The GOP Transformation Into a Religious Movement is Nearly Complete

I left the Republican Party well over a decade ago because of the party growing inability to separate politics and the civil law from far right Christian religious dogma. In the intervening years since my exit from the party things have only gone from bad to far worse and virtually all of the moderates in the party that I knew (and most of my family) have likewise fled the party as well. Indeed, as Andrew Sullivan has maintained, the GOP is now a sectarian party. Gary Laderman, a Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Religion at Emory University, has a piece up at Religion Dispatches that makes the case that the transformation of the GOP from a political party to a religious movement is nearly complete. It's to the point that I don't know how anyone with a modicum of intelligence other than those motivated by greed and self-centered aspirations can remain a Republican. Here are highlights from Laderman's article:
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The Republican Party is no longer a political party—it’s a full-fledged religious movement. The political ideology fueling this movement is religious to the core; and while it might be easiest to label the religious element “Christian,” that designation is too broad and generous for the true complexities at work here.
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[W]hat does it really mean to argue that the Republican Party, a movement with a distinctive religious culture, is a new kind of religion, a new kind of religion we might as well call “Republicanity”? Let me count the ways.
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1) Mythology Every religion has a mythology, or sacred stories . . . . Republicanity’s myths are being manufactured by the mythbuilders over at Wallbuilders. . . . .The myths of Republicanity are fairly obvious and easy to identify when uttered by the faithful: glorifying the Founding Fathers as saints, inserting God into the nation’s origins, and demonizing the US government when policy disagreements occur.
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2) Rituals: Every religion has rituals . . . . Likewise, Republicanity is rife with ritual acts of the sacred variety. One of the most recent examples is the signing of yet another pledge, “The Marriage Vow—A Declaration of Dependence on Marriage and Family,” drafted by The Family Leader, an Iowa-based organization. Signing pledges (against raising taxes, for lowering the debt, agreeing that this is a “Christian nation”) is all the rage these days, with adherents of Republicanity.
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Town hall meetings to vent anger and frustration, public events more akin to religious revivals than political rallies, and following Fox news, religiously, at certain intervals throughout the day, are a few other examples of rituals performing their role in a religious movement: to energize the faithful, differentiate insiders from outsiders, and establish what is sacred and what is profane.
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3) Ethics: Every religion has its own ethical teachings which provide moral guidelines for how to act, identify the good guys from the bad guys, and determine the right course of action in an often ambiguous world. . . . Republicanity is no different, possessing its own set of ethical commitments that define its moral universe. It is like the most narrow and conservative religious cultures in its absolutist ethical positions and refusal to tolerate any difference of opinion.
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4) Theology: Most religions have a God or multiple gods who rule the universe and the lives of humans on this Earth, leaving members preoccupied with seeking greater understanding of the power and influence of divine powers. . . . . Republicanity is built on a theology of divine presence in national affairs that looks in some instances like a form of theo-fascism—particularly when leaders claim an intimate knowledge of God’s will and being chosen by Him (no goddesses in this religion) to purify America.
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Taken all together, Republicanity is a culture that merges politics and religion.