Godly yahoos are making headlines here in the Tarheel state.
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Shelby, North Carolina, pastor Rit Varriale has decided to raise the so-called Christian flag above the American flag in front of his church.
“If a church already has a flagpole, start flying the flags in that order. If they don’t have a flagpole, go get one, and fly the flags in that order, so any person who drives by their church will see the Christian flag in the highest place and know they are driving by a church that has made the commitment to honor God before anything else.”
Have I ever mentioned that when people take this stuff seriously, they turn Christianity into an antisocial cult? I think so.
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As an indication of how pervasive the influence of religion really is throughout the fundamentalist, Southern Baptist south, consider this: In North Carolina it was until very recently unlawful to hunt on Sunday.
Baptists in North Carolina opposed to ending the state’s ban on Sunday hunting got some accommodation in a compromise measure passed by the legislature that prohibits hunting with a firearm between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Sundays, hours when most rural congregations gather for Bible study and worship.
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“The Christian Action League appreciates the sensitivity and respect shown by lawmakers in adding this provision,” said Creech, who broke with fellow conservatives in the National Rifle Association to oppose lifting North Carolina’s century-and-a-half ban on Sunday hunting. “Moreover, without such a provision, I am concerned other Sunday laws already on the books that show deference to the churches could be jeopardized.”
Creech, a former Southern Baptist pastor, said many people today view any effort to defend a special observance of the Lord’s Day as old-fashioned, puritanical and impractical in today’s complex economy.
“But the fact is, if we have no concern for setting aside one day a week for special worship and focus on the things of God, we’re not likely to honor the Lord the other six days of the week,” Creech wrote in a commentary. “If we are concerned about using all the days properly, we should also be concerned about using the Lord’s Day right.”
To his very modest credit, Creech is at least honest about his reason for opposing Sunday hunting: He wants to use the coercive power of government to compel everyone to live as though they are devout Christians. And besides, he knows dad will happily duck-out on listening to some ignorant yahoo bellow that he’s no damn good.
Or maybe he just doesn’t want for preachers to be easy to find by men who are carrying guns.