The UnSecular Activities Committee
Anti-religious bigotry is the new McCarthyism.
The usual suspects are gathered in New York to...well, let's just read the story:
NEW YORK -- Secular humanists and leftist activists convened here over the weekend to strategize how to counter what they contend is a growing political threat from Christian conservatives.
Surely we're talking about a bunch of extremist wackoes, right? International ANSWER? Chomsky Youth?
The Open Center, founded 21 years ago, played host to the two-day conference at City College of New York called "Examining the Real Agenda of the Religious Far Right."
People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group that opposes religion in the public square, co-sponsored the conference, which drew about 500 participants.
Oy. That's not good.
And I'm sure the rhetoric is very rational and measured:
"This may be the darkest time in our history," said Bob Edgar, general secretary of the left-leaning National Council of Churches and former six-term Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania. "The religious right have been systematically working at this for 40 years. The question is, where is the religious left?"...The United States is "not yet a theocracy," Joan Bokaer, founder of TheocracyWatch.org, said Friday night, but she argued that "the United States is beginning to fit the model of a reconstructed America."
It's interesting learning the language of the new anti-faith McCarthyites:
Speakers outlined such concepts -- others would say conspiracy theories -- as Christian reconstructionism and dominionism to a crowd that Mr. White said does "not understand the further reaches of religion."
Dominionism is the theory that the account in Genesis in which God gave man dominion over the earth has become a political teaching advocating that Christians gain and hold power. Christian reconstructionism is the theory that Christian conservatives intend to impose Old Testament law in America.
Call it "Protocols of the Elders of Evangelism". Read the whole thing, and be prepared to be depressed.
Posted by Mitch at
May 2, 2005 12:48 PM
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Did anyone hear any talk about dominionism or Christian Reconstructionism BEFORE the election? I myself only heard of it for the first time on Air America, a couple weeks ago. Now we are supposed to believe that dominonist are pulling the strings in White House?
This is so obviously a Democratic or leftist ploy to cause an anti-evangelical backlash. During the Clinton years would have been concerned. For some reason I now find this totally comical.
Posted by: rick at May 2, 2005 04:34 PMIts not McCarthyism in the least. The religious right are trying to legislate THEIR morals and thats what is scaring liberals. Its the religious radicals who want complete control over the government so they can force religion and their beliefs on other people. Believe what you want, I respect that, but dont tell me what to believe in and expect me to abide by your moral judgement.
Posted by: Beck at May 2, 2005 06:30 PMIts not McCarthyism in the least. The religious right are trying to legislate THEIR morals and thats what is scaring liberals. Its the religious radicals who want complete control over the government so they can force religion and their beliefs on other people. Believe what you want, I respect that, but dont tell me what to believe in and expect me to abide by your moral judgement.
Posted by: Bell at May 2, 2005 06:31 PM"Its the religious radicals who want complete control over the government so they can force religion and their beliefs on other people."
Yawn. I've come to recognize this as simple Liberal projection. You are mostly afraid that the right will succeed before you have your chance to foist your morals on us. After decades of campus speech codes and your hate crime laws, force catholic hospitals to perform abortions, etc., no one believes you not trying to legislate morality.
Anyway, every faction is trying to exert influence over the system, as is their right in our political process. You mostly resent the fact that in marketplace of ideas, yours are on discount shelf, and no one's buying.
Posted by: rick at May 2, 2005 08:56 PM"Its the religious radicals who want complete control over the government so they can force religion and their beliefs on other people."
Yawn. I've come to recognize this as simple Liberal projection. You are mostly afraid that the right will succeed before you have your chance to foist your morals on us. After decades of campus speech codes and your hate crime laws, force catholic hospitals to perform abortions, etc., no one believes you not trying to legislate morality.
Anyway, every faction is trying to exert influence over the system, as is their right in our political process. You mostly resent the fact that in marketplace of ideas, yours are on discount shelf, and no one's buying.
Posted by: rick at May 2, 2005 08:56 PMWhat!?! is there an echo in here?
Posted by: rick at May 2, 2005 10:54 PMI find it amazing that so many believers feel so embattled. Because you can't get your way in every aspect of American culture? You do realize that culture is a collective exercise, and not everyone believes what you do, right? You do realize that by making overtures to government for additional power (faith-based this and that, handouts gallore) that you are endangering your own religious freedom as well as everyone else's, right?
Secularism should be the goal of good government. Government shouldn't denegrate or favor any one religion or set of religions. That ensures that everyone -- Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Neodruids, Satanists, and yes, even the despised atheists -- retains the freedom of their religious beliefs or non-beliefs despite what everyone else believes. Especially the Christian majority.
You'd have to be blind to not see the inroads a certain set of believers have made into government policy over the past few decades. They want nothing less than an official Christian state, and take even mild dissent as an attack against Christianity as a whole. They, not secularists, have made this a religious war. Standing up to it is no where close to "McCarthyism". Pot, meet kettle.
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