From InTheseTimes.com :
Saving Secular Society
By Michelle Goldberg
Michelle Goldberg speaking on Christian Nationalism
Thursday, June 22, 7:00 pm
In These Times, 2040 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Whenever I talk about the growing power of the evangelical right with friends, they always ask the same question: What can we do? Usually I reply with a joke: Keep a bag packed and your passport current. I don’t really mean it, but my anxiety is genuine. It’s one thing to have a government that shows contempt for civil liberties; America has survived such men before. It’s quite another to have a mass movement—the largest and most powerful mass movement in the nation—rise up in opposition to the rights of its fellow citizens. The Constitution protects minorities, but that protection is not absolute; with a sufficiently sympathetic or apathetic majority, a tightly organized faction can get around it.
The mass movement I’ve described aims to supplant Enlightenment rationalism with what it calls the “Christian worldview.” The phrase is based on the conviction that true Christianity must govern every aspect of public and private life, and that all—government, science, history and culture—must be understood according to the dictates of scripture. There are biblically correct positions on every issue, from gay marriage to income tax rates, and only those with the right worldview can discern them. This is Christianity as a total ideology—I call it Christian nationalism. It’s an ideology adhered to by millions of Americans, some of whom are very powerful. It’s what drives a great many of the fights over religion, science, sex and pluralism now dividing communities all over the country.
I am not suggesting that religious tyranny is imminent in the United States. Our democracy is eroding and some of our rights are disappearing, but for most people, including those most opposed to the Christian nationalist agenda, life will most likely go on pretty much as normal for the foreseeable future. Thus for those who value secular society, apprehending the threat of Christian nationalism is tricky. It’s like being a lobster in a pot, with the water heating up so slowly that you don’t notice the moment at which it starts to kill you.
(cont at: www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article_two/2649/ )
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2 comments:
Let's not forget that it was religious organisations and religious leaders that formed the backbone of the Civil Rights movement. Sometimes it is essential to have a movement that urges its members to vote for something else than their pocketbooks or immediate gain...
The only thing that keeps the evangelical movement from demanding real living wages, better environmental stewardship, real equal opportunity (hence universal healthcare and cheap higher education) and a more peaceful society is the deft politicking on both sides of the aisle, that keeps abortion and gay marriage on top of the agenda.
I understand your anxiety and the joke about leaving the country. Last July, I did pack my bags and moved to Belgium (where my husband is from). The Evangelical far right had a lot to do with it. I didn't want my daughter raised in that kind of environment. It is not perfect in Europe by a long shot, but universal healthcare and free education through university was a big plus--not to mention a government that does listen to its people. After five years of Bush, that was a surprise.
I think part of the problem is that liberals--and in particular people in more liberal religions--treat the Bible as Kryptonite. I know that is my problem. So, I'm starting to read it on my own to be able to understand and give counter arguments. You can justify the devil with the Bible as long as you know the right passage.
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