The GOP, Religion and the Politics of Division

If one follows the GOP presidential nominee candidate clown car one thing you'll likely never hear is talk of unifying the country or working for a common purpose. Rather, it's all whining and snarling about those the Christianist/Tea Party controlled GOP base dislikes - blacks, gays, Hispanics, non-Christians, foreigners, etc. - and protecting the privileges and benefits of the top 1%. Woven throughout all of the negativity and division is the common thread of conservative/fundamentalist Christianity which focuses great attention of the fire and brimstone of the Old Testament but ignores the Gospel message almost entirely. And anyone who doesn't subscribe to this foul hate and fear based version of religion is labeled as "the enemy." Topping the enemy list, of course, is Barack Obama who is doubly curse for being part black and a non-Bible beater. An article in the Washington Post looks at the constant efforts to divide the populace that is a hallmark of today's GOP. Here are some highlights:

Last week, the Christianity police, in the persons of Rick Santorum and Franklin Graham, came forward to discredit the president’s religious beliefs. First, Santorum called President Obama’s theology “phony”; then, on “Morning Joe,” Graham refused to accept Obama into his Christian band of brothers: “He has said he’s a Christian, so I just have to assume that he is.”

With rhetoric like this, these Christian conservatives are playing an ancient game. They are using religion to separate the world into “us” and “them.” They are saying, “The president is not like us.”

The president’s Christian beliefs are hardly unusual. He was raised by a mother whom he has called “agnostic” and who today might be dubbed “spiritual but not religious.”

Religion has done much good in the world, but it becomes dangerous when the “us and them” worldview grows rigid — when “we” claim moral (or theological) superiority over others. No one should know this better than Santorum, for Roman Catholics have been among the most persecuted groups in America. Yet for Santorum, history has had no modulating effect.

One major theological disagreement between Obama and religious conservatives concerns salvation. Obama happens to be the kind of Christian who believes non-Christians, including his beloved mother, can go to heaven. . . . Most Americans are with Obama on this. According to a 2008 poll by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, more than half of American Christians believe there are many paths to heaven. The data say it best: No matter what exclusivist doctrines pastors preach from the pulpit, Americans are more open-minded.

America was founded by people who hoped that by allowing religious diversity to flourish, they might discourage extremism from growing. Counter to the claims of so many Christian conservatives, the intent of the First Amendment is not to protect any particular brand of Christianity from government encroachments, but to allow all kinds of believers to practice freely.

“I hate polemical politics and polemical divinity,” a politician once said. “My religion is founded on the love of God and my neighbor; on the hope of pardon for my offenses; upon contrition . . . in the duty of doing no wrong, but all the good I can, to the creation of which I am but an infinitesimal part.” It is only unfortunate that these sentiments were those of John Adams — and that they are two centuries old.

As I have noted many times before, it is the Christianists and the far right who seek to destroy the Founding Fathers' design for religious freedom, not liberals, gays or non-Christians. Once again, it's those who claim to be most godly who are the biggest threat to freedom.