Radical Christian elements recently held a conference to discuss the “War on Christians” by secular forces in America whom they believe to be out to get them.  This, of course, coming from the same people who have declared war on evolution and, more importantly, science in general, on freedom of and from religion, on homosexuals, on Muslims…  Shall I go on?

They ignorantly asked Tom DeLay, a cynic and criminal in his own way, to speak at the convention.  His speech focused on asking radical religious groups to stay on the attack against those hostile to their dominance in American society, groups which I might add are mainly focused on trying to keep Christians at bay lest they themselves fall prey to the religion’s unending and inhumane attacks on civility, equality, tolerance, truth, and liberty itself.

What conference goers failed to realize while listening to DeLay’s diatribe is that he is a hypocrite who sees their entire movement as a patsy for his own political maneuvering.

“We have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned and our world is being threatened,” Mr. DeLay told the crowd. “The enemies of virtue may be on the march, but they have not won.”

“Enemies of virtue”?  Bah.  How disgusting considering the truth of Mr. Delay’s religious support.

But lest the faithful prematurely canonize Mr. DeLay as a martyr for the faith, they should consider how Team DeLay, with its paladins of public piety, has specifically manipulated sincere Christians for personal gain.

Take Edwin Buckham, a Washington lobbyist who once served as Mr. DeLay’s chief of staff and personal pastor. The Washington Post reported this week that Mr. Buckham received more than a third of all the money collected by the U.S. Family Network, a nonprofit organization he set up as a DeLay staffer. Mr. DeLay promoted the organization as a national grass-roots group engaged in pro-family activism on Capitol Hill. In fact, records indicate that USFN was a front that took in millions, mostly from clients of felonious lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and lavished the largesse heavily on Mr. Buckham and his wife.

Or take former top DeLay aide Michael Scanlon, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges in the Abramoff scandal. In an e-mail released by a Senate committee, Mr. Scanlon discusses how his clients can use the gullibility of Christians to their own advantage: “The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the Internet and telephone trees. … Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them.”

There should be no doubt in your mind that I very much dislike Christianity and, less specifically, mindful following of any religious belief that tries to override common sense and decency with archaic moral values now tens of centuries out of date.  Another reason I specifically dislike Christianity, besides the fact that I am for many reasons among their favorite targets for hatred and bigotry and violence, is that they so easily fall prey to manipulation by those who use the faith’s wanton prejudices against its followers with increasing success.

In this case, they invited DeLay to talk at their little conference and looked to him as representation of the best they have to offer.

The Texas evangelist who organized the conference likened Mr. DeLay’s legal and ethical woes to – wait for it – the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Think about: the man uses them for his personal gain and tosses them aside on a whim, violates their basic tenets of honesty and sincerity, steals from them, acts unethically and illegally, yet they follow him blindly and ask that he lead their battle against the forces working only to defend people from misguided religious zealotry.  They liken him to the very god they claim to follow and emulate.  By doing so, they hold him up in esteem reserved only for the very best they have to offer.  And he’s blatantly and publicly using them.

Pardon me while I go vomit.