By Ruth A. Sheets
Republicans today want power! They want money too, and they want whiteness to be supreme (Jesus was white, you know, or so they believe).
Many Republican leaders who still claim to be Christian, have bought into a "prosperity gospel" which tells them if they are rich and powerful, they deserve it; god did it for them. They aren’t concerned with how they got there, because they believe they are truly in God’s favor, God was guiding them through their business life, their legal duties, their use of family riches, etc., so if they “sneaked” a bit from someone or didn’t pay employees what they earned a few times, or skipped taxes, or lied about an opponent, God knew and it was OK because God had forgiven them, right? Isn’t it interesting that with this kind of “prosperity gospel,” God seems to only forgive them for their deeds, not others involved in the same practices? And, whatever they don’t like is disliked by God, and therefore, a sin to be opposed at every opportunity.
The new prosperity gospelers don’t really care what traditional Christianity believes or does because they regularly get revelations from God and anyone who gets in their way is a sinner, the enemy. Not in the Bible? Of course it is, you just have to read it right!
The “Christian” white right’s efforts are moving toward making sure their beliefs become the law of the land. That’s what they want to believe is God’s will, and they will get to be in charge of “god’s will.”
Currently, we have at least 4 members of the Supreme Court and numerous members of Congress and even more members of state legislatures on board with this effort. Theirs is a fanatical religious evolution that took about 45 years to fully develop. Republicans and conservatives were having trouble getting traction for their message after Watergate, so needed something to motivate themselves and others of their kind: white, straight, male, “Christians.” The one issue that had potential was the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade. Abortion! What a great idea! Claim abortion was a horrific sin, murdering a baby in the womb. How dare those sluts do something so terrible. I bet God doesn’t like that. They also knew they had to get some loud-mouthed women on board or a lot of women would have ignored the men. Phyllis Schlafly was perfect for the job. And, as a power-obsessed lawyer, she knew just how to reach and manipulate vulnerable women who were scared of the changes feminism was bringing about. All these years later, the pieces were in place.
The Conservatives on the Supreme Court this year just knew this was the time to dump Roe v. Wade despite precedent, despite a majority of Americans not wanting it overturned, despite having no real argument to support the decision, they said “OK states, do your best,” and they did. There is now chaos throughout the Confederacy and the confederate wannabee states. The most the conservative court under the pen of Justice Alito could do was claim abortion wasn’t in the Constitution, so it wasn’t protected by it. That, of course is nonsense, especially when the only sources for Alito’s argument were Medieval white men who were misogynists, just like the Court’s conservatives. Neat, huh!
The prosperity gospelers claim the 1st Amendment gives them the right to force their Christian beliefs on this country because the founders wanted it to be a Christian nation. These folks have no idea, nor care, what the founders intended regarding religion. Even if they knew that many of the founders were Deists or held religious beliefs they didn't share publicly is irrelevant to them. The Bill of Rights declares no establishment of religion in the first amendment, but folks like Justice Barrett see all that as just words she doesn't have to follow because she has god's ear (or some other irrelevance) and her super-Catholic cult lets her know what God wants for this country, prosperity gospel Christianity where the haves have because God likes them better than God likes the have-nots. Conservative Christian faith does not include folks who don't believe what they do, rather childish, but just what one might expect. One’s personal religion shouldn’t be involved in any decision-making by our courts, but alas, the conservative justices don’t care about the oath they swore, it was just their way into a lucrative job for life.
I just read an article by Dennis Prager in “townhall.com, (a very right-wing site), called “Why Are So Many Young Americans Irreligious? The Secular Brainwashing is the First Reason.” As you can imagine, the article is full of the usual anti-left stuff regularly pumped out by conservatives: “can’t say ‘Merry Christmas (happy holidays), can’t have Christmas parties or Christmas break” (holiday party, winter break). Young people have abandoned religion because of the anti-religion stance “the power of the dominant secular culture, the failure of faithful Christians (and Jews) to properly explain their religion to the young, and every public institution has been made ‘god-free.’” Ridiculous!
The author whines on that schools don’t refer to god and the Bible and actually hold both in contempt. (I must have mist that one.) He claims also with no evidence that religion is held by public schools to be an impediment to children’s learning. The article continues on in that vein claiming it is brainwashing on the left that has turned young people from religion. In schools mentioning other faiths is permitted, but not Christianity (of course, not true). He whines that inside and outside home, religion is disparaged, again with no evidence, just his personal feeling or the claim of his church.
He wraps the article up saying that this “post-Christian age” has been “the bloodiest” in history. This man has no clue. Most Nazis were Christian and Stalin and Mao were Communists. Together they were responsible for more deaths than anything since. Unfortunately, Prager has folks out there who believe his manufactured “truths,” and will try to use them to push religious fundamentalism on our country. Prager said young people aren’t religious, so in his new order, are they supposed to be forced into religion? If so, who is going to do that? And, what about the people who are Christian or not Christian who don’t want religion thrown in their faces every day?
Besides, young people from all backgrounds have been witness lately, to a whole lot of bad behavior on the part of conservative Christians in power. They have seen women losing bodily autonomy, just because. They have seen LGBTQ persons threatened with the loss of their human rights. They saw an insurgency by white Christians who tried to take over our government on behalf of a non-religious man. They have seen hospitals refuse to treat women in crisis because a fetus is seen as more valuable than the woman carrying it. They have seen white Christian police officers shoot down or suffocate Black men. They have experienced the presidency of a man those conservative Christians revere who cheats, lied over 30,000 times in public while in office, then stole secret documents from the White House while he was leaving. In short, if that is Christianity, what would entice young people to want a part of it?
I am a person of faith and do believe the Christianity of the social gospel has something to offer young people, but it is not my role to force anyone to choose or reject Christianity or any other religion.
People of faith need to stand more forcefully for church and state being separate strands in life, maybe, each supporting but not dominating the other. We need to talk about it more and why the separation is essential.
There is a move in some more liberal churches to go back to some kind of heavier embrace of scripture, I guess to prove our faith is as real as Justice Barrett’s seems to be. I do not approve. The scriptures of any religion can give guidance, but they have definite limitations, particularly when they are nit-picked to glean pearls to “cast before swine.”
I and many others are advocates for a social gospel that is inclusive, accepting, and requires us to increase people's rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of opportunity. What I believe guides my life but I don't need other people to believe what I do as Justice Barrett, the other conservatives on the Supreme Court, and their ilk do. We who are for separation need to speak up often and clearly that we don’t want public religious demonstrations when they are coercive and just for show as that school coach’s 50 yard line BS was. When we see that nonsense, we need to interrupt with more positive activities, like maybe a drum circle or a quick concert of love songs that will drown out their stuff. They will still be able to do their thing as Justice Barrett and her kin want, but it will be positively challenged by the much larger coalition of people who value religious freedom, that is freedom to believe or not believe and even more important, freedom not to be dictated to by an extreme Supreme Court or anyone else.
