From a viewpoint of having entered the neon-lit "Political Prejudice Parlor", the Wrong Reverend Tim Eyman attempts to make political and financial hay from current non-mainstream Christian hate chaff.

His recent grandstand ride around the rodeo ground waving a banner of righteous indignation and a "C'mon ! Let's get em!" rallying cry pretends moral indignation and assumptions about all Christians that in reality reflects the hate of a morally indigent minority.

That minority is not representative of real spiritually-based Christian ethics that ought to move religion forward and back to where it belongs - guiding a Good Samaritan attitude and avoiding self-righeous High-Priest buffoonery. Jesus did not impact the world from a position of self-righteous high-priestliness. His was a position of total empathy and participation in the human condition; a hands-on and no-shunning approach that overcame the efforts of high priests and empires to suppress and override one solitary man with one of the most powerful messages ever to come forth.

A change in attitude and behavior is necessary in order for Christianity to maintain a strong and positive influence in the world. Emphasis is on positive.

Where the loudest Christian mouths have brought us is to being equated to that extremely inaccurate parody of Islam that stokes flames of hate where none need exist.

When the rose-colored glasses are removed, one can see very little difference between the Taliban in Afghanistan and our American Pharisee's who not only preach equivalent judgmentalism, but use the same tactics ... mostly verbal now.

But let those big mouths and their elected Republican lackeys create a one-party state and that which Bishop Spong and others are working against will become quite obvious.

Though not in agreement with Bishop Spong who stated that "Christianity must change or die," I am in harmony with his understanding that literalist Christians may very well literalize themselves into inconsequential roles.

Or worse, become the cause of highly negative national and global consequences.

And unlike some Christian literalists, I'm not counting on any apocolyptic end times to interrupt our social corruption.

I'm not giving up, shrugging off humanity or buying into moral hubris thinking that Jesus will have to clean up the messes being made after eye-twinkling the morally self-righteous.

Eyman has joined the choir but sings an off-key tune and only the tone-deaf will be impressed.

© Arthur Ruger 2006