Looking Under the Theocratic Robes

Well, the cat is finally out of the bag. We over here in the freethinking part of conventional reality have been complaining all along that the Religious Right wants to establish a theocracy in this country. Finally one of their spokesmen, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, made it plain.

The United Church of Christ won a stunning victory for both gay rights and religious freedom with their lawsuit to overturn North Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage.

While the thinking population of the reality-based community applauded the decision, our ole good buddy Tony Baloney felt a little differently:

The UCC "is not really Christian, and those who support gay rights don’t have the same rights as conservative Christians—because ‘true religious freedom’ only applies to ‘orthodox religious viewpoints’.” [emphasis added]

There you go. It's like pulling off a band-aid and seeing a writhing mess of Ebola maggots in the wound. You can have your "true religious freedom" all right, but only when your beliefs conform to "orthodox" theology.

All of you pagans, heathens, homosessuals, Buddhists, Hindus, Shintos, Sikhs, Zoroasters and especially all you stinky Islams -- get to the back of the bus. On your way to our concentration/extermination "re-education/reparative therapy" camps.

If that is not a true indication of the kind of brutish theocracy those people are intending to shove down our throats -- but only down our throats, none of that "gay stuff" here, thank you -- then I don't know what is.

Book of the Week

The new book of the week is an absolutely must-read for anyone who seeks to understand the nature of the pernicious influence of Religious Right fundamentalism.

Jeff Sharlet's The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, is a at once a thorough examination of the history and sociology of American Fundamentalism and a sweeping indictment of a secretive group that has insinuated itself slowly and surreptitiously into our government and our institutions.

The Family -- or The Fellowship as it is also known -- was also at the center of the C Street House controversy that has been bubbling up over the last couple of years.

Sharlet's skills as a historian and an investigative reporter have combined to make this book one of the most important of the 21st Century.

The Family, from its humble beginnings in -- gasp -- Seattle in 1935, has been like an evil worm eating at the core of power in this country. And not only here, but also around the world. The Family's amoral reach has included snuggling up to most of the most corrupt politicians, the worst dictators and mass murderers in the world: Nicaragua's Samoza, Cuba's Batista, Indonesia's Suharto (The Family doesn't make many distinctions between Christianity and Islam, just so long as the power is there to attach themselves to). Their leader, Doug Coe, has spoken frankly of his admiration for Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Chairman Mao and Pol Pot.

One of the worst offenses that The Family is responsible for is its support of one David Bahati in Uganda. Bahati, you may not know, is a Fellowship associate who first proposed the "death to all homosexuals" law in Uganda. In the meantime, the influence of The Family redirected millions of dollars in US aid to Uganda away from real sex education programs and into "abstinence" programs, with the result that Uganda's AIDS rate, which had been dropping, suddenly skyrocketed.

There's a lot more in this valuable book. Everyone should read it, if only to learn what is being done by this secretive hard core and powerful organization. Remember, knowledge is power, and with that power we can get a clearer idea of the theocracy that will await us if we don't remain vigilant.

Manhattan Declaration: It Always Comes Down to the Money

As most you will recall, the original Manhattan Project was the WWII project to develop the atomic bomb.

That was over 60 years ago. Now there's a new one that could also prove destructive. It's called The Manhattan Declaration, and at its core it says it's okay for people to disobey laws they don't agree with.

Well, isn't that special? I don't agree with the 60 MPH speed limit between here and Seattle. It offends my "deeply held religious beliefs". How's that going to stand up in court in Tacoma when I go before that notorious district court "hanging judge" up there?

This manifesto is, of course, the brainchild of the Religious Right. Sure, they go out of their way to couch it in religious/ethical/moral terms -- upholding "religious freedom", "traditional marriage" and all that anti-contraception anti-abortion "sanctity of life" crap.

In the words of DC council member David A. Catania "It's a shame they don't extend the same efforts to issues that really matter, like health care and homelessness."

So I guess they think that if enough of their sheeple followers start breaking laws, then those laws will become essentially unenforceable. And that's a handy-dandy giant step towards the theocracy they want to institute so much it makes them hurt.

But all that is just wild speculation. Here's what I really think is behind this is this: If you look at the list of declaration signers you will see a large number of religious organizations that have been granted the munificent largess of the federal budget to fund their "Faith-Based Initiatives" but they don't want to have to obey the federal laws regarding civil rights. Such as equality in hiring, recipient non-discrimination, etc. etc.

They had a free ride during the Baby Doc Maladministration, and now they are seeing the handwriting on the wall. Better to come in strong with a preemptive strike now than try to play catchup ball later on.

Come on, people. If you don't want to follow federal laws when it comes to how you spend federal money, then just don't ask for any! Problem solved.

Jeez, it does always seem to come down to the money with these people, doesn't it?

American Muslims and the Constitution

I've said on several occasions that the Muslim world doesn't see anything wrong with an Islamic theocracy. And it seems more or less true when you look around the world at nations that are primarily or overwhelmingly Muslim.

I think Turkey is about the only one that has any kind of representative democracy, and they seem to have the church and state thing under control.

Some time back I interviewed for a story I was writing a prominent and well-known American Muslim who had been in the national news just prior to my interview, and I pointedly asked him several questions about where American Muslims stand on the issue of church and state.

He was kind of cagey and seemed to dance around the issue, acknowledging that we do in fact have a separation of church and state in this nation, which is a good thing for Muslims as well as everyone else, but then the screw got turned a little more and I asked him what he thought would happen if Muslims became the majority and were in a position to institute Sharia Law, for example, in the US.

More dancing around, some hedging and hawing, and I didn't really get a definitive answer out of him. All of which more or less lent support to my previously-held stereotype of Islam and government.

Given that, it was with more than idle interest that I read Sheila Musaji's American Muslims must defend the Constitution of the United States over at the American Muslim website:

America is a secular and democratic nation with a clearly marked wall between church and state (thank God!). One of the reasons America has been a beacon to the world is the freedom that all Americans have to practice any (or no) religion. As an American Muslim I don’t believe that America can be defined as anything but a secular democracy (secular meaning neutral towards religion, not devoid of religion or hostile to religion) in which all religions are free to worship.
I don’t want to see Shariah, or Biblical law, or any other religious law replace the Constitution, and I don’t want to see any kind of a theocracy in place based on any religion. I agree with Rabbi Arthur Waskow that “When those who claim their path alone bespeaks God’s Will control the State to enforce their will as God’s, it is God Who suffers.”

Go ahead and real the whole thing. It was an eye-opening experience for me.