Culture Warriors Crying Wolf

Last updated on: January 16, 2014 at 5:32 pm by Alan Noble

Culture Warriors Crying Wolf 2014-01-16T17:32:50-07:00 Alan Noble

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image: Facebook

Soon after publishing deceptive stories on the two cases of VA hospitals allegedly banning religious expressions of Christmas, Todd Starnes reported that a California elementary school teacher “allegedly confiscated a six-year-old child’s Christmas candy canes and told him ‘Jesus is not allowed in school.'” Although Starnes correctly used the word “allegedly” to denote that we don’t actually know for certain if this is an accurate account of what happened, he clearly and snarkily assumes it as fact later in his column:

It takes a special kind of evil to confiscate a six-year-old child’s Christmas gifts. In this age of tolerance and diversity, public school educators seem to be under the impression that they can bully and intimidate Christian boys and girls.

They are sorely mistaken and I’m glad the Advocates for Faith and Freedom has exposed the West Covina Unified School District’s repugnant treatment of Isaiah Martinez.

And a week later, reporting on another alleged incident of religious discrimination in schools, Starnes implies that this is a rampant problem, stating, “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of my tax dollars being used to pay the salaries of public school teachers who humiliate and bully Christian boys and girls.”

Today, First Things published a brave and much needed article by Korey D. Maas, an ordained pastor in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and a very close spiritual mentor and friend to the public school teacher who “allegedly” (and “evilly”) told the six-year-old boy that Jesus was not allowed in schools. Maas calls Starnes’s reporting, as well as the similar pieces in The Blaze and The Daily Caller, slanderous, and specifically calls them the slander of a pious Christian woman:

In slandering this woman, conservative and Christian media have made it even more difficult to take seriously the many similar stories in which some Christian’s rights are trampled. This is no way to wage, much less to win, a culture war.

When I wrote last month of Todd Starnes’s deceptions and manipulative and destructive reporting, I was disappointed to see mostly liberal sites carrying the story. A few Christian publications and public figures shared and linked to the piece, but only a few (specifically, The Christian Post, Relevant Magazine, and Jonathan Merritt), so this piece from First Things is encouraging to read. More Christians and conservatives should care about “conservative and Christian media” who slander and deceive, because this kind of deception gets in the way of real conservative Christian work, as Maas points out.

Maas draws our attention to another insight into our culture war: when we are so quick to jump into battle, without carefully researching and learning the nuances of a situation, we will often make a fool of ourselves and hurt other people, even other believers. Our rush to judgement has consequences. Starnes tells us that “It takes a special kind of evil to confiscate a six-year-old child’s Christmas gifts.” What kind of evil does it take to slander a sister in Christ and to deceive readers?

Of the Moment

persecution

Todd Starnes

Previous Post

January 16, 2014

Downton Abbey: Things We've Lost

Next Post

January 17, 2014 Journey through the Judgement House

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz