For people who claim to be patriots, religious-right Republicans, certainly seem to hate this country. Many keep threatening secession. Many raise bogus issues of states rights that have been dormant since the civil war. Many threaten violent overthrow of our government unless their candidates win at the polls. Most want to ignore major parts of the Constitution. Rob Boston wrote an excellent piece listing ten things that give these Theocons fits.
Religious Right groups and their frequent allies in the Tea Party talk a good line about respecting American values, but much would change if they had their way. They seek not to restore our country to some Golden Age (that never existed anyway) but to recreate it – in their own fundamentalist image.
An America rebuilt along Religious Right lines would be a very different place. And to get there, the theocrats among us first have to tear down some features of American life – some of which are longstanding. Here are ten things about the United States that drive Religious Right groups crazy:
1. Our history debunks Religious Right mythology: American history stands as a rebuke to the Religious Right. America’s founders established a secular government with freedom of religion and its necessary corollary, separation of church and state, built into the First Amendment. A “Christian nation” was not what the founders sought. How do we know this? They said so. Think about it: If an officially Christian nation had been the intent of the founders, the Constitution would prominently include that concept. It doesn’t.
And those Religious Right claims that separation of church and state is a myth? They’re a crock. As James Madison put it, “Strongly guarded…is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States.” Madison ought to know. He’s considered the Father of the Constitution and was one of the primary drafters of the First Amendment.
2. We support science: While polls show some confusion over issues like evolution, most Americans are big fans of science and are quick to rally around the latest medical breakthroughs and cutting-edge technology. Many religious people in America long ago reconciled their faith with modern science. But the Religious Right remains stubbornly insistent that any science that conflicts with its literalist interpretation of the Bible must go.
Religious Right activists hate science because it casts doubt on their narrow worldview – a worldview that teaches that all answers are found in a rigidly fundamentalist interpretation of an ancient religious text. To the Religious Right, evolution and the Bible can’t co-exist. They refuse to read the scriptures in a metaphorical or symbolic context. Since, to the Religious Right, evolution undercuts the Bible, evolution should not be taught in public schools.
3. America has a tradition of tolerance: Yes, we’ve fallen short of complete tolerance from time to time, but at the end of the day, most Americans believe in treating their fellow citizens decently, even if they have different religious or philosophical beliefs. But to the Religious Right, tolerance is entrance ramp on the highway to hell.
The idea that religions should strive to get along is dangerously close to the idea that all religions are on equal footing. This is bad, so says the Religious Right, because it leads people into “error” – that is, an embrace of any religion that’s not fundamentalist Christianity. Tolerance is ridiculed because it dares to suggest that a Unitarian, Buddhist, Jew, Hindu, Pagan or atheist might have an equal claim on truth alongside a fundamentalist… [emphasis original]
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Please note that I only listed three of the ten items. I encourage you to click through to the article. The best is there.
For those of you who do not know me well, I have no objection to Christianity, or for that matter, to any other faith. I am a Christian myself. I do object to those who pervert their beliefs through hatred and intolerance for others. As such, today’s theocons are the spiritual heirs of the Pharisees and Sadducees of the first century. Jesus berated them often.
20 Responses to “Why Theocons Hate America”
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This looks like a great link! I need to read this.
You do.
Good analysis. Too many have forgotten or never understood the lessons of the Bible.The disgust with hypocritical Christians and grasping money grubbing preachers causing people to become Atheists.
Blue, while I reject large portions of the Bible, I agree.
Thanks for the Link – got that one Bookmarked!
Then I have no doubt we’ll be seeing excerpts at some point. 😉
YVW!
Blue – there are so many inconsistencies and things we no longer follow in the Bible (eating shellfish, slavery, etc.), that it is really, really hard to believe in the veracity of the entire document, with the exception of what Jesus actually said. Some how, in the last 2000 years or so, that part didn’t get fouled up. I read through that entire article and to say that the Religious Right (thank you again, Ronnie Raygun and Ralph Reed, who is now making a come back of sorts) is hateful and despicable, doesn’t even come close. I don’t even have a curse word foul enough for them.
