The following comment by a reader struck a real chord with me and does a wonderful job of describing the dangers and injustice done by affording conservative Christianity special privileges. It goes to the very essence of why the Founding Fathers wanted no established religion and why those such as Jefferson believed that NO ONE'S civil rights should be dependent upon adherence to a particular sectarian belief system. Yet shockingly, this vision of the brilliant minds of the Founding Fathers is flouted daily by the likes of GOP members of Congress - e.g., Randy Forbes - and pandering politicians such as the trice married, serial adulterer Newt Gingrich. As the reader notes, the parallels with Sharia Law are remarkable, yet this bigots fail to see it. Here's the comment.Personally I'm tired of my life and well being being dependent upon a particular religious text that I do not follow or believe in. I don't care what the bible says, or what people say the bible says, on homosexuality or anything else.
*Why must I, as a non-Christian, be forced to live by the tenets of a faith that I do not follow? Why can't Christians grasp the fact that not everyone believes what they believe? Why must those of us who do not follow any of the Abrahamic religions be forced to live by their religious laws?
*And yet these same people, in their conspiratorial delusions, rail against the concept of Sharia Law being imposed on them but fail to see the similarities in their instance on "biblical law" being made the law of the land.
*My life, well being, and existence should not have to hang on the ever changing interpretation of a particular religion's understanding of their sacred text. Nobody's should.
2 comments:
The Fundies are very dangerous. They would love to force everybody to believe as they do, or at least to adhere to their rules. This is why it's a good thing the Founding Fathers were forward-thinking and put rules into place to protect us from being ruled by such zealots. They would be appalled by the behavior of the right-wing zealots we currently have holding many of our official positions, I am sure.
Maybe I'm just getting too pessimistic as the years march on but I do not see the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment being all that much of a surety against theocracy. Most fundies now a days don't even believe, or at least they profess not to believe, that the Establishment Clause forbids a state religion or laws based on "biblical" law.
The power of fear is an amazing thing when wielded by politicians. They can use it, and have, to scare a majority of the populace into agreeing with just about anything, including the erosion of constitutionally protected rights. Bush 2 did it and saddled us with the Patriot Act amongst other things.
Given enough time and the right fear inducing trigger(s) they will most likely have a fast majority of the populace willingly marching lockstep toward if not an actual theocracy then at least a protofascist state. With the rise of the willfully ignorant and militantly stupid (see the Tea Party, Birthers, et al), the decreasing quality of education in this country, and the ability to get large sections of people to eagerly vote against their own best interests this possibility seems to closer to actual truth than a hyperbolic political nightmare scenario.
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