The Rise of the Religious Right

Kathleen Damiani, PhD, spoke at our July meeting on the rise of the religious right in the Republican Party. President of the Board of Directors of TheocracyWatch at Ithaca NY, she is a teacher who currently works as a grants administrator for the New York State Office of Parks and Recreation and Historic Preservation. TheocracyWatch is a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy at Cornell University. CRESP is a nonsectarian, action-based educational organization with its roots in religious dialogue, human rights advocacy, and ethical thought.

TheocracyWatch offers a "thoughtful perspective on the ongoing efforts of the radical religious right to redirect the nation's future." Their website makes clear that the site is "not about religion, nor about Christianity, nor about Republicans. This site is about how a small group of Republican strategists targeted a religious constituency to expand the base of their party, and how a small group of religious extremists targeted the Republican Party to bring the United States government under religious control."

Damiani traced the origins of the religious right's takeover of the Republican Party and its subsequent impact. Goldwater's defeat in the 1964 election motivated Republican strategists to reach out to evangelical conservatives as a way to broaden the base. This string of events (abetted by the work of conservative religious think tanks) led to high-impact projects such as the Christian Coalition voter guides. They have been enormously helpful in electing conservative Christian Republicans, despite the fact that the Christian Coalition eventually lost its tax-exempt status. Damiani also provided information on the Christian Reconstruction movement and detailed definitions of other conservative right belief systems; both religious and secular.

Christian Reconstruction is a radical belief system focused on converting the U.S. into a Christian society in which all laws are based on the Bible. In this system, clergy replace elected officials, women would not work outside the home, only Christian men would be allowed citizenship, and execution would be the punishment for adultery, witchcraft, astrology, blasphemy, homosexuality, and "incorrigible children".

Further information is available from www.theocracywatch.org and activist resource kits from the Political Research Associates (www.publiceye.org). Elements of Christian Reconstructionist thought can be seen in, among other places, the Texas Republican Party Platform, which seeks to outlaw witchcraft and yoga classes. The core religo-political ideas of Reconstructionism are: 1. Massive tax cuts causing the federal government to shrink, 2. Giving churches complete control and responsibility over welfare and education programs, 3. Capitalism unfettered by regulation (deregulation) 4. Government based on Biblical Law.

When considering all of this, it is natural to ask oneself how it is that middle-class and poor Americans can be convinced to vote for candidates that do not represent their economic interests. The answer lies in the strategist's ability to use religion convince them they are voting the way god instructs, and thus turn a blind eye to their economic reality. Another disturbing trend in government is the tendency for the Senate to vote on controversial issues late at night when no one is watching. Between the hours of 2 and 3 a.m. they have voted to cut veterans’ benefits, slash education and health care, and pass tax cuts. [See “Operating in Secrecy” below.]

As a way to combat the effects of the radical religious right in politics, Damiani suggests setting some personal goals such as registering others to vote and exposing stealth candidates. If you need further motivation to get started, consider these remarks from a few government officials:

"Who is in control in Washington? God is in control in Washington" – Roy Blunt R-MO, House Majority Whip.

"Guns don't kill people, Charles Darwin kills people" – Tom Delay, R-TX, House Majority Leader

"If the Supreme Court says you have the right to consensual sex in your own home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery."– Senator Rick Santorum, R-PA

"...Government...derives its moral authority from God. It is the minister of God with powers to "avenge" to "execute wrath" including even wrath by the sword.” – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (the justice Bush admires the most).

And consider President Bush's Judicial Nominees:

James Leon Holmes: "Christianity transcends the political order and cannot be subordinated to the political order. . . . The final reunion of Church and state will take place at the end of time, when Christ will claim definitive political power of all creation, inaugurating an entirely new society based on the supernatural." "The wife is subordinate to herself and to her husband . . .the woman is to place herself under the authority of the man."

Michael McConnell, appointed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals "Freedom flourishes when man is subordinate to God."

William Pryor (Attorney General of Alabama, installed on February 20, 2004 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit without Senate approval. He was appointed in another late Friday announcement timed to avoid public attention. It was the second time within five weeks that President Bush used a recess appointment to place a widely opposed, far-right ideologue on the federal courts.): "God has chosen, through his son Jesus Christ, this time and this place for all Christians… to save our country and save our courts."

Finally, "The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States is a Christian Nation" – 2004 Texas GOP Platform (see more at: http://www.theocracywatch.org/texas_gop.htm)

 

See also

“White House Regularly Briefs Apocalyptic Christians”

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