Amidst the dross to be found at Religion News Service (dross churned out, in particular, by a goodly number of centrists most of whom, not coincidentally, have roots in Southern white evangelical churches, and who can't do enough to pander to the hard right while keeping those to the left of center out of their conversations), I recommend this gem by Tom Ehrich: he's commenting on what bears watching as the 2015 campaign gets underway:
We cannot have one more election when "Christian" becomes a convenient shorthand for bigotry and bullying done in God’s name while bearing no resemblance to anything God values.
I think it is time we stopped being naive about the current state of American democracy: These are ugly times, and the forces of decency in both parties are under assault. An entire movement seeks to cripple the U.S. government, lest people they hate receive any benefits of citizenship.
It is time for all people of faith to be active, not just those whose guiding star is white, male, straight power. We cannot sit back and wait for the bigots to run out of steam.
I surely do wish some of Ehrich's colleagues at RNS with strong roots in Southern white evangelical traditions that celebrate the hegemony of straight white men and define Christianity in patriarchal terms exalting the power of straight white men over everyone else in the world would pay careful attention to what Ehrich is saying here.
(I'm grateful to National Catholic Reporter for running this RNS article, too.)
The photo of Tom Ehrich is from his Morning Walk Media website.