Karl Rove denounces “Christian nation” myth

Well, holy crap. It seems that, of all people, former Bush administration official Karl Rove is one of the few right-wing ideologues who don’t subscribe to the myth that the United States is in any way a Christian nation. In addition, the guy even goes so far as to mention atheists without any trace of depreciation, which I’d bet is close to a first amongst the modern right-wing elite. Watch:

My transcript: (click the [+/-] to expand/collapse →)

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[Karl Rove on Fox News’s ‘The Record’]

KARL ROVE: Barack Obama, when he ran for President in 2008, wrote a book, and in that book, he [?] attributed to me a comment that I never made, which was that “we are a Christian nation”. I find that remark offensive. We are based on the Judeo-Christian ethic, we derive a lot from it, but if we’re a Christian nation, what about the Jews? What about the Muslims? What about the non-believers? I mean, one of the great things about our country is the First Amendment gives you the right to believe or not to believe as you choose.

Maybe I’m just too used to right-wingers exposing themselves as complete and unremitting ideological zealots who refuse to recognize actual reality any more than they can shake a tea-stained Bible at. At any rate, this was something of a pleasant surprise. (Not that I respect the man, or find most of his positions any less contemptible than before, but still.)

(via ThinkProgress)

Tags: Karl Rove • Christian nation • Barack Obama • atheists • Christianity