Donklephant has a fabulous post today about religion, the Christian Right, and whether we’re sliding into a theocracy. Here’s a snippet:
And before anyone accidentally or willfully misinterprets my position, I am not calling for the Ten Commandments to be posted in courthouses and creationism to be taught in our schools. What I seek is a nation where we as a people do not get offended when confronted with the religious beliefs and passions of those whose faith seems odd to us. Nor should we get offended when our own religious beliefs and passions are scorned and mocked by others.
Read the whole thing, comments and all. It’s thought-provoking — so much so that I’m going to have to turn some things over in my mind and get back to you…
(H/T – TMV)
I think what some of the arguements get bogged down by is the use of the phrase “separation of church and state.” There is no such phrase in the Constitution, and the Supreme Court does not use it as a basis for its decisions. If there really is any such rise of the Christians, it could be because many people are looking at the first part of the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” as the basis of the ‘separation’ phrase, and basically ignore the rest of the Amendment about religion, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” I think it is this second part that is being used as a new source of shall we say momentum.
I do not think that there is anything new about Christian voters, or any real recent developments in their thought, motives, or actions. I think what has happened is that lots of people were kind of surprised Bush and Republicans survived the last election, or maybe people were just bitter about it. Either way, what happens after every national election is people try to research why it is that Bush won, or why Kerry lost. What was it that finally allowed candidate X to win but not candidate Y? Well, voters are funny people (the ones that actually vote), and polls tend to show that they can’t always tell you a single issue that helped make up their mind. What tends to cause a candidate to win is not a single issue, but a type of people that he gets out to the polls. The assumption, very quickly actually, right after Bush won in 2004, was that it was the right wing Christian voters who put him back into office. From then on in the news, on Saturday Night Live, or internet blogs, people acted as though Christians just came out of no where and voted in mass for Bush. Such an image is kind of powerful, and demands an explanation. So news channels like CNN or Fox News have tried to either probe or pander to this new creature called the “conservative Christian” as though these people never existed before.
Recently, conservatives have been given the option of voting on issues like gay rights, or abortion, but their thoughts on it are nothing new. What is new is that politicians realized that putting these things on a ballot would mobilize these people to vote, and while they were there would they mind voting Republican as well. But if you look more closely, abortion has been an issue on and off again for decades now, and the gay marriage issue only really came about after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in favor of gays, so there was no threat from gay people until that point. So those issues aside, I believe that at some point in time, the conservative Christian vote was sort of forgotten, or taken for granted, and lately one party has picked up on it. This idea of a so called secular nation developing is only because some people remember a time when the Ten Commandments and prayer were allowed in schools in a different fashion than they are now. Those things are not going back to the way they were and I think the older people in this country that grew up in that enviroment need to realize this if they think otherwise. What is left as national issues is the word ‘God’ in our pledge and on our money. These will be challenged one day, and the Supreme Court will eventually get a spine and make a decision, and until then Republicans have decided the best voter base to mobilize is the conservative Christians, which they have done a good job at lately.
Thanks for linking to the Donklephant article — “surprisingly reasonable” as the blog claims. I’m a Christian and have every reason to support a pluralistic society tolerant of all beliefs. Theocracy does not interest me, as neither spirituality nor morality can be legislated. Also, I’m hardly offended when my “own religious beliefs and passions are scorned and mocked by others” — an honest reading of the Bible tells me to expect this, and turn the other cheek. Jesus Himself was crucified on a cross. Any opposition I’ve ever faced because of my beliefs pales in comparison.
I particularly appreciate Donklephant’s assertion that “a man’s religion is not contained in his church or synagogue or mosque or temple—it’s part of his whole life. And America lets him live that religion. Even in the public square. Most importantly, in the public square.” Being a Christian who supports pluralism doesn’t mean I check my faith at the door when I vote. I oppose sexism and racism and discrimination because I am a Christian. I seek justice against murderers, rapists, corporate thieves because I am a Christian. I want to preserve our environment because I am a Christian. Tell me I can’t vote on the basis of my beliefs, and I have little basis for supporting issues considered important by many humanists — unless I’m expected also to adopt humanistic motivations. (Just how far am I expected to bend my beliefs in support of democracy?)
It’s nice to come across someone willing to embrace religious involvement in the public sphere. I’m not trying to impose my beliefs on anyone (what would be the point?) — I just appreciate the invitation to be who I am.