Mac-Coleman

15 September 2011 –

Governor Rick Perry was in Lynchburg, VA, yesterday (?) to address the students at Liberty University. This is the university that Reverend Jerry Falwell founded. Lawrence O’Donnell used this event last night on his MSNBC show The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell as an opportunity to comment on Governor Perry’s being a Christian. It seems that Mr. O’Donnell commented in a way that infuriated some conservative commentators. Good. Governor Perry is a Christian. Good. Any criticism from the left wing means that Governor Perry must be doing something right. Apparently, Mr. O’Donnell made a comparison or contrast to the Savior’s condemnation and execution by the government to Governor Perry’s use of the death penalty in Texas to execute criminals. To be sure, this criticism is coming from someone who once said in the Huffington Post, "[U]nlike you, I am not a progressive. I am not a liberal who is so afraid of the word that I had to change my name to progressive. Liberals amuse me. I am a socialist. I live to the extreme left, the extreme left of you mere liberals." This is the self-description of the replacement for Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. ‘Nuf said.

In the same vein, I am disturbed by the ever-increasing use of the name of deity in a less-than-respectful way. Actors scream His name in anger or frustration or disgust as their dialogue of choice; commentators and political pundits refer to Him or throw out His name in convoluted or twisted arguments to criticize believers. In fact, it has become so common to talk in such a profane way that the texting acronym OMG certainly does not shorten from Oh My Goodness. By doing so, not only do people denigrate deity, but they denigrate themselves in the eyes of so many Americans who still hesitate slightly when they refer to their God, and only in a sacred setting. Even those who call themselves believers are becoming more common—in the archaic sense of the term—with the use of the name of deity. Not smart politically. Not smart at all.