THE MCJ

HISSY FIT

Something called the Religious Coalition for Baby-Killing Reproductive Choice is just a bit cranky about the recent US election:

At a press conference organized by the pro-abortion Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), representatives of the Religious Left expressed deep angst about the recent U.S. election results.  And they warned the Bush Administration not to heed the agenda of socially conservative voters.

“The leaders of the Religious Coalition are outraged at the underlying message of the election story—that religion and morals are the exclusive property of social conservatives,” exclaimed RCRC president Carlton Veazey.  RCRC, founded 30 years ago, is a coalition of mostly mainline church agencies that lobby against all potential restrictions on abortion.

Democracy blows, doesn't it, Veaze?  Particularly when you represent such a vast number of people: 

Other participants in the November 9 press conference were from the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, Catholics for a Free Choice, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

So I don't care how many votes George Bush got and I don't care how few members we have.  The stupid Nazi bigot should listen to us:

“We will not be defined or confined by narrow ideologies and fear-mongering politicians,” Veazey warned.  He urged the Bush Administration to be open to religious groups that support “reproductive choice.”

There was a lot of Christian love in that room.  Jim Winkler of the Methodists got this racist blast in:

Jim Winkler of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society condemned the “Religious Right” for siding with the Republican Party and for being “overwhelmingly white.”  Winkler said, in contrast, that “we” represent diverse America.  

Pot, kettle, kettle, pot:

It is not clear whom he meant by “we,” but the United Methodist Church’s U.S. membership, like the membership of other mainline denominations, is over 90 percent white.

Barry Lynn was as hysterical as he usually is:

Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State was more outspoken.  “The culture war is real, and it’s about to go nuclear,” he declared.  He insisted that most voters did not support “banning abortion, gay bashing and tearing down the church-state wall.”  But the Religious Right was creating this false impression, and the “Republican power structure in Washington” will “declare a culture war” whether the voters want it or not.

Lynn warned of an impending “theocracy lite” that would involve prayer in public schools, religious displays on public property, and restrictions on pornography.  The nation can choose a path where “religious dogma” replaces science and the Constitution, he suggested.  Or it can choose to respect America’s “religious mosaic,” he concluded.

While ECUSA's Katherine Ragsdale foamed at the mouth:

Episcopal priest Katherine Ragsdale, former chair of RCRC, regretted that the “radical right” had been successful in their “long-running attempt to highjack and trivialize the language” of faith commitment.   She condemned “wars of aggression, crony capitalism, and callous restrictions on medical procedures that protect…women’s rights,” as well as “abstinence-only education” and other forms of “lies, half-truths and manipulation.”

Easy, Kate.  Frank said that we in the ECUSA are supposed to be honoring our differences these days.

Ragsdale said that the “mainstream religious community,” in contrast to the “perversions of the Right,” will lift up a vision in which women can not only seek abortions that are “safe and affordable and accessible and legal” but will be “respected” and “honored” for their struggle.

Nice to know that the religious left still has one sacrament.  But cut Katie Rags some slack.  It's not easy to go through life constantly haunted by the fear that someone somewhere isn't getting an abortion.

Thanks to Andy at Rest Across the River.

Posted on 11/15/2004 6:24:58 PM , 23 comments