"Personhood" for Embryo Agenda is Theocracy

I've often noted that opposing civil equality for LGBT citizens is only the tip of the iceberg of the Christianist agenda and that also targeted over the longer term are making all abortions illegal, outlawing most forms of contraception, returning mandatory Christian prayer to public schools, and outlawing science based sex education. Many scoff at the notion, but Mississippi may soon demonstrate through its "personhood" for embryo legislation that the objective of criminalizing abortion and many forms of contraception is for real. And if Mississippi is successful and the Republicans take control of the Virginia Senate, person hood for embryos could become reality in Virginia as soon as next years session of the General Assembly. Sadly, most people do not grasp just how relentless and uncaring for the rights of other the theocrats are in fact. We are not dealing with rational or nice people. A column in Religion Dispatches looks at the theocratic agenda the "personhood" agenda represents. Here are highlights:

Mississippi Initiative 26, the “personhood” amendment on the November 8th ballot, is not only dangerous for women’s health and lives—it is dangerous for our democracy. While not recognized as such, it is an openly theocratic endeavor. We should be talking about theocracy because this amendment is not just being fielded in Mississippi—it has been introduced in at least six other states, with more to come.

We know the harm that Initiative 26 would do by effectively ending access to reproductive health care in Mississippi—including banning all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest or the life of the woman; some forms of contraception; and in vitro fertilization. Not to mention the frightening possibility that doctors would not be able to provide life-saving medical treatment to a pregnant woman, for example, in the case of an ectopic pregnancy. We should also be aware that this amendment would enact in law a specific religious view about “personhood”

I call this campaign “theocratic” as a Baptist minister who holds all human life to be sacred. But issues around human life are not as simple as the “personhood” proponents believe. . . . .

It is no secret that personal religious views motivate the “personhood” campaign. The group organizing the Mississippi initiative, Personhood USA, defines itself on its website as a Christian ministry. . . . Mississippi’s largest Christian denomination, the Mississippi Baptist Convention>, is backing the personhood proposal through its lobbying arm, the Christian Action Commission.

[I]n the fashion of those who are determined to embed their religious views in law, there is no acknowledgement that there are other, equally valid views. Because there are a variety of views on such a basic question as “the beginning of life,” the constitution guarantees that decisions about contraception and abortion will be protected by law. And that is where the matter should rest.

As I have said before, the Christianists and their political whores in the Republican Party are a clear and present danger to religious freedom for all and for constitutional government in America. They need to be stopped before it is too late.