The world’s biggest victims are Washington State’s evangelical
Christians, who are horribly oppressed because employers and landlords
can’t discriminate against gays anymore, because gays can now visit
their partners in the hospital, because pharmacy customers can now get
the medication their doctors prescribe, because teenagers are told
about birth-control methods in addition to abstinence, and because the
Bible isn’t taught in science class.
Now, thanks to these clampdowns on their God-given right to oppress
others, these aggrieved evangelicals have identified their victim hero.
They hope he will take their cause to the governor’s mansion.
Dino Rossi obscured his socially conservative views in his 2004
campaign for governor. “I’m not running on that,” was a typical Rossi
rejoinder when reporters asked about abortion rights or gay rights.
Rossi is taking a different approach in the run-up to 2008. He’s
standing up for—
and aligning himself with—religious
conservatives.
For example, earlier this month, Rossi’s campaign denounced rules
that prevent pharmacists from refusing to fill Plan B prescriptions on
religious grounds. He’s appeared twice on Spokane-based American
Christian Network radio shows (broadcast to towns all over Eastern
Washington) denouncing the “homosexual agenda”—which, as far as I
can tell, is getting married and starting a family.
And just last weekend, Rossi was a featured speaker, along with
intelligent-design-advocate Casey Luskin of the
Discovery
Institute, at a retreat for
the Faith & Freedom Network and
Foundation, a faith-based political
lobbying group.
The retreat, for high-school students, was dubbed the “Change Your
Culture Youth Leadership Retreat.” (“Students should bring: Bible,
notepad, pen, pillow, two days’ worth of clothing and shoes, sleeping
bag or linens and blankets.”)
And Rossi—who told a story about taking the Bible’s advice and
praying for your enemies rather than harboring bitterness—was a
hit. Indeed, on Monday, November 19, following the weekend retreat,
Faith & Freedom president Gary Randall sent out a note to
supporters hailing Rossi’s performance as an indication that Rossi is
their guy, a victim’s victim.
On his website, Randall wrote: “The high school students from around
the Northwest were involved in sessions dealing with career choices
that can make a difference in our world to an in-depth look at defining
a personal, biblical worldview philosophy.
“The kids heard a powerful presentation from the Discovery Institute
on intelligent design… It was Dino Rossi, however, who moved some to
tears with the story of how he overcame the ‘nay-sayers’…
“With more than 11 months remaining before the general election,
there are those who are gearing up to ‘get Rossi’… No one knows how
far some will go to defeat this man, but I think we have a pretty good
idea of how Rossi will respond.
“Rossi’s response will probably go something like this: ‘Our Father
who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name….'”
Yeah, and if he’s elected governor, Rossi’s legislative agenda will
probably go something like this: stopping gays from visiting their
partners in the hospital, allowing employers to discriminate against
gays, and preventing women from getting their prescriptions filled.
