Nashville News Blog

Obama's being mean to Jesus

The upside to the Obama presidency: The professional victims of the Christian right now have a lot more to complain about. Their latest round of oppression: "Obama's spending bill stimulates anti-Christian bigotry!"

So says the Traditional Values Coalition and other rightist groups. They contend that, because the bill bars construction spending on religious buildings, it's like totally prejudiced or something. Here's how this fiendishness goes down:

The stimulus bill has a chunk of money going to the "greening" of university buildings. But said money can't go to those used for "sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a department of divinity." Given that whole separation of church and state thing, it seems pretty straightforward, right?

Wrong, you heathen! Followers of the Mean Jesus know this is really a covert plot to ban Bible study from public buildings! "This should be called the ACLU Full Employment Act, since it will be a boon for their anti-Christian litigation," says the Traditional Values Coalition. "Unless these schools banish religious activity on campus," the ACLU will surely sue!

Of course, the ACLU doesn't actually have the time or the money to sue, say, Tennessee State for occasionally allowing a bible study group to meet in its student union. But when you're a professional victim, you can't let the slimmest possibility of oppression just pass you by, can you?

"This is just the beginning of the aggressive anti-Christian discrimination that we will face over the next four years," says the coalition. Consider yourself warned.