Digby’s got a great take on what he calls “god baiting” :

I hesitate to call this kind of lazy observation “religious correctness” because that gives the impression of an objection to rude derisive language about religion. This is something else. It’s “God-baiting” designed to put any critic on the defensive if the person they are criticizing is religious. (The right, interestingly enough, is using this and its close cousin, race-baiting, very effectively these days. Nice to see people on “our side” helping them out — again.)

Every secular “knee jerk liberal” has voted for religious candidates their whole lives. Indeed, it is impossible not to. You cannot get elected in this country if you do not profess religious belief. We have enthusiastically backed candidates who are from every religious tradition and from every region. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were both born again, southern evangelicals. We do not scorn religious candidates, period.

Lots of people have chimed in to voice their respect for religious freedom (which is kinda sad to realize that the mix of religious and political interests has become so toxic that people feel the need to reiterate their support for a basic right), but let me dust off a walf-written post that I’ve been meaning to finish for a while now. With apologies to Bill Maher for stealing his schtick, here’s a new rule :

Conservative Christians can’t accuse liberals of disrespecting their religion until they stop disrespecting it themselves.

Case in point, here’s something I picked up at the grocery store recently that you’d think religious people would find offensive :

Magic Healing Oils from the Bible? Now it’s been a few years since I’ve read the Bible straight through, but I don’t remember reading anything about aromatherapy. Granted, there’s the occasional mention of oil and, yes, Jesus does a lot of healing, but the last time I checked, those were supposed to be miracles, not two-bit parlor tricks than can be replicated by anyone who gives a buck to the cashier at Safeway.

And if you think throwing the word “Bible” onto a disposable new-agey “mini-mag” is a cheap and offensive way to try to trick Christians out of their money, the inside is even worse :

That’s right, ads for psychic hotlines. In fact, every advertisment in the magazine is for one of those fraudulent TV psychics. Considering that this is aimed in part at the same audience who thinks D&D, Harry Potter, and the Smurfs are forms of witchcraft that have no business in a Christian home, you’d think the blurring of the lines between Jesus and Miss Cleo would ruffle a few feathers.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case. At the same time that religious leaders are up in arms over Brokeback Mountain, a movie most audiences (to their eternal shame) would have to be dragged to, this little bit of sacrilege is among the impulse items at just about every grocery store in the country. Which of these two do you think is more widespread and insulting towards Christians?

You might point out that this is also sitting next to Star Magazine and Soap Opera Digest or that this doesn’t represent “true Christians”. Perhaps so, but look what I found at Hackman’s Bible Book Store, ChristianBook.com, and Parable.com.

Look familiar? It’s the same pseudo-Christian garbage selling at retailers who cater to an exclusively Christian audience. Is there an uproar over this sort of thing being sold to people of faith? Are James Dobson and Jarry Falwell planning boycotts? Of course not, because this is a little scam that they’re all in together.

So you think liberalism is insulting your religion? So be it, but don’t forget what Jesus had to say :

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Why are you wasting your time with foolish crusades with little scriptural significance like gay marriage, school prayer, and the like? Your God is being used as a marketing gimick. For those of you who have only opened a Bible on a Sunday morning, you might recall that the only time Jesus ever gets angry in the gospels is when he enters the temple and sees it overrun with money changers, yet here we are 2000 years later and Jesus’ most vocal (which isn’t the same as most devoted) followers are participating in a multi-billion dollar industry dedicated to exploiting religious devotion for monetary gain. I couldn’t think of anything more blasphemous if I tried. So if you want to defend your religion, you should start by trying to stop those who are working to make Jesus Christ the next Ronald McDonald.