
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 13, 1994                   TAG: 9408050004
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PAUL SMITH
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FALSE NOTIONS OF CHRISTIANS' AGENDA

I AGREE with Cal Thomas' June 15 column, ``Cry of zealotry from pagan left reveals bigotry.'' I disagree with Robert Shipp's June 21 letter to the editor (``Resisting `creeping perversion''') where he answers yes to the question posed by Thomas: ``Is the pagan left suggesting that the imposition of the Christian right's morality is worse than this (the current spate of ``immortality'' in the USA)?''

Shipp's arguments only serve to buttress Thomas' contention. By asserting that ``history is replete with lessons of past impositions of Christian morality,'' and by listing the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, burning of witches in the 17th century and Prohibition as examples of Christianity gone awry, Shipp shows a fundamental misunderstanding of, and an intolerance for, people living their lives hermeneutically.

True, one can attribute much of man's inhumanity to man throughout history to religion. No one argues that religious people are, by rote, moral and just. But implying that such atrocities of history are the result of Christian morality being imposed on people is misguided. After all, isn't such behavior by definition anomalous to Christianity?

Imagine suggesting that we be wary of people of German descent seeking office in this country due to the maelstrom that was Nazi Germany, or that Jews be denied political clout due to Christ's crucifixion. Anyone suggesting such heresy would be labeled a bigot or anti-Semite. Why then do we allow Christians to be maligned and vilified with impunity by pundits of tolerance?

Probably because many have fallen for the false notion that the so-called Christian right only wants to place restrictions on our freedoms. The truth is that more shackles on individual liberties in this country originate on the political left than on the right. Although every society needs laws proscribing inappropriate moral behavior, Christianity is very altruistic, and not at all coercive or restrictive in its approach toward others.

If our Constitution's framers - many of whom, by today's standards might be considered fundamentalist, Bible-thumping zealots - could give us one of the most liberating documents in history, then why fear contemporary Christian men and women seeking political power? People truly sold out to a living God pose no threat to freedom; they pose a threat to legalism, hatred and bigotry.

Paul Smith of Salem is a rural carrier for the Hollins Post Office.

by CNB