You see it on bumper stickers every day: “Jesus is Lord”. “King of Kings”. “Lord of All.” Were people voting with their bumpers, Jesus would win by a landslide.
But when the American right speaks of religion in politics, they are referring to Christianity. When they fight for more religion in the courts and schools, they mean more of their religion..
But the time is coming when fundamental Islamic madrasahs are going to start popping up next to their Christian schools. A time when protesting Muslims, using the legal victories of the Christian right, will have Sharia Law enshrined in the courts next to the Ten Commandments.
What the evangelicals don’t get (and what will come back to bite them in a generation’s time) is that freedom for one means freedom for all. Every law they pass to allow more of their religion into the government will also allow every other religion in. There will come a day when Congress and kindergartners will have to break for Islamic prayer, whether they are Islamic or not.
In fact, anyone with a religion will be able to exert power over the status quo, begging the indulgence of school boards and State funds to make sure their religion is as respected and included under the law as Christianity. And yes, the hardcore anti-Western imams with their hate speech will, in time, be protected under the very freedoms that they are trying to destroy.
There’s nothing fanciful in this. It’s a direct cause-and-effect of the legal precedents that the Christian right are pursuing. Religious inclusion for one sect will be applied to all, and you can bet that the extremists are watching this very closely, allowing the Pentecostals and evangelicals to do the hard work for them.
It bears repeating: freedom of religion must also mean freedom from religion. Only by separating religion and government will we be able to maintain the objectivity and freedom that the West has enjoyed for so long.
Written by Wm. Hopper, http://www.heathensguide.com.
‘The Heathen’s Guide to Christmas’.
A Field Manual in the War on Christmas.
Available just in time for Christmas dinner with your in-laws.
December 13, 2008 at 10:04 pm |
[...] Religion in Politics: How the Christian Right are paving the way for Militant Islam. [...]
March 2, 2009 at 11:44 am |
The problem You have described is already prominent in Europe. And we are not good at handling it… ;-(
June 16, 2009 at 2:16 pm |
how dare you all i have to tell you is you are an uneducated individual and just because you added few words of arabic such as madrase doesnt mean you have any knowledge about arabs or islam. The muslims your talking about are like the red necks you find in western cultures and it is so sad to see that instead of you encouraging equal right for all humans, you choose to seperate people by religions. It is so devastating to know that there are people like you out there!!!
June 16, 2009 at 3:49 pm |
Here’s the difference: In Iran/Iraq/Syria/Egypt etc., the government and law is RUN by the “redneck” crew. Not that I don’t have a problem with American rednecks as well, but they’re not out there controlling how everyone else lives. And no, I do not choose to separate people by their religions. THEY chose to separate themselves (and declare themselves holier and purer).
June 16, 2009 at 2:17 pm |
to add to that you generalize everybody and it is sad..
June 16, 2009 at 3:50 pm |
I generalize when I am writing a brief posting. I expand in great depth when I write books. It’s a space issue.
July 8, 2010 at 7:55 am |
Thanks for the advice..