But luckily, even though these hate groups (which is what they are, no mistake about it) seem to be more numerous, their policies are only getting through in a few places. For instance, look what happened when the blue state of Wisconsin elected a teabagger. They are HATING life right now, even the repubs think that asshole Walker has gone too far. His recall petition along with Rep. Paul Ryan’s are all ready to go; they are just waiting for the year mark to send them into the FEC. So they too, shall reap what they sow; America is becoming more liberal, especially young people, so while these groups seem to be multiplying like rats, I think that’s because they are in their death throes and are throwing anything at the wall to see if it will stick. Those are my thoughts anyway.
Can anyone give me any reasoning for the shellfish thing? I mean besides the point that it tastes like snot if it’s not cooked? 😆
I think that’s one of the later additions. The Hebrews in Egypt had very little seafood. Some shellfish are poisonous. Not knowing which, they outlawed all.
Actually, it’s an Old Testament thing:
Deuteronomy 14:9-10 (KJV):
9These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
10And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
Leviticus 11:9-12 (KJV):
9These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
10And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
11They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
12Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.
Nameless, what I meant is that I thought those passages were added later. The language usage suggests during the reign of David or Solomon. I thought Lisa was asking why the OT contained the prohibition.
I still want to own a Canadian. I’ve studied Textual Criticism realize that some parts are clearly later additions.
TomCat,
These horses’ asses are simply modern-day Puritans wanting to cap all fun and freedom of expression. They are truly an American Taliban, and they should be regarded as such by all normal-thinking Americans.
Jack, I tend to think that Puritans had more integrity than modern day Theocons.
Oh yeah?
There are many current popular methods of undermining our liberal civilization. One unsubtle method is to run anti-constitutional candidates for elected office. Once these operatives get into positions of power, they can create bottlenecks, deficits and shutdowns. That’s how the Re-pub Party does it.
A more subtle method is partly described above, to propagandize constantly against the basic values of our society. That’s how the sky god cultists destroyed the Roman Empire, and they are repeating their successful method here today in the USA.
Even more subtle is the practice of making members of our society pay for everything, including information. Especially information. One trick we see on the internet is putting up a “pay wall,” teasing the reader with a little free information, and then demanding cash for the rest of the information. Every pay wall that restricts information is an attack on the Bill of Rights. That’s a favorite method of corporate socialists.
I have identified seven more methods… maybe. If you want to read them, kindly send me money.
Dan, if you’re implying that Christianity destroyed Rome, Rome was on the way out when being a Christian was illegal.
Orwell, a boy and his dog: Aren’t there some abandoned silos these folks can retire to?
It would be nice, but I doubt it.
Calling right-wing “Christians” fundamentalists is a misnomer. The fundamentals of Christianity are the Incarnation, the Atonement, and the Resurrection. The so-called “fundamentalists” hardly ever talk about those. And they ignore most of what Jesus taught. He never said anything about gays, for instance, but he did say a great deal about helping the poor and caring for the sick. And speaking of the sick, when did Jesus ever charge a fee for a healing? Or refuse to provide one, for any reason?
With regard to science, the “fundies” betray a serious misunderstanding of what the Bible is. The Bible is a religious text; it contains everything we need for salvation. It does NOT contain everything there is. That being the case, here’s the answer to evolution: If God created everything, and evolution is a fact, then GOD MUST HAVE INVENTED IT! Coming to this conclusion is not difficult, but it does require thinking. “Fundamentalists” are opposed to thinking, which makes them dangerous to democracy.
Oudiva, you are correct. Fundamentalists is hoe they refer to themselves. It as as false as referring to themselves as Christians.
Personally, I see the Bible, in part, as mythical truth, and God as the author of natural law.