The Values Voter Summit 2009 Conference, which just concluded its run in Washington DC, was filled with what you’d expect from conservative, "faith based" Americans. Take a look at their List of Exhibitors and you can see the focus of this farce. Or check out their List of Speakers and you may need a shower. They openly state on their site that "The war is raging…" and see a path to Christians "taking back this country". You can call this a conservative gathering, but as we’ve all noticed, it’s much more accurate to call it a "faith based" gathering, as most conservative gatherings have become.
I can’t say it enough, and I won’t stop saying it, that we must work diligently to purge our government of "faith", as it relates to the work of day to day governing. The real problem is that faith based Americans are not just filling up the base for conservative America, they’ve also merged into our own political actions and groups, groups committed to securing equal rights for all LGBT Americans. How did this happen and how is it continuing? I’m not saying Christians or any other people of faith shouldn’t be involved in the fight for equal rights. Quite the contrary. What I’m saying is that within that battle for rights, that portion of any activist, their faith, should remain silent. It works against us, holding up the arguments of the other side. And frankly, as I’ve said before, I look at anyone who constantly promotes themselves as "a person of faith" as someone not playing at the adult, rational table of dialogue. Keep that for your church group. We’re dealing with reality here.
"Faith" is defined in the dictionary as "a belief in something for which there is no proof". Again, fine for anyone in America to choose that method of thinking, but it has no vocal place in our government or politics, where reason and logic are the steadfast building blocks of debate. We’re working on factual, concrete issues of a rational nature, yet we continue to fluff up our ranks with the voices of Americans whose primary system of day to day operation is driven by "a belief in something for which there is no proof". Forgive me, but in a battle which must operate from a foundation of reason and logic, I’m not comfortable with those who might make decisions based on faith. If you think these faiths don’t color every other motive in a person’s life, take a look at the following videos.
The first video is from Lila Rose, who says that abortions should be conducted in the public square until we’re so horrified that we see (what else?) angels. Then there’s an incredibly twisted interpretation of the Constitution’s separation of church and state. Finally, there’s Carrie Prejean, displaying what little brain power she has to make her right foot follow her left on a daily basis. Another example of how faith twists a person’s reasoning. How does she not see the unbelievable irony in her statement about intolerance? Delicious? Yes. But if there’s one thing people of faith have taught us historically, it’s that no matter how crazy it sounds, these systems of belief can, and do, easily restrict the civil rights of others.
