I've always hated labels. And "boxes." You know, the kind that some people immediately want to put you into when you express a particular viewpoint that doesn't line up with theirs. African-Americans strongly resented (rightly so) the stereotyping of their race by the use of various characteristics being shown on television or other media as "typical" of all blacks.
So it is with the phrase "The Religious Right." It's a term that has been accepted in the minds of millions of Americans as being any individual who is: (1) Religious, particularly Protestant or Catholic; and (2) Conservative, which interpreted today, means one is against abortion and for the death penalty, plus a litany of other strongly held views, typically deemed by the media and the liberals as being "moralistic" or views passing "a morality litmus test" with the Religious Right holding the Answer Sheet.
Paul Hill's murderous attack at the abortion clinic in Florida has been described by most of the media as coming from the "religious right." But that is misleading. None of the "religious right" people I know espouse his actions. Mr. Lindel Brothers is the Executive Director of the Lake County Women's Center, a Merrillville, Indiana clinic which provides an alternative to abortion and offers a wide range of supports to pregnant women. Brothers' position is that "It is never right for a Christian or anyone to murder another person for any reason, abortion or otherwise." When asked if he supported the conviction of Mr. Hill, he replied: "The law and evidence is pretty clear of his guilt."
Even a cursory glance at the Bible (which this nut in Pensacola claimed to espouse) would tell anyone that Hill is in the same class as the "Wacko from Waco," David Koresh. The Bible Hill claimed to follow told him to LOVE his enemies. "But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you," -- Luke 6:27. (Hill's ignorance of his own Bible was unquestioned by a media apparently as ignorant of it as he is.) And love doesn't tote a shotgun. Christian love carries a Sword "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" Eph. 6:17.
Hill is no more a representation of Christianity than was David Koresh (or any of the other "nuts" who claim to murder in the name of God or Allah). And he does not represent this rather vague, amorphous thing the media has pulled out of its soundbite file called "The Religious Right."
If the media really wants to put a "tag" or a "soundbite" applicable to Hill or any of the other "loonies", try one of these: "Anarchist;" "Murderer"; "Crazy;" "Nut Case" "Jonesy."
They've all got the right slant.
But, "Religious Right?" Well, "religious," maybe.
"Right?" Not in any sense of the word.
And Christian? Never.
The End
