Look beyond the headlines

Breaking news.

All conservatives are not Christians and all Christians are not conservatives.

I wanted to make that clear because I do not want people drawing the wrong conclusion about Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who admitted to posting an abbreviated version of a black woman's recent address before the NAACP in order to draw attention to that agency's alleged racism in July

Everyone who saw the clip was instantly incensed, and understandably so. In a few brief words, obviously carefully chosen and spoken, the woman looked to be the epitome of bigotry.

"Heads will roll!" seemed to be the immediate reaction to the clip. In fact, the woman's supervisor contacted her by cell phone as she was driving, advised her to pull off the road and submit her letter of resignation. Immediately.

Not so fast.

Context matters. As carefully as she had chosen and delivered her words, Breitbart was even more selective in what he chose to show her saying. Now, Breitbart may or may not be a Christian, but if he is, he needs to re-evaluate his understanding of the teaching about bearing false witness.

More recently, incumbent Florida Congressman Alan Grayson has approved an ad that shows his opponent, Dan Webster, repeatedly saying, "submit to me." The tag line on the ad reads "Taliban Dan."

Unfortunately, the quote used is greatly abbreviated from Webster's original remarks, wherein he actually says (paraphrasing Paul in Ephesians and Colossians), "Find a verse. I have a verse for my wife; I have verses for my wife. Don't pick the ones that say, um, she should submit to me. That's in the Bible, but pick the ones that you're supposed to do. So instead, love your wife, even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, as opposed to wives submit yourself to your own husband. She can pray that if she wants to, but don't you pray it."

Context matters. Webster was reportedly addressing husbands at a religious gathering about selecting biblical passages when praying for loved ones. Grayson, trying to discredit Webster, claims Webster is the Christian equivalent of Islam's Taliban, trying to force his world view on everyone else.

It seems everyone is quick to judge these days. And very few are interested in taking the time to investigate the claims being made.

Admittedly, although it doesn't make for compelling news coverage, Grayson would have been better served to show Webster's voting record, demonstrating his conservative leanings, letting voters decide.

Furthermore, if the NAACP is racist in its policies, that too could have been demonstrated by revealing the policies in question, again, letting the public make the call.

Instead, we end up with these knee-jerk, emotional reactions until the lies are repeated so often they sound like truth.

The powers-that-be are assuming that the American public has been reduced to the intellectual equivalent of Homer Simpson and is now, as Sen. John Kerry opined, falling for "a simple slogan, rather then the facts or the truth or what's happening."

Unfortunately, according to a recent survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the powers-that-be may have a better understanding of the intellectual capacity of the American public, perhaps especially the religious American public, then we would care to admit -- much to our shame.

According to the story, atheists and agnostics outscored evangelical Protestants, Catholics, mainline Protestants and those of no particular religion on a 32 question religious knowledge survey. Even at that, they only scored an average of 20.9 correct answers on the quiz.

Since I was on vacation last week when this story broke, I had time to take an abbreviated quiz just to check my knowledge. I scored 100 percent on the 20 questions offered, although I do admit to a mental coin toss on who participated in the first "Great Awakening." I'm not trying to brag. (Well, maybe a little. My 100 percent scores throughout my formal education can be counted on one hand.) Obviously, these were not hard, nor obscure questions.

The time for taking the easy way out is well past. Americans and believers in particular need to do their homework, whether in the realm of politics or in the King's realm. We can only get away with saying "I don't know" or settle for pat answers so many times before people stop asking questions altogether. And in terms of kingdom purposes, that has eternal consequences I don't think we want to face.

"Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding." Proverbs 23:23 (NIV)

I don't have all the answers, but I know the One who does. Let's walk together for awhile and discover Him; together.

Dawn