Justice Dept. Reshapes Its Civil Rights Mission
WASHINGTON, June 13 ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ In recent years, the Bush administration has recast the federal government’s role in civil rights by aggressively pursuing religion-oriented cases while significantly diminishing its involvement in the traditional area of race. Paralleling concerns of many conservative groups, the Justice Department has successfully argued in a number of cases that government agencies, employers or private organizations have improperly suppressed religious expression in situations that the Constitution’s drafters did not mean to restrict. The shift at the Justice Department has significantly altered the government’s civil rights mission, said Brian K. Landsberg, a law professor at the University of the Pacific and a former Justice Department lawyer under both Republican and Democratic administrations…. “Not until recently has anyone in the department considered religious discrimination such a high priority,” Professor Landsberg said. “No one had ever considered it to be of the same magnitude as race or national origin.”
One of the most disturbing trends of the past six years is the transformation of the federal government’s civil rights mission from defending the civil rights of minorities to protecting the majority religion from “persecution” and “oppression”. Of course, everyone knows that race-based discrimination no longer exists, so isn’t it about time we protected Christians from being persecuted by unbelievers and those who cling to paganistic and invalid religious beliefs? After all, this IS a Christian country, no? Doesn’t our paper money say “In God We Trust”?
All this refocused effort really boils down to is another nail in the coffin of diversity and civil rights. If you’re a wealthy White Christian, not to worry- DoJ has your back. It makes perfect sense, really. These folks vote Republican and they donate to the cause, so why wouldn’t Our Glorious and Benevolent © ensure that they can practice their religion free of interference from those who would stand in their way. That the same folks frequently engage in their own discrimination against those who don’t believe as they do somehow gets lost along the way.
Of course, if you’re not a wealthy White Christian, you can go f—k yourself. You probably don’t vote Republican, and you likely don’t donate to the GOP, either. If you’re not willing to purchase protection, and if you’re silly enough to rely on the Constitution…well, you’re going to get what you deserve.
