Douthat and Religion: Blessed Be the Blind
P. Schultz
July 14, 2012
This is a very strange column by Russ Douthat. Strange in
that it seems to be his argument that religious liberals, “Christian liberals”
should adjust their beliefs in order to “stay in business.” That is, never once
in this column – as near as I can tell – does Douthat consider the possibility
that “Christian liberals” actually believe in, say, the legitimacy of “same sex
marriages.” Because if they do so believe than they have another issue
altogether different from the one Douthat thinks they have.
Moreover, does Douthat think the “conservative Christians”
are maintaining their conservatism for the sake of “staying in business?” I
think not as he seems to assume that they maintain their beliefs because they
actually and legitimately believe them.
And, finally, Douthat never offers his opinion on just what
“Christianity” should be or, rather, become. Like so many others, Douthat
writes as if “Christianity” has had a clear and unchanging meaning over the
past 2000 years plus. And one gets the impression from Douthat, as one gets
from many others who concern themselves with protecting “Christianity,” that
is, their version of Christianity,
that recent changes, especially changes from the “liberals,” constitute the
first substantive changes affecting “Christianity.” In other words, Douthat
writes as if the Reformation had never occurred or, more generally, that there
is no Christian history .
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