Assault of the Atheists (and other Conservative Fantasies)

Andrew Sullivan links to a timely George Will piece entitled "The Christian Complex." The point, as should have long been obvious, is that Christians aren't really being persecuted, much as they are enjoying whining about the big bad atheistic assault on America.

Some Christians should practice the magnanimity of the strong rather than cultivate the grievances of the weak. But many Christians are joining today's scramble for the status of victims. There is much lamentation about various "assaults" on "people of faith." Christians are indeed experiencing some petty insults and indignities concerning things such as restrictions on school Christmas observances. But their persecution complex is unbecoming because it is unrealistic.

This whole issue is very similar to Legal Fiction's "Outrage Industry" (also explored here) and my own fetishization of oppression theory. What appears for all the world to be, at most, minor slights to Christian Americans, are interpreted by them as a more dire threat to America than the Nazis. And, in yet another proof of the whole "the far left and far right are the same" hypothesis, it showcases the eerie similarities between the Christian far-right and multi-culturalist far-left. Here's a hint: they both really don't care for pluralism.

Conservative victimization is bordering on the edge of paranoia. It would be funny if it didn't have such drastic implications for the rest of the country.