Gingrich to Christians: We’re surrounded by “paganism”

Via Greg Hengler. I couldn’t decide whether to lead with Newt talking about this or Huck insisting at the same event that God interceded to protect Prop 8 in response to Christian prayers. I went with the former because the latter’s point is easily dispensed with: If Huck’s right, how to explain gay marriage passing democratically in New Hampshire? Weren’t Yankee Christians praying hard enough? In any case, both vids are embedded below.

I don’t think Gingrich means capital-P Paganism, as an honest-to-goodness Pagan blogger at Beliefnet understands him to mean. He means lowercase-P paganism, i.e. worshipping any false idol above God. That could mean money, fame, status, power, etc, not just rocks and trees or whatever; by that definition, Christians who devote more of their lives to work or pleasure or what have you instead of to spirituality would be guilty of “paganism” too. Which is perfectly fine and unexceptional for believers — it’s just another way of saying “love God above all things” — but not so fine for nonbelievers, as more than one has noted today. Then again, Newt has never cared much about the sensitivities of atheists, declaring in a speech two years ago at Falwell’s university that the reverend’s death wouldn’t stop the quest “to convert all of America.” I guess when you belong to a party where that constituency is negligible, you can afford to neglect them. Don’t think it goes unnoticed, though. Exit quotation: “I am a citizen of the United States because only in the United States does citizenship start with our Creator.” Isn’t the Koran the constitution of Saudi Arabia?

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