Out of the Mouths of Demagogues

More Christianist Newspeak, this time from the horse's mouth:

"We use that word — Christian — to refer to people who are evangelical Christians," Schneeberger added. "Dr. Dobson wasn't expressing a personal opinion about his reaction to a Thompson candidacy; he was trying to 'read the tea leaves' about such a possibility."

So now the word "Christian" only refers to those who have Dobson's permission to call themselves that. I would guess that leaves about 80% of those in this country who profess Christianity out in the cold. Must be nice to make words mean whatever you want by fiat. (Hereinafter known as the "Caterpillar Syndrome," for all you Alice in Wonderland fans.) And James Dobson "reading tea leaves." Isn't that witchcraft?

Here's Dobson on Romney:

"I still think that might be an impediment for him," Dobson said. "There are conservative Christians who will not vote for him because of his Mormon faith. I'm not saying that's the correct view or my view.

He's not saying it's not either. Have you noticed that about him? (Aside: a friend from my auction house days once said that retail jewelers are about on a par with rug dealers, which is two steps below used-car salesmen. Jus' sayin')

Andrew Sullivan refers to the "encouraging contempt" in these comments. Yeah, there's a minor dose of opposition to Dobson and what he stands for, but what's really an eye-opener for me (and I guess I should read more comments on some of these conservative posts, but they start to sound like a broken record) is the level of blind acceptance -- one commenter called Dobson "a man of integrity." How you can say that about someone who habitually misrepresents facts, when he's not actually making them up, is beyond me. Some of the commenters have it right: Dobson's not a "religious leader," he's a politician hiding behind a Bible. This post seems to me to be much more on point. This comment, I thought, was choice:

Maybe knowledge from my childhood eludes me, but didn’t Jesus take issue with the Pharisees (and others) who prayed out loud in public and committed other “public displays of faith” (PDF, just as annoying as PDA). It is possible that I have been at my desk too long today but wouldn’t someone who talks openly about their faith in a public position (at least in the manner that Dobson seems to be hinting at) be behaving in the same manner?

Says something about the political arm of evanglical Christianity.

Digby has a post that touches on the basis of this whole phenomenon, in terms of the magical thinking that seems to the basis for supporting people like Dobson and other extremists (and, in case you were wondering, I do consider Dobson an extremist). I have to say, though, that I was pleasantly surprised to to read the very direct and unequivocal answers to the evolution question by Jonah Goldberg's and Charles Krauthammer. (As opposed to the waffling by the other pundits questioned.)