20th January 2011
“The Christian right has used religion as a cover to mask a right-wing political agenda that is a threat to long-standing American democratic and secular institutions.”
Al Olson
“The Christian right has used religion as a cover to mask a right-wing political agenda that is a threat to long-standing American democratic and secular institutions.”
Al Olson
January 20th, 2011 at 3:51
And each one as traitorous as Al-Qaeda. They go in guns blazing thinking that the constitution allows for Christian doctrine, when clearly it doesn’t. The constitution prohibits Congress from respecting any law that recognizes any religious institution. Congress can not pass a law for, or even against, religion. So, attempting to undermine this law, is undermining the foundations of America that both protects the law from the religious, and the religious from the law (i.e. Congress can’t disband any organization).
January 20th, 2011 at 5:29
For those who think Christians pose no threat to non-christians, I give you Robert Bently, newly elected Governor of Alabama:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/18/new-alabama-governor-says-non-christians-not-my-brother-not-my/
To say that such religiously motivated bigotry is not main-stream in christian cirlces is to ignore the obvious.
To the quote’s point, I think the political right has equally used the Christian right to advance it’s laissez-faire capitalist agenda. I’ve always found this discordant with my understanding of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus preached among the poor, the diseased, the whores, the working men. Whatever he may have thought about our modern institutions, I think it spectacularly unlikely that the political ideology he’d resonate with would be the one that says ‘I got mine so fuck you’. What is strikingly lacking from the politics of conservative christians is the central theme of Christ’s teachings: Compassion. Weird, no? Fortunately, such Sunday humanists have an out. Perpetual forgiveness if they only claim it. Convenient and cynical.
January 20th, 2011 at 11:18
Yawn.
January 20th, 2011 at 14:58
Every group of consequence will use their collective power to effect change in their favor, be it religion, race, or any other commonality. I don’t fault christians for something that appears to be human nature, (the tribal mentality). If people truly believe they are correct, they most certainly will push their agenda. The problem is the size of their group. They have deep pockets and other recourses to raise a heavy hammer. We were incredibly fortunate to have founding fathers who crafted such a well written constitution. It’s about the only thing that has kept them from overrunning the country decades ago.
January 20th, 2011 at 15:03
Watching from the dispassionate shores of the U.K it looks to me as if the Christian Right have adopted the U.S constition as a codex of the bible. Consequently they feel justified in interpreting in anyway they wish to make it conform to their ideology
January 20th, 2011 at 21:05
I guess the right figures if the religious will buy the god bullshit they will buy their bullshit also. They were right. I think the voting public needs to step back and re-evaluate their priorities. Democrats and Republicans aren’t the answer. The good old boys are so firmly entrenched in both parties that it really doesn’t matter to them who wins. They are covered. Time for a real change. Kick all the bums out and start over. Perhaps then we will get separation of church and state instead of the shit we get now.