Cynthia Davis' Double Standard

Missouri State Rep. Cynthia Davis’ persona has elements of the mid-20th century comedian Gracie Allen, who developed a sweetly stupid comic schtick derived from an earlier vaudeville stereotype, the “Dumb Dora.” Unfortunately, as Davis’ newsletters often demonstrate, in a political context Dumb Dora’s skewed logic is not always funny — particularly when dealing with topics such as the massacre at Fort Hood.

At this early point all that we can actually verify about the perpetrator, Nidal Hasan, is that he was a disturbed man whose discontent seems to have been expressed through religious preoccupations. To Davis, however, that Hasan is a Muslim is the only important fact. She writes in her latest Newsletter:

Christianity is the foundation of tolerance.  … Jesus teaches us to love our enemies.  On the other hand radical Muslims, such as Hasan’s imam (Islamic cleric) teach it is honorable to kill non-Muslims…. While some Muslims may be unaware of what their faith teaches and others do not adhere to these parts of the Koran, we as a country should not ignore the obvious

ooooh! We loving and tolerant Christians just can’t trust those scary Muslims, no matter how reasonable they seem!

But wait a minute – earlier this year another disturbed man, his anger focused through the lens of fundamentalist Christian dogma, erupted in a violent act. Christian anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder shot Dr George Tiller who had just been acquitted of violating Kansas’ late-term abortion law. There can be little doubt that Roeder’s motivation was influenced by his religious beliefs.  

And what did Cynthia Davis, Christian anti-abortion champion, have to say about fundamentalist Christian terrorism in the person of Scott Roeder?:

With no knowledge of the person who shot George Tiller, I can only speculate he may have been mentally unbalanced.  With the exception of self defense, it is hard to imagine how anyone could shoot another human being in his right mind,…

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Gracie Allen may have presented a Dumb Dora face to the public, but her stage character never allowed stupidity to lead her past the bounds of decency and fairness. One wishes that one could say the same for Cynthia Davis.