Jonathan Chait, wrong in so many ways

Jonathan Chait has a commentary in today's LA Times which is wrong in it's premise, ignorant in it's reporting, and fatally flawed in it's logic. He claims that the "Christian right" is hypocritical because they don't want there to be any reporting on the "scandal" at the Air Force Academy, thus proving that the loony left is right (correct) in it's assumption that Christians really do want to ram the bible down their throats. Chait's premise is that Christians want to "impose their beliefs on everyone else", and are lying when they say they don't. He tries to show hypocrisy by claiming that the conservative press is not reporting on supposed instances of religious discrimination at USAFA. He wraps it all up with a point of logic that works only if one starts with the assumption that Christians really do want to impose their beliefs (circular logic in the 1st degree).

First of all, as a born again believer in Jesus Christ (as my Savior and as Savior to everyone who believes in Him), as well as a hard right conservative, I find the presumption that Christians want to impose their beliefs on the world a patheticly weak notion, and completely ignorant of the facts. Christians believe in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ through good works and proclamation of the gospel. It is antithetical to Christian teaching to impose the gospel on anyone. In fact, a person can only come to faith in Jesus by their own free will. This is not to say that some Christians do not act in a bad manner..............indeed some do. Yet the vast majority of gospel spreading is done by hard working "missionaries" who first feed and clothe, then preach. People like Chait, who do not know this to be true, cannot come to a correct conclusion on what it is Christians desire, and often end up ascribing evil motives to us. Worldwide, christianity is the most tolerant religion as well as the most generous.

Secondly, how does the fact that three news sources (cherry picked I'm sure) equate to a news blackout on the USAFA story? How many sources did Chait "search" to find the three he names? A quick Google search shows many"conservative" news sources reporting the story, including the San Diego Union/Tribune, Rocky Mountain News, Deseret News, The Daily Texan and the Jewish News Weekly, all sources where conservatives might read the story. Even more telling is that CNN and MSNBC are both listed in the Google search, but FoxNews is not. Yet a search of foxnews.com shows that it has reported the story, even reported it before CNN and MSNBC did. Fox News is far and away the main source of news for most conservatives (Christian and non-Christian). There's no hypocrisy in the fact that two out of three hand picked sources did not report a story. Publications pick their stories in the manner they see fit, and readers are free to read other sources. I'd venture to guess that more conservative Christians have read about this "scandal" than have secularist liberals. Why do I say that? Because it matters to us far more than it matters to them (they have won all the major battles in the last 50 years where freedom of religion vs freedom from religion was concerned)

Lastly, what is with the ridiculous logical mistake of claiming that "Most Americans are Christian, therefore the United States is a Christian country. Therefore, the institutions of this state ought to promote the religious views of the majority............."(the last part isn't worth repeating due to it's petty and insulting nature). Does Chait give a single example of any Christian American making this claim? I'll answer that..........NO! Why not? I'll answer that too. Because Christians in America don't believe it.............never have, never will. A logical statement would have been "Most Americans are Christian, therefore the United States is a Christian country. Therefore having examples of in America of Christians expressing their views should not come as a surprise to anyone"

I wonder how Chait and those like him came to their mistaken view of Christianity and what Christians want? As a young boy was he beat up by roving bands of bully Christians who insisted that he tithe his allowance? Perhaps during the school Christmas Pagent he didn't sing "Silent Night" as loud as the rest of the children, and thus became the object of intense scorn. As an adolescent was he force fed Christian views by authority figures.....maybe his drivers education teacher continually crossed himself and said the Rosary as Chait sat behind the wheel? As a grown up man has he had to work for a company that forced their Christian views on him, made him attend prayer meetings and revivals, or donate to Christian charities? I think none of the above. Yet he believes this is how we act, and preaches thusly from his pulpit at the LA Times