Conservative: Dems Demonize Christians

The House passed a mammoth defense spending bill Monday evening, but only after a Republican congressman was forced to take back remarks accusing Democrats of "demonizing Christians."

The rhetorical warfare came as the House considered a proposal by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., to put Congress on record against "coercive and abusive religious proselytizing" at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., criticized Obey and Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who offered a similar condemnation of academy officials earlier this year on another bill.

"Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians," Hostettler said.

Democrats leapt to their feet and demanded Hostettler be censured for his remarks. After a half-hour's worth of wrangling, Hostettler retracted his comments.

The imbroglio broke out as the House conducted an otherwise routine debate on a $409 billion spending bill to fund the Pentagon budget and provide an additional $45 billion for the war in Iraq.

The $45 billion would bring to $322 billion the amount provided for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other U.S. anti-terror efforts around the globe since 2001.

The bill passed by a 398-19 vote after Republicans rejected Obey's amendment by a mostly party-line vote of 210-198.

The House instead approved by voice vote a Republican plan requiring an Air Force report to Congress on the steps it was taking to promote religious tolerance.

At issue is how Congress should respond to allegations of proselytizing and favoritism for Christians at the Air Force Academy.

The Air Force is investigating numerous allegations of inappropriate actions by academy officials, including a professor who required cadets to pray before taking his test and a Protestant chaplain who warned anyone "not born again would burn in the fires of hell."

Obey said a senior chaplain at the academy was transferred to Japan after criticizing what she saw as proselytizing.

Republicans said they did not want to jump to conclusions before the investigation was complete.

"We don't prejudge that there is abusive proselytizing," said Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

"If you tell Christians they can't tell others about their faith, then they can't exercise their Christian religion," Hostettler said later. He said proselytizing involves a forced conversion to Christianity, something that did not occur at the academy.

Democrats criticized Hostettler's remarks, which began, "The long war on Christianity in America continues today on the floor of the United States House of Representatives."

Obey said Hostettler's "outburst ... is perhaps the perfect example of why we need to pass the language in my amendment."

Hostettler, a Christian and social conservative, made headlines last year when he was caught carrying a loaded handgun in a carry-on bag in the Louisville, Ky., airport. He pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon and received a 60-day sentence, which he will not have to serve unless he has other criminal troubles before August 2006.

The underlying bill contains $3.3 billion less than requested by the administration for the Pentagon and shifted those funds to tightly-funded domestic accounts, a move opposed by the administration.

In a statement, the White House budget office said it would strongly oppose any further shift from the Pentagon. That statement was aimed at the Senate, which is on track to move $7 billion from defense to domestic accounts.

It is commonly assumed that whatever money is shifted from defense accounts to domestic programs will be replenished when Congress takes up another emergency spending bill for the Iraq war next year.

Obey said that at current spending rates, the $45 billion provided for Iraq will only last for about six months after the start of the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Democrats leapt to their feet and demanded Hostettler be censured for his remarks

American soldiers serving this country are like Nazis. Fine, no problem there. Democrats demonize Christians? By golly censure that!

The arrogance of modern Democrats/Communists confounds me. These people have absolutely no sense of what is right and what is wrong. They should be embarrassed by their behavior, their willingness to stand by a man who insults those willing to die for this country and their outrage over someone telling the truth about them.

I despise the so-and-sos.

It is strange....but this helps a bit to understand the current Marxists thinking!

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Unholy Alliance
by David Horowitz
Regnery Publishing, Inc.; ISBN: 089526076X
Hardcover - 256 pages (September 2004)

In this tour de force on the most important issue of our time, David Horowitz, confronts the paradox of how so many Americans, including the leadership of the Democratic Party, could turn against the War on Terror. He finds an answer in a political Left that shares a view of America as the “Great Satan” with America’s radical Islamic enemies. This Left, which once made common cause with Communists, has now joined forces with radical Islam in attacking America’s defenses at home and its policies abroad. From their positions of influence in the university and media culture, leftists have defined America as the “root cause” of the attacks against it. In a remarkable exploration of the “Mind of the Left,” Horowitz traces the evolution of American radicalism from its Communist past to its “anti-war” present. He then shows how this Left was able to turn the Democratic Party presidential campaign around and reshape its views on the War on Terror.

Horowitz’s Unholy Alliance, writes John Haynes, the noted historian of American Communism, “is an insightful, brilliant examination of the mental world of the radical left. Horowitz shows how today’s radicals, unwilling to reflect on the internal flaws that destroyed Marxism-Leninism from within, have embraced an all-consuming nihilism in its place. This has led them to a hatred of American institutions and a solidarity with Islamic terrorists that makes the radical left more properly regarded as dangerous than loony.”

Unholy Alliance is an eye-opening book that should unsettle conventional assumptions and reveals why intellectuals and political leaders who applaud Michael Moore are no laughing matter. As Harvey Klehr, author of Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, writes, “The world Communist movement may be moribund, but its habits of mind and ideological fantasies have not disappeared. This is a fascinating and depressing account.”

Price: $19.01 - Click here to order:

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