What if America became a theocracy? Apparently a survey of Republicans found 57 per cent in favour of making Christianity the official religion of the United States.
Younger Republicans in the 18 – 45 age group were more favorable to the idea, with 63 percent of that cohort affirming that Christianity should be our national faith. Majorities of the older age groups still agreed, but in slightly smaller proportions. Among self-proclaimed Tea Partiers, 58 percent wished to establish Christianity as a state faith; and among those favoring former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in the Republican primary, 94 percent would support such a measure. Eighty-three percent of Rick Perry fans replied that they would prefer Christianity be made our national religion, along with 62 percent of Rand Paul advocates.
...But aside from the illegality and irrationality of it, naming Christianity the United States’ national faith would do damage to the faith and faithful even if it did somehow shore up national morality. This is because national faiths, for better or worse, tend to morph into nationalism with a faith element, rather than a faith that happens to be practiced by a particular nation.
This is already true of right wing rhetoric wherein Christianity is made to stand in for American conflicts or situations. Earlier this month, for example, President Barack Obama faced censorious outcry after noting that Christians of the past carried out the Crusades; with Republicans like Governor Bobby Jindal accusing the president of going hard on Christianity in lieu of ISIS, it’s clear the Crusades were, in this instance, turned into an analogy of a purely modern conflict, with Obama implied to be on the wrong side. By criticizing Christianity instead of Islam he was understood to take the side of foreigners rather than Americans.
Ironically, the same zealots who pitch this nonsense are also fervent in their supposed support of America's "founding fathers" even though they were decidedly secular and avowed supporters of separation of church and state.
2 comments:
The Handmaid's Tale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Handmaid%27s_Tale
Margaret Atwood's novel always looked like a prediction to me. The part she may have got wrong is that of Canada being a safe haven.
The fact American politicians Mound, particularly republican's can spout off bible thumping Christian rhetoric and Americans don't seem to find that disturbing, tells me that American culture is already dead.
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