COMMENTS:
* Actually ... one of the major problems with the Religious Right is their insistence that the rest of us must follow their lead in peril of our immortal souls. Not sure about you, but I have a problem when someone of dubious religious belief and practice is trying to tell me I am not living "God's Plan".
* People are getting tired of people who push their faith on others here. These politicians better watch out because they may be on the unemployment line soon for pushing on society. And since they loved to cut pay and pensions their pensions should be forfited since they have stolen from the people for long enough.
* Great article, and so completely true. The US Constitution clearly defines the separation of church and state in this country, so why are these "far right lunatics," who undoubtedly are well-acquainted with our laws, trying to over run them in the name of religion? It dumbfounds me.
* It is about time people realize religious people are traitors! Their fairy tale god comes before this country and common decency. Religion should be outlawed. Churches and their assets confiscated. Anyone demonstrated to make political decisions based on their mythology be thrown out of office or their job. Children taken away from religious parents and the country should commit by law (and Constitutional Amendment) to be run by reason, logic and science.
* For many, many years, the US has been catering to the lowest common denominator and without doubt, the religious right is absolutely the LCD.
* The religious right of today were exactly what the framers feared when they created the separation of church and state. While they respected people's freedom of worship, they understood that ANY religion which gets into secular law becomes a corrupt, oppressive entity.
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How the Religious Right Is Destroying Democracy
By Tina Issa, August 21, 2015
You may have noticed a new phenomenon creeping up in this country, it is this trend of our laws taking a backseat to religion. Whether it is the action of not following laws or court rulings in the name of religion or dictating laws based on religion, our country is slowly being destroyed by our religious right politicians. They are morphing us into a theocracy.
Not what the Founding Fathers had in mind:
"The Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." The Treaty of Tripoli -- John Adams, 1797Yet here we are, knee deep in Evangelical Governance.
"In this enlightened Age and in this Land of equal liberty it is our boast, that a man's religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the Laws." George Washington, 1793
"The civil government functions with complete success by the total separation of the Church from the State." James Madison, 1813
"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." Thomas Jefferson, 1814
The recent reaction to the SCOTUS decision on legalization of gay marriage is really the poster child for this religious zealousness that has taken over. Government clerks are refusing to issue gay marriage licenses in the name of their religion, despite Judge's orders directly telling them to issue the licenses.
When did it become all the rage to dismiss court orders in favor of the Bible? Those pesky court orders telling them to do their taxpayer funded Government job should be followed in a normal democracy, yet it's not happening. Hence the destruction of the civil rights of those seeking the licenses. Not to mention absolutely no regard for the law.
But it's not just the clerks. The Attorney General of Texas, who ironically swore to uphold the law, went one step further and told these same clerks they in fact did not need to issue these licenses. Is he ignorant of the Supremacy Clause as a practicing lawyer? Probably not, but in his world the Bible comes first the law comes second, and this is a fundamental illustration of the deterioration of our democracy. The sentiments by the Attorney General of Texas have been echoed by many of our elected officials in Washington.
TX AG's Office ✔@TXAGIt goes on from there.
Attorney General @KenPaxtonTX: Following High Court’s Flawed Ruling, Next Fight is Religious Liberty. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/oagnews/release.php?id=5142 … #txlege
7:56 AM - 26 Jun 2015
The unprecedented war on women and their reproductive rights is another example of the religious crazy. We wouldn't even be having a discussion on birth control and abortion if religion wasn't deeply incorporated into our conservative politicians.
The same can be said about the decline of science and intellectualism, there is a deep long history of the religious dismissing science and advancement in the name of religion. It still holds true today. Senator Inhofe recently cited the Bible -- using the phrase "Biblical Evidence" as proof that Climate Change doesn't exist. He is the Chair of the Environment Committee. Senator Ted Cruz is the Chairman of the Subcommittee for Space, Science and Competitiveness and also claims that Climate Change isn't real.
Yes, they named these two science deniers to lead Science Committees in Congress on your taxpayer dime.
I weep for this nation with leadership like this.
And dare I say that when George W. Bush says he's on a Crusade before starting a war, or that "God told" him to fight in Iraq that there is some religious motivation there.
How did we get to this?
Religion wasn't always incorporated into right wing politics. Barry Goldwater, a well known conservative, stated that "the religious right scares the hell out of me" and "All good Christians should kick Rev. Falwell in the ass." But Conservatives, starting with Ronald Reagan, embraced Falwell and allowed people like him to dictate social policy in our democracy -- all the while remaining tax exempt. But, it has only gotten worse since then. They now outwardly preach breaking laws in the name of religious freedom-- something called Nullification which is Unconstitutional.
Where do we go from here?
Faith is personal. And it needs to be kept personal and away from government. It is only the people of this country who can stand up and stop this destruction of law and order and instillation of Biblical rule. It can be done, there have been some major wins in this fight recently, but unless the religious right is weeded out and cut off from our government we do not have a true democracy nor do we have separation of church and state. And that is a travesty for such a great nation such as ours and it is an insult to the Founding Fathers who fought for exactly the opposite.
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