Christophobia Part 2

There has been less than expected mention of the Rick Perry "I am a Christian..." political ad I commented on in my last post. Pollster Frank Luntz reported today that the ad polled under twenty percent among both Democrats and Republicans; fifty percent is the minimum number for an ad to be considered effective. I wonder if this means that even potential supporters of Governor Perry are uncomfortable with his openly Christian stance. If it is not that, perhaps people just don't like "negative" ads no matter how truthful they may be.

Perry is correct to say that there is a war on Christian values in our society. Objections to people saying Merry Christmas and lawsuits to ban nativity scenes from public property have surfaced again this holiday season. Bill Bennett rightly commented on Fox News yesterday that the only bigotry which is acceptable among the elite in America is that expressed against "believing Christians." (I suspect Bennett's Roman Catholic world-view allows for an oxymoronic non-believing Christian.) He is right; public figures and the media consistently bash what might be called fundamental Christian beliefs and practices while charging with hate crimes anyone who similarly denigrates Muslims, gays, blacks or any other group du jour.

Tim Tebow's streak ending loss on Sunday brought another round of anti-Christian commentary from people who obviously just don't get him. In the verbal run-up to the game last week a Democrat commentator whose name I never heard and don't remember made the quintessential elitist remark. Tebow's celebrated virginity was mentioned in passing and the Dem scoffed dismissively (I paraphrase,) "You know he got some in college; everybody does." It is beyond belief for the secular left in our society to imagine that anyone past puberty is not sexually active.

I have a theory that is not intended to be counter-dismissive or condescending, but it will be received as such by those about whom I theorize. I am of the opinion that there is an innate sense in every human that some things are right and some things are wrong. Sexual promiscuity tears at the heart of what is so clearly the fabric of civil society that it makes even libertines uncomfortable in their deepest hearts. If you want to get a heated discussion going, just bring up pornography, infidelity, teen pregnancy or any other sexual perversion. Believers who claim to practice sexual purity make the impure so uncomfortable they cannot help casting aspersions to assuage their guilt.

As I said before, Perry's ad touched both strings of this harp when he mentioned gays in the military and his Christian faith. Tim Tebow strums the same chord. Sarah Palin got the media salivating with stories of her daughter's pre-marital pregnancy and anything else they could hint about of a sexual nature. Because this subject is bound so deeply with what we are as humans, the Apostle Paul even tells the Corinthians that sexual sin is of a different nature than all other sins. Sexual perversion tinkers with the very core of what it means to be human.

It should be no surprise then that the media and the secular left jump all over any story that brings this up. It is sad to learn from recent polls that sexual sin is not much less prevalent in self-described Christians than in the society as a whole. Perhaps that explains why even conservatives, a group that ostensibly includes "believing Christians," are not responding more favorably to Perry's ad or coming more forcefully to the defense of Tebow or Palin. Perhaps we share the same guilt as the secular observers. Maybe this is a good time to remember Peter's admonition to keep a clear conscience so we can silence the slanderers. It makes for more peaceful sleep too.