As leftists, we've grown accustomed to many frauds and, these days, that's especially on our side. There's a new faux movement led by such losers as The Nation magazine and Bill Keller of The New York Times to challenge/explore/ridicule the Christianity of Republican candidates for president.
For those who've forgotten, it was less than three years ago that the same 'judges' were insisting Barack Obama's religion and religious background were off limits.
You can't have it both ways.
More importantly, all those pieces you do on Islamic tolerance look like pure crap as you go to great extremes to attack Christians. You may think you're playing fair, but you're not.
And a number of prominent lefties have done more than their share to falsely promote the notion that you can't be left and a Christian. That has hurt the left more than many will ever know.
It's past time that the Katrina vanden Heuvels of this world grew the hell up and stop sticking their huge noses into the religious worship of others. If you want people to respect the right of Muslims to worship freely, then you better start respecting the rights of others to practice religion as well.
And if you ever want to arrive at the point where you stop saying, "Gee, I wish there were more Black people participating in this rally/protest/march," and instead actually have a significant Black presence at your rally/protest/march, you better start grasping the power of the Black church and how you piss on it with every 'let's all laugh at the nutty Christian' piece you type up or deliver over the airwaves.
None of that means you can't call out homophobia, sexism or racism in any religion. But you better do so fairly and across the board.
We don't have time for your cheap stunts, Katrina vanden Heuvel. We can't put up with your continued efforts to destroy the left in order to elect Democrats for whatever current election cycle we're in.
The left needs to be rebuilt. And not because Democrats need votes. The left needs to be rebuilt because the corporations have more control -- and, in fact, now they have personhood -- than they've ever had in this country. We need an active left that can fight for the people.
That means bodies and minds. And that means respecting that some of those bodies and minds have beliefs in souls and choose to worship.
That doesn't mean we attack all the non-believers The Nation and The Progressive chooses to publish. It means we recognize the right to worship as surely as we do the right not to worship and we welcome all who want to stand for equality and the people.
Illustration is Isaiah's "Barry & Bully" from June 28, 2009.