(As ever, many thanks to my friends at The Sinner’s Guide To The Evangelical Right and DefCon)
For those of y’all who might be thinking that, since Democrats now control Congress, the Religious Right is on the wane…well, guess again. It might be tempting to count the zealots out, but it would be a very dangerous thing to do. If there’s one thing that those of us on the Left should have learned by now, it’s that those who are convinced that God is on their side AND that he votes Republican are patient, persistent, and willing to pursue their goals, no matter how long it might take. Yes, Democrats might control the reigns of power in Congress, but Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © has placed too many like-minded religious zealots in positions of power to be ignored.
Democrats may control the high-profile reigns of power in Congress, but the day to day business of government is still largely in the hands of a cadre of Evangelical theocrats beholden to Jesus Christ and Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © …and not always in that order. With that thoroughly depressing thought in mind, welcome to another edition of This Week In Jesusland © . Bon Appetit!!
Dobson says ‘no way’ to McCain candidacy: Christian leader declares he couldn’t support senator ‘under any circumstances’: A prominent Christian leader whose radio and magazine outreaches are solidly in support of biblically-based marriages ‚Äö√Ñ√¨ and keep in touch with millions of constituents daily ‚Äö√Ñ√¨ says he cannot consider Arizona Sen. John McCain a viable candidate for president….”Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances,” said James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family as well as the Focus Action cultural action organization set up specifically to provide a platform for informing and rallying constituents. Dobson, who always is careful to note that he’s not speaking for the non-profit ministry, which cannot advocate for or against candidates legally, also doesn’t hesitate to state his personal opinions on social or political issues and agendas.…. Gee, and not having James Dobson in your corner is a bad thing? Jeebus, if I was running for President, I’d be trying to figure out ways to make absolutely certain that Dobson was virulently opposed to my mere existence as much as my candidacy.
Meet the Religious Right, America’s Anti-Health Constituency: Dr. David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, said the new embryonic stem-cell bill is virtually identical to one that Congress passed last summer, which President Bush subsequently vetoed‚Äö√Ѭ∂.”Embryonic stem cells come from destroying human life, and they don’t show potential for treating disease,” Prentice added.… Yes, when science supports the opposition, lying seems to be a perfectly acceptable tactic. What do you get when dogma and ideology trump the potential to save thousands of lives? Yep, that’s right; you get the Dogmatic Dozen, a group of religious zealots for whom life is allegedly sacred, but dogma and dishonesty are the Prime Directive.
America’s Christian Baby-Factory: Quiverfull parents try to have upwards of six children. They home-school their families, attend fundamentalist churches and follow biblical guidelines of male headship—“Father knows best”—and female submissiveness. They refuse any attempt to regulate pregnancy. Quiverfull began with the publication of Rick and Jan Hess’s 1989 book, A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ, which argues that God, as the “Great Physician” and sole “Birth Controller,” opens and closes the womb on a case-by-case basis. Women’s attempts to control their own bodies—the Lord’s temple—are a seizure of divine power…. Jeebus, these people are scary….
This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy: Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost. As the vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors — in short, over every aspect and institution of human society.… Speaking of scary, how about those dominionist theocrats who would love nothing better than to force all of us to live according to rules dictated by their narrow, zealous theology? Don’t want to be an Evangelical Christian? No problem; we have camps for people like you….
The Christian Taliban: During the Taliban rule of Afghanistan the world got a good look at what happens when religious zealots gain control of a government. Television images of women being beaten forced to wear burkas and banned from schools and the workplace helped build strong public support for the President’s decision to invade Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11. But even as President George W. Bush denounced the brutal Islamic fundamentalist regime in Kabul, he was quietly laying the foundations for his own fundamentalist regime at home. For the first time far right Christian fundamentalists had one of their own in the White House and the opportunity to begin rolling back decades of health and family planning programs they saw as un-Christian, if not downright sinful. Since 2001 dozens of far-right Christian fundamentalists have been quietly installed in key positions within the Federal Drug Administration and on commissions and advisory committees where they have made serious progress. Three years later this administration has established one of the most rigid sexual health agendas in the Western world.… It would seem that they only thing we’re missing are the summary executions and the Religious Police running around beating and flogging those who display insufficient fealty to the holy, righteous cause of Christian Theocracy. Just wait, though…it’ll happen, and likely sooner than you think.
Mich. School District Bible Course: “The Bible… was the foundation and blueprint for our Constitution”: A Michigan public school district is under pressure to provide a constitutionally suspect and factually flawed Bible course to its high school students. The curriculum being pushed by a parent in Howell, Mich., is the product of a North Carolina-based group called the. The Council was founded in 1993 and has peddled its curriculum relentlessly nationwide. Its Web site argues that public schools are failing students by not focusing their attentions on the Bible. “The Bible,” the Council maintains (inaccurately), “was the foundation and blueprint for our Constitution, Declaration of Independence, our educational system, and our entire history until the last 20 or 30 years.”…. Yes, it’s true. When you’re a Right-wing Evangelical zealot, you can make the truth into whatever best serves your purpose. What would jesus do? Whatever it takes, my man…whatever it takes.
Brownback to move on presidential bid: Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), a Kansas Republican and favorite son of the religious right, will officially enter the presidential race later this month in his home state…. “He will be fully announcing on January 20 in Topeka, Kansas,” Brian Hart, the senator’s spokesman, said Friday. The move was expected even though Brownback set up an exploratory committee in December to gauge whether he had enough support for a full-blown campaign. After the announcement in Kansas, Hart said Brownback will fly to Washington to participate in the anti-abortion march marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling.… God’s a Republican, and it would appear that help is on the way. ‘Course, for those of us who respect Christianity but don’t want it forced down our throats, Brownback’s announcement should probably serve as a call to arms.
