Religious Political Creep

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The great George Carlin once said, 'I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.'

I couldn't agree more! When these two groups of proponents of bad ideas get together for a common goal, the end result is the Dark Ages. When American revolutionaries physically attacked government leaders and government troops and after years of fighting and struggle finally were victorious, they broke with tradition and made certain that religion of any kind was not to be found in the U.S. Constitution.

The government today is destroying the Jeffersonian wall of separation of religion and government. Their White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships gives millions of tax dollars to religious organizations. This is morally wrong since many taxpayers are not religious and don't want to pay to support a religion they don't believe in. Even those taxpayers who are religious would not be happy knowing that they're giving money to religious beliefs/organizations that they do not endorse.

As if this is not bad enough, there is a Christian political movement called Christian Reconstruction that is creeping into government. Its goal is very similar to the neoconservative movement, which wants a world based on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. The Christian Reconstruction movement wants the U.S. government, and eventually the entire planet, based on the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments but with an emphasis on the Old Testament. Unlike the neoconservative movement which was founded by a Jew (Leo Strauss) and is largely Jewish, the Christian Reconstruction movement was founded by a Calvinist, Rousas John Rushdoony, and is Protestant Christian.

Christian Reconstructionists want to educate a generation of Christian children who will then subvert the United States into a theocracy so that the laws of the U.S. will no longer reflect the U.S. Constitution but will instead reflect the laws of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. To turn this demented dream into a reality, Christian Reconstructionists are training children now, and have been for years, in Christian schools who will eventually take leadership positions in government.

Currently Bob McDonnell is the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia . McDonnell is a graduate of Pat Robertson's law school at Regent University . While a student there, he wrote a thesis which strongly indicates he believes in ideas which are a direct attack on individual freedom. For example, on pages 7 and 8 he complains that in 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court was wrong in Griswold v. Connecticut 'by asserting that the 'preservation of marital privacy' precludes state interference with the right to use contraceptives, even though the state had long been empowered to regulate the legal and sexual relationships of marriage.' This reflects the anti-progress attitude of tradition over all, no room for new thoughts. And, of course, progress is not possible without new thoughts.

On page four of his thesis, McDonnell laments the replacement of 'the Judeo-Christian ethic with the relativistic values of the 'me generation' of the 1980s.' If we take an objective look at the 'Judeo-Christian ethic,' we see it leaves very much to be desired. For example, how do you feel about slavery? The Bible does not condemn nor outlaw slavery. One restriction it does put on Hebrews who own slaves is that it requires them to free their Hebrew slaves after six years of bondage. However, the Hebrews are permitted to keep Gentile slaves 'forever' and to pass them on to their children. (Leviticus 25:39-46) If the Christian Reconstructionists do succeed in turning America and the world into a giant Bible-based theocracy, will they allow the Jews to keep Christians and other Gentiles as slaves 'forever'?

Another Judeo-Christian ethical teaching regarding slavery is found in the New Testament. Ephesians 6:5 openly and clearly says, 'Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ.' Can you see why governments love the 'revealed' religions and give them special deals through tax breaks, etc.?

It's funny that a graduate of Pat Robertson's law school would write in his thesis about 'illegitimate' children. Marion Gordon 'Pat' Robertson himself got his girlfriend pregnant with their first son who was born 10 weeks after Robertson's wedding!

On pages 9-10, McDonnell calls for 'the preservation and strengthening of the traditional family unit by the government,' claiming that will cure all of our social ills. This explains why Republicans who pretend they are against government interference really mean they are AGAINST government interference of their corporate buddies but FOR government interference in the private lives of Americans.

If McDonnell wins the Virginia gubernatorial race, it will be a setback for very personal liberties. It will encourage other Christian Reconstructionists to give more and to do more to promote their ancient, anti-freedom beliefs and to turn them into laws. Some people think this will set us back 50 years. In reality, it will set us back to Biblical times. It's a shame we refuse to learn from history.

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Robert L. Johnson's picture
Columns on STR: 94

Robert Johnson is a paralegal and a freelance writer in Florida. He was raised Roman Catholic, but after reading Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason, he became a Deist. In 1993 he founded the World Union of Deists and in 1996 he launched the first web site devoted to Deism, www.deism.com.  He is listed in Who's Who in Hell and is the author of Deism: A Revolution in Religion, A Revolution in You and An Answer to C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity.  He wrote the introduction to The Age of Reason, The Complete Edition and also writes for Examiner.com.