I am writing to publically object to the statement made by Tim Wildmon on the May 11th edition of American Family Radio’s “Today’s Issues“, that liberals “don’t have the kind of family responsibilities most people have, and certainly not church responsibilities.” According to Media Matters, Wildmon (president of the American Family Association) made the statement during an interview with former Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA). American Family Radio is a network of nearly 200 radio stations across the country whose mission is “to inform Christians about what is happening in America.” It is operated by the AFA, which claims that it “represents and stands for traditional family values.” The AFA was founded by Tim Wildmon’s father, Donald E. Wildmon.

My comment: (you can send your comments to comments@afr.net)

What kind of a caricature is this?

1) There are a lot of liberals who are married and have children. We also take care of others in our kinship networks – like parents. It is one of the reasons we fight for quality healthcare, social security, medicaid and other programs that the far right would like to see discontinued. I myself am a wife and mother. I don’t know where anyone would get the idea that liberals are somehow different than “most people” in this respect.

2) “Certainly not” church responsibilities? Again, the liberal agenda includes many Christian values such as caring for the least among us, compassion, forgiveness, and so on – not the hate-mongering that seems to be in vogue among our current flock of Pharisees. Personally, I don’t think that God or Jesus would find the far-right agenda (which includes the slaughter of innocents, robbing of the poor, torture, greed and the like) to be terribly “God-fearing”, but each must decide for themselves according to their conscience and spiritual guidance. If you want to see an example of liberals with church responsibilities, look to almost any church in America. Read Anne LaMotte. Talk with Jimmy Carter. Just because liberals honor the wisdom of the separation of church and state does not mean that they do not exercise their right to freedom of religion. Perhaps you might read Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale – or better yet, take a look at where theocracies have gotten us in the middle east – to remember why separation is better for both. When combined, they are both corrupted further.

If you are really a Christian network, you could perhaps reassess your mission. There are all kinds of liberals as there are all kinds of Americans – this kind of framing paints us as all the same – just the “other” to yourselves. The far right seems to be moving further and further away from the Christian message in my view. In any case, this comment dishonors religious liberals and liberals with families and creates a false and deceptive view of fellow human beings. Is that what Christianity means to you?