-Mark James, WCW steering committee
The Government of this country is moving each day closer to a
theocracy, where a narrow and hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism
will rule. The theocrats such as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, and Jerry
Falwell have a friend in the White House, G W Bush and they and many
like them are using that relationship to promote a brand of
christianity that wants nothing short of controlling how people think
and act. Millions in this country, including Christians, see the
horrors of the war in Iraq and the torture of prisoners held without
due process as actions that must be opposed and stopped. Progressive
forces within the church have stepped forward in opposition to the
christian theocrats. However, in order to build the kind of movement
necessary to drive these people from positions of power we need the
direct involvement of thousand of churches across the country. This
will not be an easy task, when we speak the truth, they try to silence
us; when we act, they try to stop us. But we can’t just be silent and
still, to much is at stake.
In June of 2004, Bush met with Vatican officials to lobby for more
American Bishops to rally to his side in the political arena. According
to a July 14, 2004 New York Times editorial entitled “Onward G.O.P.
Soldiers”, The Bush-Cheney Campaign is buttonholing Christian Churches
nationwide to serve as virtual Party precincts in the Republican drive
to turn out voters.
>From the San Diego Tribune, September 25, 2004. The Rev. Jerry Falwell said
yesterday that evangelical Christians, after 25 years of increasing
political activism, now control the Republican Party and the fate of
President Bush.
Rev. George Regas, Rector Emeritus of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California
gave a sermon last fall denouncing many of the policies coming from the
White House. Rev. Regas criticized the war in Iraq saying that Jesus
would tell Bush “Mr. President, your doctrine of preemptive war is a
failed doctrine. Forcibly changing the regime of an enemy that posed no
real imminent threat has led to disaster.” also in quoting what Jesus
might say, “Shame on all those conservative politicians in the nation’s
Congress and in State Legislatures who have for years so proudly
proclaimed their love for children when they were only fetuses – but
ignored their needs after they were born…There is something decadent
about a Nation that denies human
solidarity, that’s more interested in private wealth than public
health. There is something corrupting about the assumption that a few
have the right to good health, dignified jobs, fine education and
decent housing – while others live in misery.” All Saints is currently
under attack by the IRS, threatening the Church’s tax exempt status.
The Church is being charged with intervening in an election. The IRS
offered All Saints a deal, if the Church confessed to wrongdoing, the
charges would be dropped but the Church has refused to confess to
something it didn’t do. The World Can’t Wait applauds All Saints
Episcopal Church for its statements against the war and against the ill
treatment of humanity and its refusal to back down in the face of
threats from the government. We call on all progressive churches to
support this act of courage and be equally vocal in expressing outrage
at what is being done here and around the globe in the name of “moral
superiority”.
Why is it that Bush can lobby the Vatican for votes, Bush-Cheney can
use Churches as virtual Republican precincts, and Falwell can claim
evangelicals control the outcome for the Republican Party; while Rev.
Regas can’t even express his feelings against the war in Iraq without
being attacked by government officials?
Early in Bush’s career as a national figure he made the statement that
Jesus was his favorite political philosopher “because he changes your
heart.” That statement changed the hearts and minds of many
conservative and evangelical Christians across the country. These
evangelicals had been struggling through eight years of the Clinton
administration where there political clout had been kept in check. Now
here was their salvation, G W Bush the president that would bring God to the White House and the
“faithful” with him. It was this political force and the belief that
Bush was “chosen by god” that landed him in a position to unleash a
whole social base with yearnings for political power. Bush himself has
claimed many times throughout the years that his mission is a mission
of god. But these weren’t just any Christians, they were the most
intolerant and bigoted Christians. They not only wanted control over
politics but control over how people thought and behaved. They are
Christian theocrats that want to create a government based on their
literal translation of the bible. This is the social base that the
election of Bush unleashed.
One of his first acts as president, Bush set up the Faith-based
initiative which basically took tax dollars from social welfare
services and allocated them to churches for spending on their social
welfare programs. This money came with its strings attached: no money for
sex education, or planned parenthood, and no money to teach about
protection from sexually transmitted diseases. Also, this initiative broke down many of the barriers that
separated church from state, allowing federal money to support the
social service programs of faith based organizations. Churches and
organizations would have to apply for the funds and the government
would decide how to allocate them. Currently Faith-Based money with all
its strings has expanded to “fighting AIDS in Africa.” This money is
being used to promote an abstinence only program and providing less
than one condom per person per year, needless to say the rate of
infection is increasing. Faith-based money is being used to promote a
religious ideology, not to promote health and well being. People in
Africa and around the world are dying from diseases needlessly because
of the strings attached to the social welfare funds. This program is
being done in the name of god, and people are suffering for it.
