the air. You're right on the money: it's not that you're bashing Christians, you're bashing idiots!! And, unfortunately, idiots worship in all religions and denominations. I think anyone (at least the intelligent among us) can appreciate it if the absurdity of a situation is pointed out -- regardless of the religious overtones. Thanks for sending out a great service, and God bless!!!" (Don't forget the hypocrites, Darren! Frankly, I think they're worse than idiots because they should know better.)
Ken in New Hampshire: "I'd like to suggest that Bryant is not a hypocrite nor quite an idiot but rather someone just smart enough to realize that his faith is not justified." Good point. I guess if he was secure in his faith, he wouldn't feel so threatened, would he? It's like the people who feel a need to prove things about their religions. If there was proof, they wouldn't need faith, now would they?!
Which brings me to Gayle in Scotland: "I'm not sure if you've said, or not, and I'm really not sure. Are you, yourself, a Christian? Or does that really matter?" Gayle, indeed I'm glad that it's unclear, because it doesn't matter -- it isn't, and shouldn't be, an issue here. I am secure in my beliefs, so I not only don't feel a need to justify them, I feel no need to "convert" someone else from their beliefs, even if I don't agree with them (since what business is it of mine?!) It leaves me able, when I see someone doing something stupid in the news, to report on their stupidity no matter whether they are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist or other, and whether they're a cop, a truck driver, an education commissioner, or anything else. It's what I do, and it's why the vast majority of readers subscribe!
So, am I really that angry? Heck no! Obviously I don't like people calling me a bigot, but I laugh at the stupidity of that more than fume at it. Just as most readers enjoy reading these back-and-forths. So take it for what it is: part of the entertaining look at people being stupid -- just the same as the rest of This is True!
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Most Recent Comments
Posted by Steve Gentry, Syracuse on April 9, 2007:
Give em Hell. And then give em a Get Out of Hell Free card. I like religious jokes, but some some of them don't have a sense of humor.
Posted by Neil, Manchester, UK on June 9, 2007:
I can see you're not anti-Christian. If I hadn't realised that before, the recent TRUE item about the mormon girl would have made me realised it. However, I can't agree with some of your comments about faith:
I am secure in my beliefs, so I not only don't feel a need to justify them, I feel no need to "convert" someone else from their beliefs, even if I don't agree with them
I am secure in my beliefs. The fact that my beliefs tell me something important about the world, which makes a difference, means that I have a duty to show it to others (and that I should listen to others when they fulful their duty to promote what they believe). Obviously, if I offend them in the process then I do no one any good.
It's like the people who feel a need to prove things about their religions. If there was proof, they wouldn't need faith, now would they?!
Do you mean prove things about their religions, such as the fact that they're not self-contradictory nonsense? If so, then I certainly feel the need to show that to others, because it makes a difference to how they view the truth of what I'm living by. If you mean prove the truth of the religion, then you're right, faith wouldn't be appropriate.
You're a professional ranter. You perform a valuable service by constantly pointing out hypocricy, the danger of zero tolerance, and other such things, and trying to prove the importance of acting against them. That doesn't mean you're insecure in your beliefs about them, does it?