Christian Leaders: The Gang that Can't Shoot Straight


In 1970 the movie The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight was the talk of the town. Variations on the title are used yet today for hapless groups we still encounter. One of those is leadership on the Christian Right which always thinks it has a new shiny idea but steps in a cow pie.

An early one I can remember was a "boycott" of Disney World. Some Christian right blowhards said Disney World was catering to gay people by designating a "gay night" when many gay people showed up to enjoy the rides and restaurants. Leaders called for a Christian boycott. It turned out Disney had never designated such nights but said it welcomed gay people and everyone else. Nothing changed. Disney prospered and eventually some Christian official said the boycott was no longer in place.

Gay marriage was such a sin it must be stopped. Instead, it went forward and is seldom mentioned today.

The biggest step in the cow pie by the Christian right was abortion. We all know Christian Right leaders preached for years Roe must be overturned. After that is done, the Right crowed, it will be up to the states. We will have a state-by-state project pointing out in every state that abortion is murder. This murder thingy is so powerful we will turn every state into an abortion free state. No more abortion anywhere in this country. 

We know that today abortion is more permanently protected several states than it every has been in our history. The Gang That Can't Shoot Straight made yet another embarrassing miscalculation. 

Another smaller version happened about 20 years ago in Salt Lake City. The man with a PhD in counseling who was also a devout Mormon made a video reflecting his belief that the denomination should welcome same sex marriage. He was excommunicated from the Mormon denomination.

He used his skill to make videos about people like himself who have left the denomination. His You Tude channel, Mormon Stories, is so successful he now has a staff and an annual budget well over a million dollars a year. He also does videos about those who have left other demanding Christian denominations. I wonder if any of Mormon's old men who are in charge realize they lost.

While Republicans seem to know anti abortion was a political mistake and seldom talk about it now, they need to realize losing is the long-term history of the Religious Right. 

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