Liberal “Tolerance” About Religion

Liberal University of Wisconsin Milwaukee faculty member Bryan Kennedy is challenging James Sensenbrenner for the U.S. House of Representatives.

He has posted a tantrum, directed against “conservative religious zealots” on folkbum’s rambles and rants blog.

Owen at Boots and Sabres has done an excellent job deconstructing the “tolerance” of liberals to spew hatred of religious conservatives:

You gotta love liberals. Bryan Kennedy, who has served as Sensenbrenner’s whipping boy in the past, has a post up on Folkbum’s site. He starts out by slamming conservatives as “zealots” who “tell me how to live my life” and spout “hatred.”

[. . .]

Then he goes on to tell us that he is Mormon and that the Mormon faith teaches us how we should run our lives.

Despite conservative personal behaviors, Latter-Day Saints are also very progressive collectively. The Church has its own welfare system and we take care of people during hard times. The LDS Church has a worldwide charitable arm that functions in areas of natural disaster, famine or war to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Our women’s auxiliary regularly provides meals and assistance to families when a new child is born, a parent is sick or there is a death in the family. We take seriously the passage from the Book of Mormon, “When ye are in the service of your fellow being, ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:17)

So, he is saying that is it wrong and hateful for other people to use their faith as a basis for their political philosophy, but it’s acceptable if you’re a Mormon.

And, of course, at the end:

“I have worked hard and been poor. I cannot judge someone else because I do not know what setback they have suffered. I give and don’t ask questions.” That is my example of progressive religious values.

Ah yes, we can’t be judgmental, can we? Unless, of course, you are a liberal and you are judging conservatives as hateful zealots. Then it’s okay.

There is an excellent Yiddish word to describe what liberals are showing when they talk about religious tolerance. The word is chutzpah.