See below. I especially love this quote from Pat Robertson:
In the words of Pat Robertson on his television program, the 700 Club: "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists, and this and that and the other thing. Nonsense! I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the antichrists." (Pat Robertson, the Most Dangerous Man in America?, Rob Boston)
4religious-right.info
Winning the War
"We need to find ways to win the war" Karl Rove, President Bush's political director told a gathering of the Family Research Council in March, 2002. Family Research Council is one of the most powerful lobbying organizations of the Religious Right today. Rove wasn't talking about the war on terrorism. He was talking about the war on secular society.
This web site features links to articles, particularly from the New York Times, that document a systematic effort on the part of the Bush administration and Republican-controlled Congress to overturn the separation of church and state and bring the government under religious control. While the United States public is focused on Iraq, our government is undergoing a conversion unlike any in its history.
In the short time since Republicans won majorities in both houses of Congress, the federal government has issued an executive order allowing discrimanation in hiring, then another allowing government funds to be used to build churches, both orders in clear defiance of a separation of church and state.
The Justice Department, under John Ashcroft's guidance, is supposed to be focused on the war on terror. At a time of huge and ever-increasing budget deficits, the Justice Department has been spending its funds to challenge Oregon's assisted suicide law and California's medicinal marijuana law. It is insisting that Attorney Generals from New York and Conneticut use the death penalty more frequently. It is interferring with academic freedom by investigating the choice of a university biology professor to refuse to recommend students who don't believe in evolution.
You will find in this website links to newspaper and magazine articles documenting the federal government's actions. Ironically, Ashcroft and almost his entire staff belong to the Federalist Society (Topic 3b) which advocates a weaker federal government and stronger states' rights (Topic 10).
To understand the war on secular society, we should go to the man who has been perhaps the most influential in taking control of the Republican Party and giving the Republicans a majority in both houses of Congress: Pat Robertson, founder of Christian Coalition. Robertson told the Denver Post in 1992 that his goal was to "take working control of the Republican Party." He defined the war on secularism in 1991 at a Christian Coalition rally. "It's going to be a spiritual battle," Robertson declared. "There will be Satanic forces.... We are not going to be coming up just against human beings, to beat them in elections. We're going to be coming up against spiritual warfare."
Robertson named his enemies in a 1992 newsletter, Pat Robertson Perspective. The list includes, among others, the National Organization for Women, the National Education Association, the National Council of Churches, the Gay-Lesbian Caucus, as well as People for the American Way, and Americans United for a Separation of Church and State. They are lumped together as the "radical left."
"The strategy against the American radical left should be the same as General Douglas MacArthur employed against the Japanese in the Pacific...Bypass their strongholds, then surround them, isolate them, bombard them, then blast the individuals out of their power bunkers with hand-to-hand combat. The battle for Iwo Jima was not pleasant, but our troops won it. The battle to regain the soul of America won't be pleasant either, but we will win it." (from the book, The Most Dangerous Man in America? by Rob Boston).
The Dominion Mandate
Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, an organization that monitors the Religious Right sums up their goals in one word: dominion. Sara Diamond in her book Road to Dominion is credited with recognizing dominion as a political goal. "Our aim" according to Pat Robertson at a banquet in 1984 "is to gain dominion over society."
Authors Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell have written an influential textbook for Christian schools titled America's Providential History. "The Puritans are prime representatives of this "spirit of dominion," they explain, holding out the Puritans as examples of good government. "They recognized the scriptural mandates requiring Godly rule, and zealously set out to establish that in all aspects of society." Dominion is described by the president of Family Research Council, Kenneth L. Conner as a society that "reflects, in the final analysis, the sovereignty of the Lord over all aspects of our daily life."
The term dominion means control over; in this case control over all of the democratic institutions in this country. The Republican Party has been the key vehicle in the drive for control. Now that the Religious Right controls both Congress and the Presidency, they are highly focused on the one remaining branch of government: the courts.
"Judges are the basis of the land's righteousness, " said David Barton, a 'Christian nation' activist and Vice Chair of the Texas State GOP, who is dedicated to overturning the separation of church and state. Barton was speaking about the coming 2002 elections. "We have a Senate election here in Texas. The only issue that should matter is judges. "*
David Barton was speaking at Worldview Weekend, April, 2002, an event whose aim is to teach fundamentalists how to gain political influence and bring government under religious control. Another speaker at that event was the new House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, but it was Barton's speech that captured the spirit of the 2002 elections: "The only issue that should matter is judges."
In his speech Barton was urging the audience to vote for any Republican Senator, even moderates. Since Republican leadership is firmly in the hands of the Religious Right, the strategy was to insure a Republican majority in both houses. The section on Government in this web page, Topic 2, goes into more detail about who the Republican leaders are in Congress.
Who is the 'Religious Right'?
This web page is not about Religion. Many religious leaders, including those from mainline Christian churches are deeply concerned about the Religious Right. The Interfaith Alliance, as stated in its website, "is a non-partisan, clergy-led grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the positive, healing role of faith in civic life and challenging intolerance and extremism."
