I'm taking a wee break from writing about the economy because Erick Erickson has written something so skull-crushingly stupid that I would be remiss if I didn't comment on it. And yes, I know Erickson writes things that are skull-crushingly stupid
January 12, 2011

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I'm taking a wee break from writing about the economy because Erick Erickson has written something so skull-crushingly stupid that I would be remiss if I didn't comment on it. And yes, I know Erickson writes things that are skull-crushingly stupid every single day, so it takes a lot to get my attention. But Erick, m'boy, you really managed to do it this time. Behold:

I am tired of talking about the Arizona shooting.

[...]

Through it all though, well meaning people on both sides of the ideological and partisan divide are not talking about the one thing that should be talked about — a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

I am no saint. And I am no preacher. This is not intended to be a sermon. But it needs to be said and is not being said. Thankfully God is the God of the imperfect and all of us are.

In all the discussions we’re having, let’s not forget that bad things have happened throughout history, but we are seeing more and more a pattern of violence from those who reject Christ and we are seeing the most extreme rhetoric from those who reject the only real truth while embracing every other historic fad and nonsense as variations of truth.

There are times when I cannot tell if Erickson is a genuine conservative or an extremely elaborate performance artist who has infiltrated the conservative movement in order to undermine its intellectual credibility. This is certainly one of those times.

So Erick, the people who have rejected Jesus are the ones engaging in "the most extreme rhetoric?" Does that include these folks?

Fred W. Phelps, leader of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church that regularly pickets the funerals of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, is praising the killings in Tucson and says his group will picket the funerals.

A federal appeals court last year ruled that picketing by the church congregation at funerals is free speech protected by the Constitution. The issue is now before the Supreme Court.

Phelps, in a video on his group's web site, thanks God for the "marvelous work in Tucson," which he says is part of God's vengeance on America. He says his church prays for "more shooters ... more dead."

The Kansas-based group is made up largely of Phelps' family and has been denounced as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Or this guy?

Like the prophets of old, Terry Jones has a message -- and it's fiery.

The controversial Florida preacher, who first lit a spark on Facebook when he called for people around the world to set fire to copies of the Koran, is now at the center of an international conflagration.

Jones' plan to set ablaze thousands of copies of the Muslim holy book on Sept. 11, a day he's dubbed International Burn a Koran Day, has become a flashpoint. What has been seen for weeks as a strange front in the culture wars, this weekend became a front in America's real war, with Gen. David Patraeus weighing in to say he believed the display would be detrimental and dangerous to U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan.

Or heck, how about this guy?

At what point do the people tell the politicians to go to hell? At what point do they get off the couch, march down to their state legislator’s house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot?

You can feel Jesus' love flowing through all of this wonderful Christian rhetoric, can't you?

(My point here isn't to say that Christians are prone to violent rhetoric, by the way. My point is more that Erickson is comically and embarrassingly full of s***. Which should surprise, like, nobody.)

OK, back to Erick:

The topic of faith in Christ makes people cringe. But whether you believe it or not, here is the reality: beyond us is a world we cannot see with our eyes. It impacts us on a daily basis. It is a world of very real angels and very real demons. It is a world of a very real God and a very real Satan, a very real Heaven and a very real Hell.

I sort of doubt this invisible world impacts us every day. Because if it did, God would have certainly come down from the sky by now and told Erickson to shut the hell up and to stop speaking on His behalf. In fact, there are lots of people of many different faiths He probably would have done that to if He actually did want to get involved in our daily lives. As for myself, I think God only intervenes when He decides whether or not to let NFL players catch touchdown passes. Other than that, we're on our own.

So, to recap: Erick Erickson. He's a not-very-smart religious lunatic who has a history of justifying violence against elected officials. And he's a star on a non-Fox cable news network. Our country is sorta screwed, in case you haven't noticed.

Can you help us out?

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