THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407010011
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: PERRY MORGAN
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
William J. Bennett leaves some questions hanging in his spirited and artful defense of the Christian right. A former GOP secretary of education and a possible contender for his party's presidential nomination, Bennett says the conservative Christian political movement is ``now on the receiving end of an extraordinary campaign of bias and prejudice.''
He accuses Texas Gov. Ann Richards of labeling these Christians as ``hatemongers;'' the Anti-Defamation League of saying they peddle ``fear, suspicion and even hatred;'' and New York Times editorialists of referring to conservative Christians as ``sinister,'' ``retrograde'' and ``exclusionist.''
Assuming no problem with context, Bennett certainly is right in charging that critics of the Christian right are ``often guilty of the things they profess to be offended by: intolerance, mean-spiritedness, divisiveness and even bigotry.'' Moreover, he's fair-minded enough to add that some of the group he defends also ``are guilty of overheated, offensive and reckless statements.'' He gives no names, though, suggesting the offenders are from the ``fringe'' and that it is fundamentally unfair to tar the movement with the excesses of a few.
Of course. But Jerry Falwell is worth mentioning in at least two respects - by name: (1) He's a leader of the Christian right. (2) He peddles a videotape in which President Clinton is accused of murder.
According to a New York Times report, the Rev. Mr. Falwell touts the tape as featuring ``the people who know the truth.'' These people include Gary Parks, son of an Arkansas investigator who was shot to death last fall. Offering no evidence, Parks says: ``I think Bill Clinton had my father killed to save his political career.'' The reverend describes Clinton as ``the most radical and controversial president in our nation's history'' - a silly statement obviously calculated to inflame. Then there's Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion group, who has said ``Bill Clinton is a tyrant, he's a monster.'' And Pat Robertson who has speculated that White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster's death was a homicide rather than a suicide.
Well, it's a free country, and politics ain't beanbag. And the recent complaints by the Clintons against scandal-mongering cannot disguise the fact that their own conduct has provided grist for propaganda mills. Some of the footings of their high moral stances may not withstand scrutiny of all the investigations now under way.
But Bennett misleads when he suggests mortar fire is raining down on humble millions trying to find their way back to the America of 30 years ago (which he says issuewise is where the religious right now stands). There's bazooka fire coming from the front ranks of these columns; it is aimed not alone at the policies but at the persons of the Clintons, and it is striking the presidency as well as the president. This is vengeful and destructive behavior and those who share it or cheer it should expect to get the same sort of criticism their leaders are dishing out.
Bennett has too much intellect to pretend otherwise. And it is not honorable for him to suggest that those who criticize the politics of the Christian right also are attacking Christianity. It would be far more constructive for Bennett to explain those politics - to show how the right, put in power, would achieve its agenda (quoting Bennett) of ``safe streets, good schools, strong families, non-intrusive government and communities where people care for one another.'' This is the promised land.
As a potential Moses, it would not be amiss for Bennett to lay out some directions and erect a few guideposts for getting there. Small chance, though; Bennett's priority is a place in the bosom of Falwell and other sanctified advocates of verdict first, trial later. MEMO: Mr. Morgan is a former publisher of The Virginian-Pilot and The
Ledger-Star. by CNB