Christianist Crocodile Tears

It's a bit mind boggling, but the Christo-fascists like James Dobson and Tony Perkins and similar religious fanatics who do not hesitate to condemn and bad mouth others are whining and shedding crocodile tears over being referred to as the "Religious Right." These folks are as un-Christian as they come, lie incessantly, knowingly cite bogus research, and have turned bay bashing into a cottage industry, yet they cannot stand the fact that their own hateful actions have now given the term "Religious Right" an extremely negative connotation - especially among younger voters who are increasingly flocking to the Democratic Party. One account of the disingenuous tears is at Right Wing Watch which describes the whining as follows:

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It seems that leaders of the Religious Right are tired of being associated with the Religious Right because nobody likes the Religious Right. Unfortunately for them, they are the Religious Right and that is what we are going to keep calling them . . . . If the phrase "Religious Right" has negative connotations, it probably stems primarily from the fact that the people who have traditionally represented the Religious Right have caused it to, you know, have negative connotations.

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When people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson go on television and blame the 9/11 attacks on "pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, [and] all of them who have tried to secularize America," that is the sort of thing that tends to create negative impressions about the Religious Right.

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Christianity Today provides some quotes from some of the worse hate merchants (e.g, Gary Bauer, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Tony Perkins of FRC, and a spokesman for Focus on the Family) who seek kid glove treatment for themselves even though they give none to others. Perhaps if they did not act like fascists and did not make hate towards other their stock in trade the term would not be viewed so negatively. Here are some highlights:

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However, several politically conservative evangelicals said in interviews that they do not want to be identified with the "Religious Right," "Christian Right," "Moral Majority," or other phrases still thrown around by journalist and academia. "There is an ongoing battle for the vocabulary of our debate," said Gary Bauer, president of American Values. "It amazes me how often in public discourse really pejorative phrases are used, like the 'American Taliban,' 'fundamentalists,' 'Christian fascists,' and 'extreme Religious Right.' "

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[M]any groups would rather distance themselves from the Religious Right, even though they may agree on several political issues. Richard Land said he corrects numerous reporters who call him a leader of the Religious Right, explaining that he represents a group of Southern Baptists who would probably consider themselves conservative evangelicals.

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Coming up with the best term to describe religious groups who are politically conservative can be tricky for writers. Rice University sociologist Bill Martin, who authored the book With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America, resists the term "religious conservative" because it has connotations with a group that identifies itself as theologically conservative.