I have fallen into the habit of assuming the honesty, while doubting the political conclusions of Christian rightists like Cal Thomas. This morning, however, his column on the Schiavo case suggests I may have to rethink my assumptions.
Thomas contrasts a materialist philosophy with another that says "...we are created by an infinite, personal God who has a plan for every life in every situation and circumstance and that no one should take a life except under the most extreme circumstances and only through due process or in self-defense."
Oh, yeah? Where did he read that? In the Torah? The New Testament? I've found his formulation in neither. Just, "Thou shalt not kill."
Could it be that Thomas distorts religious doctrine intentionally, introducing caveats in order to justify capital punishment and war while taking up the cudgels for Terri Schiavo and the unborn? That is, coincidentally, how the White House sets out to win elections.
Note: The reference to due process is precious. Too bad this Constitutional scholar didn't cite other elements of the Constitution, like federalism or state's rights or individual rights. Of course, they all make it clear that the President and the Congress are in violation of the spirit as well as the letter of the nation's basic law when they intervene in this sad family tragedy. Guess he hasn't read that far.
I have consistently found the Christian right neither Christian nor right, but I have assumed its leaders were honestly wrong. My mistake.