This is in response to Religious (Il)literacy: The Christian Left Finally Stands Up... Again by ecclesioleft. I've written about this before in Some musings on fear and the religious left, but ecclesioleft's excellent writing sparked a few other thoughts.
It seems to this Pagan that a big part of the problem is that progressive Christians are not public as Christians who happen to be progressives. They allow the worst of their faiths to dominate the public discourse by default.
Is it that hard for a liberal Christian minister to call a press conference to denounce a specific statement by Dobson or Falwell? Where are the organized campaigns to flood newspapers with liberal Christian views on abortion, gay rights, and pacifism when those issues are being demonized by the Religious Reich?
I can understand why liberal Muslims are shy about denouncing their faith's lunatics -- the latter are perfectly happy to kill the liberals (see today's story on the front page at Kos about the Taliban murdering teachers who dare to teach girls). There are certainly plenty of Christian gun-nuts in America who would target publicly progressive Christians, should many of them become well-known, so standing up as such does require courage.
There's a significant difference between standing up as a progressive and mentioning your religious beliefs, and standing up as a person of faith who is a progressive because that's what your faith demands.
When pluralists are fighting dualists, it is always hard for the liberals to be as forthright and agressive as the conservatives are. Much of this has to do with class issues ("only lower class people get rude over religion") and the dualist attitude that being even slightly like one's opponent makes one "just as bad" as they are.
So I want to hear progressive Christians saying loudly, publicly, and as rudely as necessary to get media space, "Hey we're Christians and we think James Dobson is a fascist pig and not a real Christian!" "Jerry Falwell is an un-Christian fool who warps the gospel for profit and power!" "The 'God Hates Fags' campaign is demonically inspired and un-Christian!"
Your bishop may excommunicate you, or the Vatican defrock you, but none of us progressives will think badly of you for giving the Religious Reich a rhetorical bloody nose. Because when you don't shout as loudly as they do, no one hears you; you might as well not be here at all, as Christians, because the general public then continues to think that Christianity is all about the anger, hatred, and fear spouted by the right.
This isn't something us non-Christians can help you with. As non-Christians, we're instantly demonized and our opinions suspect. Only the progressive Christians can save their religion's soul -- and it won't happen by speaking in timid, polite whispers.