This web page is not about Christianity. The Religious Right does not view mainline Christians as true Christians. In the words of Pat Robertson on his television program, the 700 Club: "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists, and this and that and the other thing. Nonsense! I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the antichrists." (Pat Robertson, the Most Dangerous Man in America?, Rob Boston)
The term "Evangelical" is sometimes used to refer to the Religious Right, but that is a mistake. Evangelicals cover the whole political spectrum as we can see in the former President Jimmy Carter, an evangelical who is considered a liberal Democrat. The Evangelical Environmental Network, a coalition of Christian groups is deeply committed to stewardship of God's creation. They have been running advertisements asking the question " What would Jesus drive?" (Answer: not an SUV.) Topic 6 of this web page, Religious Institutions, discusses different belief systems.
This web page is not about Republicans. During the 2000 Presidential primary John McCain claimed that the Religious Right was "destroying" the Republican Party. Time magazine quoted John Moran, Bob Dole's financial manager during his bid for the presidency, as saying that Christian Coalition had "hijacked" the Republican Party.
This web page is about Republican strategists who target fundamentalist, Pentecostal and charismatic churches as a way to expand the base of their Party, and about a very specific group of Religious leaders who are using the Republican Party as a way to gain "dominion" over society.
Of course, not all fundamentalist, Pentecostal and charismatic churches join in the effort to gain control of the U.S government, but those groups are targeted by Christian Coalition organizing efforts. While the Mormon Church does not necessarily participate, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Ut) a Mormon who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee has been perhaps the most influential person in Congress in helping the Religious Right gain dominion over the courts (See topic on Judiciary).
U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is a good example of the Religious Right in government. He spoke at a Christian Coalition rally, October 11, twenty-five days before the 2002 election. "Get the few liberals out" he told the crowd talking about the U.S. Congress. "You will be doing the Lord's work, and He will richly bless you for it." Pat Robertson's mission, Operation Blessing, was richly rewarded. Just before the election it received a grant of $500,000 from the Presidents Faith-base Initiative.
An Estimate of Political Strength
This drive for "dominion" is underestimated by the media and political analysts. Karl Rove estimates the number of people from the Religious Right who voted for Bush in 2000 to be about fifteen million, and he talked about raising that number to 19 million. With the Religious Right's passion to gain control of the federal court system, and it's ability to send followers to the polls by the bus load, Rove's estimate is probably modest, and its number as a voting bloc could exceed twenty million.
A bill defeated in the House of Representatives on October 3, 2002, was drafted with help from Pat Robertson's law school. Its purpose was to bypass campaign finance reform and allow houses of worship to collect money for political campaigns. This bill was opposed by a strong coalition of religious groups, and lobbied for intensively by virtually all the key organizations of the Religious Right, for it would have allowed unrestricted campaign contributions to be made through the collection plate. These contributions would have been both anonymous and tax exempt.
Since virtually everybody except the Religious Right opposed the bill, it was a good measure of their numbers in the House. Roughly 43% of those who voted supported the bill (178 for, 239 against). Religious Right backed candidates won sixteen new seats in the House of Representatives and the bill, along with other legislation designed to make the United States a 'Christian Nation' will be introduced in the next session of Congress.
Karl Rove was disappointed with a turnout of 15 million voters in 2000, but that number is not trivial, especially at times of low voter turnout. Their strength becomes magnified when the Religious Right joins forces with other groups over specific issues. Even after the tragedy at Columbine High School, a Million Mom March did not produce significant gun control legislation when the Religious Right, adamantly opposed to any form of gun control joined lobbying efforts of the NRA.
They join with corporations to lobby against legislation designed to regulate industry. As quoted from the Texas 2002 GOP Platform: "A strong and vibrant private sector [should be] unencumbered by excessive government regulation." The 'government regulations' they want to abolish protect the environment and workers.
Those who believe that biblical prophesy forecasts the return of all Jews to Israel before the final Apocalypse has lead some leaders of the Religious Right into an alliance with the Likud Party in Israel. Falwell has been helping fund settlements in the West Bank and Gaza since 1979. Jewish voters in the U.S. are divided about the question of Israeli expansion, but those that support the Likud Party have formed an alliance with the Religious Right to oppose the withdrawal of settlements from Palestinian areas.
Ironically, the Green Party has helped swing elections to the Religious Right by challenging Democrats in a political system that doesn't have run-off elections. Helping Republicans win the Presidency and three key House seats in 2000, and then additional House seats in 2002, the Green Party has inadvertently helped the Religious Right win control of the White House and House of Representatives.
With a champion in the White House and strong leadership in both houses of Congress, the courts have taken on a special importance, for they have been the greatest barrier to dominion. Throughout this web page there are references to times the higher courts, in support of a separation between church and state have overturned decisions by lower courts, state legislatures, and state boards of education."The only issue that should matter is judges. "*
The rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party is perhaps the most important story in modern politics. The battle for "dominion" over society is being waged in all major institutions including government, the courts, schools, mainline Protestant churches and the media. This web page will describe the impact of the Religious Right on our major institutions and how they have found in the Bush administration a strong ally. Section 13 of the Topic List offers a look at the State of Texas GOP Republican Platform. This web page is a wake-up call to citizens of the United States who believe in a democratic, pluralistic society. |
