Christianists' Double Standard on "Religious Freedom"

I have long argued that the Christofascists talk out of both sides of their mouths when it comes to the theme "religious freedom."  They want religious freedom - but only if they can inflict their religious beliefs on all citizens.  And as a new Barna poll indicates, gays are enemy No. 1 in the minds of the Christofascists, something that comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed the endless stream of lies and anti-gay animus that comes out of the Catholic Church hierarchy and the professional Christian crowd.  The Huffington Post looks at the poll findings and the rank hypocrisy of the Christofascists.  Here are article excerpts:

Half of Americans worry that religious freedom in the U.S. is at risk, and many say activist groups -- particularly gays and lesbians -- are trying to remove "traditional Christian values" from the public square.

The findings of a poll published Wednesday (Jan. 23), reveal a "double standard" among a significant portion of evangelicals on the question of religious liberty, said David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group, a California think tank that studies American religion and culture.

While these Christians are particularly concerned that religious freedoms are being eroded in this country, "they also want Judeo-Christians to dominate the culture," said Kinnamon.

"They cannot have it both ways," he said. "This does not mean putting Judeo-Christian values aside, but it will require a renegotiation of those values in the public square as America increasingly becomes a multi-faith nation."

29 percent of respondents were "very" concerned that religious liberties are under threat, and 22 percent "somewhat" concerned. Evangelicals were the religious group most likely to be concerned, at 71 percent.

Asked for their opinion as to why religious freedom is threatened, 97 percent of evangelicals agreed that "some groups have actively tried to move society away from traditional Christian values."

And 72 percent of evangelicals also agreed that gays and lesbians were the group "most active in trying to remove Christian values from the country." That compares to 31 percent of all adults who held this belief.

[W]hite evangelical Protestants were the most worried about religious liberty. It found them to be the only religious group in which a majority (61 percent) considered it under threat.

Let's be candid - these Christianists want special rights and seek to ride rough shod over the rights of other citizens.  They hold the rights of others in open contempt and in their view, it's all about themselves.