Joe Klein: Hoist by His Own Petard

Last updated on: May 9, 2013 at 6:10 am by Faithful Democrats

Joe Klein: Hoist by His Own Petard 2013-05-09T06:10:09-06:00 Faithful Democrats

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.

Time magazine’s Joe Klein has been under fire in the liberal blogosphere for deriding “left-wing extremists” without naming names — or, in the case of Atrios, naming names without providing evidence. Early on in the brouhaha, Klein was challenged to back up his claims, and he responded by drawing up lists of some of the beliefs that he thinks constitute extremism on both the left and the right.

These lists contain a juicy contradiction on religion. In laying out the criteria for extreme lefties, Klein assails those who “dismissively mock people of faith, especially those who are opposed to abortion and gay marriage.” Then in his list of the attributes of right-wing extremists, Klein proceeds to do exactly that, condemning people who:

Believe there are inferior religions
Believe… that Israel is absolutely wonderful, and that when it achieves full dominion over its Biblical lands — especially Judea and Samaria — a great battle will be fought and Jesus will descend from the clouds
Believe that homosexuals are condemned to hell
Don’t believe in evolution but do believe in social Darwinism

Notice not just the assertions, but also the tone. Isn’t Klein “dismissively mocking” people who hold religious beliefs that, truth be told, are not uncommon? Thus, isn’t Klein behaving a lot like the left-wing extremists he derides?

Surely, tens (if not hundreds) of millions of Americans believe Christianity is the one truth faith — and, therefore, that “there are inferior religions.” Millions of Americans also accept the book of Revelation as a strict and literal prediction of future events, believe God created our planet in seven days, and see homosexuality as a truly egregious sin. Agree or not, these views abound.

Is this wide swath of America really “extremist”? If so, what meaning does “extremist” even have? And either way, is Klein’s contemptuous tone really necessary?

For a couple of years now, there has been a debate between liberal bloggers and people like Jim Wallis over whether there really is a “secular left” worth criticizing. Looks like Joe Klein has unwittingly but clearly put himself in that category. And liberal bloggers have been happy to nail him for it.

Kudos to Matt Yglesias for being, as far as I know, the first to identify Klein’s slander against millions of religious voters. Kudos also to Atrios for supporting Matt on the point that religious exclusivity really only becomes a political concern when it’s a pretext for exclusivity in public policy, and to Pastor Dan for pointing out that while Klein is wrong to dismiss conservative religious folks as extremists, there aren’t as many of them as is commonly believed.

Update: The first version of this post had the word “Hoisted” rather than “Hoist” in the title. I thought both were OK, but after reading comment number #1 below and doing a quick Google search, I gather that one is right and one is wrong!

Later update: Atrios links here and makes a fair point: Christians who consider their religion to be the “one true faith” are actually more intolerant than so-called “militant” atheists like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins who proselytize their unbelief. Many of those Christians, after all, think the atheists are consigned to eternal damnation; the atheists just think the Christians are morons.

I agree that both sides are intolerant in their way. That’s not a value judgment on either side; it’s just the truth. But if we’re going to offer a calculus by which to measure intolerance, tone surely must factor in. And though Dawkins, et al, don’t think conservative Christians are going to hell, they sure provide a stiff dose of nastiness in the here and now.

Of course, people of faith can get nasty, too. I’d much rather deal with the supposed intolerance of a fair-minded atheist than spend 10 seconds locked in a room with, say, Bill Donohue, the Energizer bunny of bile. Maybe Dawkins and Donohue can settle things on Celebrity Deathmatch while the rest of us try to carve out decent lives for ourselves in the real world.

Featured Writers

Previous Post

March 2, 2007

Dobson, the Heritage Foundation, and the Poor

Next Post

March 7, 2007 Counting homeless, don't forget to house them

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Us About Us Action Center Advertise Ask a Theologian Ask a Theologian Blogs Books Campaign Blog Candidate Spotlights Commentary Donate Facebook Featured Writers Fellows Fellows From the Pulpit General Information Hillary Clinton Interfaith Blog Latest Media Center Media Center Media Center MyBlog MyBlog News Newsflash Newsflashes Our Team Reader Blogs RSS Sermon of the Week Shop Social Networking Static Items Support Talking Points Test blogs The Basics Theology Uncategorized YouTube

Select a Month November 2020 October 2020 February 2020 August 2019 July 2018 July 2017 March 2017 February 2017 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 June 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 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 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 January 2006 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Three of the four beasts from Daniel's vision are: a bear with three ribs in its mouth, a leopard with four wings and four heads, and a terrifying beast with iron teeth and ten horns. Which beast is missing?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A bull breathing fire A lion with eagle's wings A dragon with seven heads A ram with two sets of gilded horns