And I doubt anyone else is, either. And yet, he goes to great length to speak authoritatively about what “the left” is like.
So, what does Farah think I’m like?
The left hates religion. It hates God.
Except I don’t. I actually love religion. In fact, I’m a religious follower myself. But, you see, Farah isn’t talking about any or all religion, he’s talking about Christianity. To him, none of those other religions matter or exist.
More specifically, Joseph Farah doesn’t even mean all expression of Christianity, either. No, to him, “religion” doesn’t just mean “Christianity,” but “Christianity that looks exactly like i think Christianity should look like.” All those Christians that disagree with his views? They don’t exist or matter, either.
But here’s the thing, even if we redefine “religion” to mean “the kind of Christianity that Joseph Farah appreciates,” his claim that I hate it is simply untrue. I don’t hate his religion. I don’t believe in it, that’s for sure. I think it’s worthy of deep and lengthy criticism for a number of reasons. But that is not the same as hatred. Farah’s choice to conflate my disbelief and criticism as hatred makes any honest communication impossible.
His claim that I (and all progressives) “hate God” is troublesome for the same reason.
It doesn’t recognize any behavior as sinful, with the possible exception of voting Republican.
I will admit that “sinful” and “sin” are not parts of my vocabulary. However, that does not mean that I don’t have ethical standards of any sort. Indeed, there are several things that I find highly unethical. Here’s a short list:
- Using force, deception, or manipulation to get someone to do something they do not wish to do.
- Allowing systemic oppression to continue unchallenged.
- Treating others as being less deserving of dignity than oneself.
Farah acts as if the only ethical standards that matter is who someone is or isn’t having sex with. The fact that he completely ignores all of my other ethical standards is quite telling. Again, it shows a level of dishonesty on his part.
The rest of Farah’s article is equally garbage, but the above points serve to demonstrate one clear fact: Farah is not interested in giving people like me an honest hearing or encouraging his readers to do so. He is much more interested in painting us as some sort of monolithic force that matches his straw liberals.
Quite a curious position for someone who goes on to complain about “the left’ vilifying people like himself, don’t you think?
He sounds like he has ex-girlfirend syndrome. Can’t see anything good in her, even though he used to love her. As a left-leaning evangelical I suppose I must be an oxymoron to him.