Why are some in the Midwest simple? And why are some on the east coast such subtle sophists? In the article on Bill Frist's latest exertion against judicial independence (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/16/politics/16judges.html?), the New York Times quoted Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative Family Research Council (your writer is on their mailing list). Mr. Perkins bewailed the disarray of our morals and judiciary, saying, "For years activist courts, aided by liberal interest groups like the A.C.L.U., have been working under the veil of the judiciary, like thieves in the night, to rob us of our Christian heritage and our religious freedoms."
I was disappointed to see how Mr. Perkins' self-evidently true position, instead of being aided by his usual eloquence, was confounded by the simile 'like thieves in the night'. It seems to be an allusion to 1 Thessalonians which warns, "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." It is hard to believe that this defender of 'Christian heritage' would misquote the Bible he works so hard to defend and, sola scriptura, accepts as the only foundation for his faith. I can't believe that he thinks Jesus, like some wicked anti-Santa will come only to take away our heritage and freedoms. That would be blasphemy. However, it seems that things have not deteriorated so far that he does not have the right to misquote God's inspired, inerrant word.
In fact, Perkins does well in capturing the eschatological urgency felt in the current Senate debate. However, as a Christian I must object to his coded comparison of liberal (read: godless) judges and the coming Christ. Most of you, as secularists, should do so as well (He did, after all, use religious language in the public sphere!). If, as I suspect, he is not a fool, this Perkins seems to be an enemy both of Christian conservatives and of liberal secularists, a sort of liberal-loving mackerel snacker. Tony Perkins: a false religious righter in need of an outing.

posted by Matthew Schmitz   [2:28 PM]

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