Which is the shame. the underlying message is a good one, but the vocal minority of the people that claim to know the message have completely missed what the message is. At best, and it's stretching a bit to call it best, they're falling the Old Testament way of thinking and ignoring the changes that Jesus pushed for.
Agreed. If the loudest, most vocal fundamentalist Christians actually followed the teachings of Jesus, the world would be a much better place for everyone. Instead, we get what we see right now, and all they have are excuses. "We're not perfect, just forgiven."
Well, no, no you're not. Do you honestly think you're forgiven by the man who wants you to forgive your brother 70 times 7, and to offer up the other cheek when struck? The man who blesses the meek, the poor, the peacemakers? The same man who sat with the outcasts of society? These people are the ones Jesus railed against, the ones who profited from exploiting the weak and the poor. In our society, by these same people, they are venerated and celebrated. Jesus would have had sharp words for Phil Robertson, a man who is exceedingly wealthy, yet sharpens his tongue with those who cannot fight back.
See, this is what I mean by reframing the question. These same fundamentalists strike out, and when they experience pushback, they cry out that they are being oppressed. They are spiritual dullards, incapable of the simplest understanding of what Jesus meant when he spoke his Sermon on the Mount. So they change the focus, reframe the question. It becomes about their being persecuted just for speaking their faith, rather than on the knowledge that they struck first, in an attempt to judge those they deemed unfit to be in their presence. This is their country, you see, and we're here by their grace. They speak of love, light, and forgiveness, but they have become the empowered principalities and powers of which Jesus spoke against. They're just too blind and self assured in their own righteousness to see it.
When you see a fundamentalist Christian say that they are not perfect, they only mean in the eyes of God. When it comes to those lesser than themselves, they are still superior. It's in their hearts, and it's in their words, and it's in their actions, and people like Phil Robertson, and all those who support him, are living proof of that fact.