By Reverend Carlton W. Veazey, RCRC President
After four years of unprecedented access, far-right Christian
fundamentalists are deeply embedded in government structures.
The nation is not yet a theocracy, if mullah-run Iran or Taliban-controlled
Afghanistan is the standard. But we are on the brink of a
de-facto Christian state, and we should be very frightened
for the future of religious freedom and diversity.
Consider the facts. The Christian Right has worked closely
with the Bush Administration from day one, and arguably they're
within reach of what they want: funding for religious agencies,
more religion in the public square, scientific research that
reflects fundamentalist beliefs, a proliferation of restrictive
laws and regulations governing sexual behavior and family
relationships, limits on individual freedoms, a second chance
to discredit evolution, shredding the New Deal safety net,
and the opportunity to reverse Supreme Court decisions such
as Roe v. Wade and Lawrence and Garner v. Texas.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay often spoke about
imposing his biblical worldview through his work in Congress.
This vision of the United States as a Christian nation with
a mandate from God is being realized.The "theocratization"
of America is happening in local communities as well as nationally.
Parents are fighting for accurate, respectful sexuality education
in their children’s schools. Women cannot have their
prescriptions for birth control filled because a pharmacist
doesn't approve of contraception on "moral" grounds.
Theocracy is not an academic concept. The nature of life
in America is changing. Legislation is routinely introduced
in the U.S. House of Representatives to ensure that politicking
in churches will be legally protected. The Houses of Worship
Free Speech Restoration Act of 2005 would have amended the
Internal Revenue Code to "protect the religious free
exercise and free speech rights of churches and other houses
of worship." The Workplace Religious Freedom Act purports
to protect religious expression by requiring employers to
accommodate the religious needs of employees. The positive
side of this legislation--as a remedy for regrettable instances
such as Jews being fired for refusing to work on the Sabbath,
Muslim women losing their jobs over their request to wear
a head-scarf, and Sikh-Americans being fired for wearing turbans--must
be weighed carefully against legitimate fears that it would
provide a refuge for discriminatory actions and unwelcome
proselytizing in the workplace under the auspices of abiding
by one's religious principles. In the area of women's private
decisions about abortion, Christian fundamentalist religious
beliefs about the fetus have been legislated for so many years,
under the "right-to-life" cover, that the nation
is virtually insensitized to the fact that there are pro-choice
Christians who have completely different views about fetal
life and women's moral agency.
The "Justice Sunday" telecasts held by the Family
Research Council and other far-right groups showed us how
American theocracy might look--preachers and self-appointed
men of religion literally directing the faithful to support
specific political actions, in this case to install friendly
judges in lifetime positions. One of the speakers, Dr. Albert
Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,
equated the inerrancy of his interpretation of the Bible with
the inerrancy of the Constitution, based on his biblical beliefs.
In bringing the Bible and the Constitution together, fundamentalists
like Mohler are moving toward mainstreaming their biblically
based interpretation of the Constitution.
The theocratization of America has already stifled free
expression on controversial social issues and is forcing politicians
to express religious beliefs. Polling shows that no one could
be elected President of the United States who was not openly
and traditionally religious. The mullahs in Iran would find
that quite reasonable. Soon, ordinary American families may
find that it is un-American not to profess a religion.
A version of this article was originally published on www.beliefnet.com.
Revised January 9, 2006
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