You might imagine that war, health care, poverty, AIDS, and other serious issues might top the list of concerns for Christians in America. You'd be wrong, though, at least according to Charles W. Colson. In Colson's mind, the biggest issue by far is the Ten Commandments.

The New York Times reports:

“I am almost glad that it is so outrageous,” Charles W. Colson, the evangelical Christian writer and Watergate figure, said of the ruling at a panel discussion on Tuesday on Dr. James C. Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” syndicated Christian radio program. “People today now realize and can make no mistake about it that what happens in the court has profound effects upon religious liberty in America, and it comes in a week when there may be a resignation on the Supreme Court.

“People in churches across America had better get busy and demand the right kind of appointments to this court,” he said. He added, “There is no bigger issue on the Christian agenda.”

I doubt that he’s merely “almost” glad. Because the decision didn’t say that Christians can use their majority status to abuse government authority by having the state promote their religion, Christian Right demagogues like Colson will use this to complain about how Christians are being persecuted. Remember that for the Christian Right, “persecution” really means “I don’t have special privileges and am treated like everyone else.”

“Those people who want to express their religious beliefs on public property should enjoy the same rights that we provide to those protesting the war in Iraq,” Mr. Istook said.

Is Istook an idiot or is he a liar who thinks that his constituents are idiots? It’s hard to tell sometimes. People who want to express their religious beliefs on public property already enjoy the same rights as those who protest the war in Iraq: those rights are to be able to gather in groups and, as private individuals, express themselves in public.

That isn’t what Istook and Christian leaders like him are seeking. What they are seeking is for the special right, otherwise denied to all others, to have their religious beliefs endorsed, supported, and funded by the state. Iraq war protesters don’t have granite memorials placed permanently in public parks. Secular humanists don’t have granite memorials permanently placed on court house lawns. That, however, is what Istook wants to see happen with the Ten Commandments.

Thus my question above: is Istook too mentally impaired to understand the difference, or does he actually understand the difference but is engaged in duplicitous and deceitful rhetoric in order to fool constituents whom he assumes to be too mentally impaired to see through his words? Once again, I don’t know, but I wouldn’t trust Istook under any circumstances and I pity the people in Oklahoma whom he represents.

Just business as usual for the Christian Right: lies, deceit, and stupidity.

Read More:

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• Ten Commandments