Well done Friendly Atheist

Hemant Mehta, of the Friendly Atheist, has pointed out the obvious: America belongs to traditional Christians, too.  Unfortunately a few comments suggest the opinion that Christians had best get to the catacombs and ghettos where they belong has its supporters.   But others are squarely on the side of common sense.  Nonetheless, Mr. Mehta did the right thing, and it’s nice to see.

Bonus note: this seems to be picking up steam.  When I looked around for stories just a day or so ago, there weren’t nearly as many as there are now.  Russell Moore of ‘I’m past Evangelicals and the Culture Wars’ fame has chimed in, blasting Sanders’ desire to exclude traditional Christians from government service.  On the other side, James Zogby, representing the Arabic/Muslim POV, gives a thumbs down to Vought’s type of religious thinking.  FWIW, Zogby apparently misses the fact that there is a difference between what one does in a private, Christian college and the rights one has to serve in our government.  I’m giving the trophy to Moore in that round.  But then, call me an old softy, I think traditional Evangelical Christians ought to be able to serve in our government.

Meanwhile, in a parallel story, an Orthodox Christian leader took Turkey’s president to task.  What did Turkey’s president do?  He condemned America’s track record on religious freedom.  Turkey’s president.  Turkey.  Exactly what did we imagine would be the Orthodox response to that little blind spot?  I’m waiting for some Muslim leaders to come out and save the day on this little string of unfortunate signals.