I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE REDUCE THEMSELVES TO A CULTURAL STEREOTYPE

I try to remember that even the people I loathe are human beings, not walking cartoons -- but sometimes it's hard:

Former Republican official: 'You can't be a Christian if you don’t own a gun'

A former Executive Committee member of San Diego's Republican Party, who now heads the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, recently told Texas churchgoers that "you can’t be a Christian if you don't own a gun."

Speaking to the "Deliver Us From Evil" conference at the Upper Room Church in Keller, Texas earlier this week, Dr. Gary Cass explained that America had a "broken moral compass" ....

"By the way, I've got a whole sermon, you can't be a Christian if you don't own a gun," he added. "That preaches in Texas, don't it?"

"You have not just a right not bear arms, you have a duty. How can you protect yourself, your family or your neighbor if you don't have a gun? If I'm supposed to love my neighbor and I can't protect him, what good am I?"

Right Wing Watch has lots more about Cass. I'll just point out that he has produced flyers attacking Islam and accusing Ayatollah Khomeini of having sex with a four-year-old girl, which he handed out at a California high school. He also urged parents not to let their kids watch Barack Obama's inaugural in 2008, calling it "The Flamboyant Homosexual Inaugural" because a gay minister and choir were featured. Oh, and he attacked the Pope for removing words critical of Jews from Good Friday prayers.

In other words, basically your average religious-right loon.