I'm Just Sayin'

How many times have you heard someone say, "I don't discuss religion or politics."? The two most blood pressure elevating topics known to modern man are now, it seems, one. We can't talk about politics without discussing how religion has become a part of politics. We can't talk about religion without discussing how religion has become a part of politics. This melding of religion and government is not really the blending of religion and government as much as it is the blending of Christianity and government. Many evangelical Christians (ECs) do not believe the First Amendment to the Constitution applies to them or rather...they don't care.

Clearly,  the ECs believe, if one is doing the work of one's  god, then man made laws and rules do not apply. The ECs are a special interest group and they have infiltrated the Republican Party...the GOP has become the "Grand Old Pulpit" party...to borrow from commentator George F. Will. The Republicans have always been in favor of more power to individual states as opposed to the Democratic doctrine of a larger central government.  These opposing views about the strength of a central government or of  strong state governments have served us well. Opposing views help to keep things in balance. 

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the establishment (by federal government...Congress) of a national religion or the preference of one religion over another, or religion over non-religion. This restriction did not, however, specifically extend to the individual states...at least it didn't clearly extend to the individual states. After the thirteenth Amendment was passed, providing freedom from slavery, the former slaves were technically free from being the property of others, but had few rights and privileges. The former slaves could, at a states discretion, be denied the right to vote for example. Other restrictions include where the former slaves could go to school, eat, go to the bathroom, sit on a bus and drink water. So while the Thirteenth Amendment gave a guarantee of freedom, due to the discretion of individual states, they actually had very little freedom. And so we enacted the Fourteenth Amendment, the Reconstruction Amendments, the purpose of which was to force individual states to allow true freedom to the former slaves. The effect of the 14th Amendment was to restrict the right of each state to operate as a semi independent country. We now had the power to fight the  blending of church and state that had been occurring at the state level. 

Now here we are...it is impossible to debate politics without debating religion because the two are, or have become so blended. Our history  serves to explain how the Republican Party has evolved...pardon the  intentional pun. As the federal government has stepped in and more or less standardized the authority of the individual states, the ECs have decided the only way to have it their way...their god's way,  is to control the federal government. Quoting George F. Will, "For the first time since 1825, meaning the first time since the party system emerged, America is nearing the end of two consecutive eight- year presidencies. In six of the last seven elections, the name of Reagan or Bush has been atop the Republican ticket." He goes on to say, "The future, it has been said, is a mirror without any glass in it. The outlines of the nation's political future probably cannot be discerned until 24 states are heard from on Feb. 5, but the future is going to be very unlike the past."

I hope the future is very different.  Hopefully, our country has begun to understand how important it is to embrace our Constitution rather than trample it...in the name if the father, the son and the holy fucking ghost. Hopefully, the ECs plan to dominate our country will backfire. Hopefully, a small, and I do mean small, taste of a theocratic government and the ramifications of a Christian theocracy have scared the religion out of people. Hopefully, at some point in the near future, we can talk about politics without religion.