I do have contempt for those who have spit on me, threatened me, pushed me etc… I did not view christians as hateful until that time. Has nothing to do with liberalism, God, or faith – but pure human hate.

BTW, those experiences kept me well away from accepting Jesus as my savior. It was only many years later that I finally came to Christ and I still oppose the actions, thoughts, heart of those “christians”.

“it refers to the reality that contempt for Christianity and Christians is woven into the warp and woof of contemporary (post-60s) liberalism, which constructs Christianity as a form of “hate” or “fascism””

When factions of Christianity supported slavery, they were racist…when factions did not support the right of women to vote, they were sexist. Now, the factions that do not support equal rights for the GLBT population are seen as?

I’m not sure that liberalism is doing the constructing of christianity…it seems that Christianity has done a sad job in constructing itself.

Warp and Woof? I think you may be reading too much into contemporary liberalism. I agree that there is some disdain for conservative Christianity in liberalism, just as there is disdain for liberal Christianity among conservative people. Here, again, though we run into a problem with definitions. I have yet to find someone who can adequately define a liberal – it seems to have a different definition depending to whom you are speaking.

I think the “contempt” that you feel exists among SOME liberals for SOME Christians, has more to do with religious extremism – when some Christians try and legislate their particular beliefs onto society and onto those who disagree with them. I think we see the harm that religious fanaticism can do when we look at places like Afghanistan and Iraq.

I believe that it is possible in this melting-pot of a country for us all to learn to get along and to love our neighbor – what strikes me as interesting is that the same religion that taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves, can, at times, make it difficult for people to do just that. We need to learn to respect everyone, and to treat everyone equally – that includes people of all faiths, liberal and conservative Christians, as well as gay people – many of whom are Christian as well. Each one of us deserves to have our voice heard (within the bounds of reason), and to have the same rights and privileges as the other.

I’m still confused? Is that term meant to suggest that all liberals hate Christ?