DAILY KOS "ON FAITH AND VALUES"

Okay, I stated before that I don't think Kos, or Markos Zúniga of the lefty blog Daily Kos, is a smart man, but his latest post is so simplistic and juvenile it is amusing (mine are lazy not simplistic... some are theologically on target with some complex issues, as my pastor friend states). Also the string of posts responding to his brief thoughts on faith and his interpretation of Christianity allows me to assume a good percentage of his readers are the left-wing version of right-wingers who believe pro wrestling is real. Some comments are pretty funny.

My friend, Max, and other smart liberals need to speak up about topics like this one because Kos just lowers the quality of the discussion (some of my comments follow his statements... i'm slithering down his hole):

I have been a militant atheist all my life. Not militant in wanting to destroy religion, but in keeping it out of the public sphere.
(kos, atheism with you on its side is kicking ass. increase of church attendence last year along with the vast majority of America believing in God.)

But I have come to a conclusion recently that has startled me, obvious as it seems to me in retrospect -- it wasn't religious language that bothered me, it was the "values" promoted couched in religious terms.
(those aren't couched. they are real enough where many people try to live by such ideals daily. stop being preachy.)

I would cringe -- and continue to cringe -- when politicians and religous figures cite scripture to justify hatred towards gays or any other class of people. But I don't cringe when scripture is used to justify poverty relief, or conservation ("protecting God's creation"), or social security ("honor thy mother and thy fathers"), or oppose the death penalty, or oppose the war.
(Really, Kos? How many politicians or religious figures from the past decade can you cite that justify hatred towards gays or class of people? Are these but a couple in your lifetime? Maybe throw in a few fringe, thinkers like yourself?)

What we have in this country is the hijacking of religion by an ideological faction that is using their supposed moral authority on behalf of three narrow issues -- abortion, stem cell research, and gay rights. Meanwhile, the Bible tackles myriad issues, most of which align with liberal/progressive thought. So when did "life" become just abortion, and not war and the death penalty and even associated issues like post-natal care (child mortality is still an issue of life and death)?
(Hijacking of religion? Ideological faction? Wow. This is mainstream Christianity I assume you're referring to with tens of millions of followers in the U.S. Pretty large group to be hijacking there. Who's coordinating this incredible endeavor? Karl Rove? And yes, the Bible aligns itself with liberal and progressive thoughts, but not your type of liberal and progressive thoughts. That's why millions of Christian Democrats have been leaving your party for decades. I'll stop degraded myself. You are a tool.)