The Persecution....it never stops!!!!1!!

Teehee. Thanks to PZ for this gold mine!

The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission (CADC) has prepared a Top Ten list of the most egregious acts of Christian Bashing in American in 2008. Every day in America serious Christians face increasing hostility at work, school, and in the culture because they stand for their faith and values.

How sad. How foul. How wrong. But, what exactly is this bashing? What "values" are you standing up for? And why do I have a feeling that I already know?

INSTANCE #10: Jack Black Musical Video

In a short video posted on FunnyorDie.com entitled, "Prop 8 The Musical," an all star cast of Hollywood celebrities perform a low budget musical farce that defames Christ, mocks Christians and distorts the teaching of the Bible.

Ahahahahaha. It would be hilarious if it weren't so pathetic and disgusting. You are being persecuted by a 3 minute internet comedy video, that is actually mildly tame, and doesn't mock your faith as much as what people do when they are using your religion as an excuse (namely, strip away the rights of others in order to make the law better conform to their belief system). When you get Prop 8 passed, and everyone else just gets a video and a few protests, it's kinda hard to play victim. But you pull off. Kudos for that.

INSTANCE #9: Bill Maher Gratuitously Attacks Pope

Bill Maher, host of the HBO program Real Time, made light of the Pope during his recent visit and the tragic sexual abuse scandal.

The same Pope who is almost universally mocked, even by other Christians? The same sexual abuse scandal that has been a joke for at least 3 years now; a generous amount of time after the original revelation of it, and even longer after the Church, that noble institution, was aware of it? You people need to get out more.

"But really, what tripped up the little cult on the prairie was that they only abused hundreds of kids, not thousands all over the world. Cults get raided; religions get parades... If you have a few hundred followers and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If you have a billion, they call you Pope."

Heh heh. Come on. Bill's got to get bonus points for speaking the truth, and making it funny at the same time!

INSTANCE #8: ESPN Anchor Dana Jacobson's "F--- Jesus" Remark

Speaking at an ESPN corporate event in Atlantic City, N.J., to honor ESPN Radio personalities Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, Dana Jacobson let go with a steam of vulgar remarks; "F--- Notre Dame," "F--- Touchdown Jesus" and finally "F--- Jesus." Jacobson

Wow. Does that really count as Christian bashing as much as just drunken shouts in the form of stream of consciousness? I mean...does the phrase "fuck Jesus" inherently constitute Christian bashing? If you were to replace "Jesus" with the name of any other religion's deity of choice, would it count as a "bashing" of that religion? I don't really know, since "Christian bashing" thus far has been 1. parodying Christians who used their religion as an excuse to take away gay marriage, 2. making fun of the Pope, and 3. showing disdain for their figure of worship. Is it bashing of your beliefs, your actions, or your leadership that qualifies as "Christian bashing"? Or is it anyone of the three, meaning that an insult directed at a Christian, an action by a Christian, any form of Christian beliefs, or any Christian institution counts as "bashing"? Well...I guess we'll see...

INSTANCE #7: Minnesota University Professor Desecrates Communion

A Biology Professor from the University of Minnesota, Paul Zachary Myers, recently desecrated a consecrated communion wafer from a Catholic Mass. Meyer's has also asked people to steal the Eucharist for him in order that he might desecrate it and display it on his blog.

Way to spell his name two different ways from one sentence to the next. And to also, as per usual, ignore that the desecration was in protest to the reactions against another "desecrator". I guess that this could be any of the above forms of "bashing" mentioned above, though. Didn't help me narrow it down a bit!

INSTANCE #6: Religulous the Movie

Bill Maher released a very shallow, pseudo-intellectual documentary entitled Religulous. The movie did not cover any new intellectual ground. It simply raised the old attacks on the faith. Maher studiously avoided being fair and did not allow for legitimate Christian answers from any leading Christian intellectuals.

Never occurs to these people that the religion being questioned is its popular manifestation, and not the strange, contradictory and compact theologies that Christian intellectuals have whittled their own individual interpretations of the faith down to. Oh, and that those "old attacks" are rarely ever dealt with satisfactorily. It was never intended to be anything but "shallow" and claiming otherwise is just....well, odd. It was supposed to be a comedy, afterall. (And how is this movie "Christian bashing", when it is critical of religion in general, rather than, you know, "Christians"?).

INSTANCE #5: Chaplains Fired for Praying in Jesus' Name

Chaplains for the State of Virginia are being denied their right to pray in Jesus' name. Six chaplains were fired for continuing to pray in Jesus' name. Earlier this year in Virginia, Rev. Hashmel Turner, a city councilman in Fredericksburg, was told by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that his prayers during city council meetings that ended in Jesus' name will continue to be banned.

Separation of church and state, bitches. That isn't "Christian bashing". It is removal of Christian privilege that you never should have to begin with (as far as can tell...not sure about why there are "chaplains for the State of Virginia" in the first place).

INSTANCE #4: Colorado Law Criminalizes the Bible

SB200, a Colorado state bill recently signed into law, criminalizes the Bible. Section 8 of the bill entitled "Publishing of discriminative matter forbidden" makes publishing the Bible illegal because it contains anti-homosexual passages.

Ahahahahaha. That is hilarious. Probably an unintended consequence though. Hardly sounds like they were explicitly setting out to ban the Bible, and just so happened to incidentally ban it in an overzealous ban on hate literature (which, in all honesty, I don't actually support. Free speech, even for douchebags). Hardly "Christian bashing" due to that.

INSTANCE #3: Barack Obama Defames Christianity

According to research into President Elect Obama's own statements about faith, and an examination of Obama's position on moral issues, CADC has determined that by any biblical and historic Christian standard, Barack Obama is not a Christian, although he claims he is a "devout Christian."

How in the name of refurbished FUCK does any of that count as "defaming Christianity" or "bashing" of any form? Just because he isn't a fundamentalist, that counts as Christian bashing? This seems like it is just a retarded potshot at Obama "teh sekrit Muslem!1!", nothing more.

INSTANCE #2: Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin Is Attacked

Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, came under sharp attack by some in the mainstream media because she self-identifies as a Christian. The Washington Post published a cartoon by Pat Oliphant mocking Palin because she has a background as a Pentecostal/Charismatic Christian.

Sorry, but Pentecostals and Charismatic are ridiculous, and most Christians would say so too. If that makes half of Christendom "Christian bashers", then maybe you should reconsider what the hell you are talking about.

INSTANCE #1: Radical Homosexuals Assault Prop 8 Marriage Supporters in California

During and after the November campaign stories flooded in of pro-Prop 8 signs being taken, people verbally and physically assaulted, church property and private automobiles vandalized, and person's jobs and pastor's lives threatened simply for exercising their right to campaign and vote in support of traditional marriage.

So, your number one and number ten instances of "Christian bashing" is entirely "bashing" that you received in the backlash of taking away the right to marry from gay couples in the name of Jesus? A single tear rolls down my cheek for you. I don't agree with the vandalization, threats, or violence. But, you also can't say that these organizations and the people in them were just innocently going down to the polling place and are beyond rebuke. They voted to take other people's rights away. The people who supported such a thing are not free from, at very least, a wagging finger and a raised voice or two (as long as their own, yet to be voted away rights, are not infringed upon in that scolding).

BONUS INSTANCE: Senator Grassley's Abuse of Power

US Senator Grassley, a member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, has demanded the financial records of a number of very prominent conservative, evangelical broadcast ministries.

Okay. That tears it. I have no fucking idea what "Christian bashing" means.