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Marketplace religion peddlers can't cry foul
Q: Is there widespread media bias against Christianity? Against evangelicals such as Brit Hume and Sarah Palin? Against public figures who speak openly and directly about their faith? Against people who believe as you do?
Ross Douthat, in his January 11, New York Times op ed, outlines the bargain that American democracy makes with religion -- or at least half of it.
He rightly says the price of American citizenship is that you may not coerce your neighbor's conscience against his or her will or use the power of the state to propagate your religion. In exchange, he writes, you are allowed to practice your faith pretty much as you want and even talk about it in the public square. So far, so good.
But the rest of the deal is this: if you do exercise your right to peddle your faith in the marketplace of ideas, you cannot cry foul when somebody criticizes you or refuses to buy what you are selling. True, the critique should go to what you say, not to your right to say it. But Christians, of all people, should understand and fully expect some degree of resistance. Open your Bibles. Jesus assumed in the Sermon on the Mount that we would be criticized for following him. Then, in Matthew 5:11-12, Jesus goes on to tell us to rejoice and be glad when we are reviled, persecuted and falsely accused on his account.
Yes, some in the media are biased against Christians; some are not. Just like in the rest of life. But as Martin Marty has pointed out on this Web site, this hardly amounts to persecution -- in the sense that Christians in other parts of the world understand the term.
Let's give thanks for the absence of persecution in this country and redouble our resolve to learn to discuss our religious differences with greater civility.
By
J. Brent Walker
|
January 13, 2010; 1:31 PM ET
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Posted by: MycroftH | January 18, 2010 11:12 AM
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Just because Christ predicted that such bias will exist doesn't mean that in a free society Christians should refrain from calling out jerks who attack them.
Posted by: Publ1us | January 15, 2010 7:17 PM
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With such contributions to "the cause" as Pat Robertson's laying blame regarding the Haitian earthquake, why do evangelicals think they are subjected to media scrutiny?
Posted by: prouddem | January 14, 2010 2:24 AM
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Now this is a clear and reasonable opinion. And thank God, (and a clearheaded perception of religion and God), for it!
"Let's give thanks for the absence of persecution in this country and redouble our resolve to learn to discuss our religious differences with greater civility."
Here here!
Posted by: justillthennow | January 13, 2010 2:21 PM
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A Washington Post op-ed article based on principle instead of ideology! Will wonders never cease? Thanks so much to Walker for an article singularly lacking in hyperbole and notable for defending the core ideas that our founders wisely determined were essential to a working Democracy.