September 11, 2001, is being touted by Bush and his fellow theocrats as
the day that “evil doers” challenged Christianity and the “American
way.” This was the spark that ignited those around the White House to
spread the good news that “God knew something we didn’t when he chose
Bush for the Presidency.” Statements like these have been made by many
forces from the Christian-right since 9/11. Even after the reasons for
attacking Iraq where exposed as lies, these religious forces still
cling to the righteousness of this war. Many Christians today are
wondering and asking how this war with all the killing of innocent
people could possibly be supported by Christians.
This past year the Republican Party forced an end to the Senate
filibustering to prevent Democratic Senators from holding up the
Presidential appointments to the highest Federal Courts. This paved the
way to swearing in John Roberts as the anti-abortion, head honcho of
the Supreme Court. And is currently allowing Bush and his supporters to
hand pick another justice for the court. Harriet Miers was rejected by
the right wingers on the Senate as not being dependably anti-abortion
enough. The Christian theocrats are seriously considering Judge Alito
as the next appointee with his clear cut stand against abortion and
eliminating the separation of church and state. Christian theocrats are
using all their lobbying power to ensure that the Supreme Court will be
tilted in their direction around issues of abortion, gay rights, and
the teaching of creationism in schools.
In Kansas, a state where christian fundamentalism rules, the state
board of education voted to put intelligent design into the science
curriculum. So, it’s not just being taught as an origin myth, but a
“science”. More accurately, they are replacing science with bible based
beliefs. The teaching of creationism instead of evolution and myths
instead of science keeps people from realizing their full potential;
fostering beliefs in destiny rather than self determination.
Equating gays with Satan, and keeping women in roles of child rearing
and homemaking is meant to keep patriarchy unchallenged and allow the
all-boys-club to flourish. In the Bible, homosexuals are stoned to
death along with children who challenge their parent’s authority and
women are kept in positions subordinate to men. Christian theocrats
want to ensure that these relationships continue unfettered by
governmental legislation. Many Christians value all life and honor the
variety of human experiences as a gift from god. But these theocrats
can’t be so liberal in their beliefs. Control over how people think and
behave is necessary in order for them to rule and exert power over
those around them.
Who are some of these theocrats and what do they have to say? Good ol
Boy, Pat Robertson told the people of Dover PA. after this last
election, “I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a
disaster in your area, don’t turn to God. You just rejected him from
your city.” This, just because the people voted against a school board
that wanted to introduce intelligent design as an alternative to
evolution. This is also the same “pro-life” Robertson that recently
suggested the assassination of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
There’s more on Robertson, like calling on God to create an earthquake
beneath the stage of Ellen “Degenerate” (as he and his friend, Jerry
Falwell like to call her) in the decadent city of Hollywood. How about
Sen. Trent Lott who is now wooing black Clergy to lobby against gay
marriage rights, after suggesting that a segregationist would have made
a good president. Also, Rev. Louis Sheldon, an evangelical and lobbyist
with a close relationship to Bush calls gay rights, “special rights”
while trying to convince members of black churches that gays are
hijacking the civil rights movement. It’s amazing how rabid
“pro-lifers” like James Dobson, Tony Perkins, and Beverly LaHaye, with
one foot in politics and the other in right wing religious groups,
value clusters of cells the size of a pin head over the lives of women
and abortion providers.
As we ponder the daily prayer circles around the oval office, let’s
remember the words of Catherine Crier, a former republican Judge in
Texas, in her book “Contempt: How the Right is Wronging American
Justice.” In describing the battle over the judiciary she uses the
metaphor of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. “The Four Horsemen
lead the extreme Right’s campaign. But in order for them to be
effective, in order for their existence to have meaning, they need the
cavalry. That cavalry is the religious Right. They are the willing
followers, ready and eager to charge the ramparts to create a Christian
America. “The Four Horsemen are an aptly named group of leaders. For
their followers truly believe in their namesake-the Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse, the four riders who will usher in the end of the world
and the last coming of Christ. To the followers, these judicial
appointments aren’t just a matter of politics as usual. They’re a
matter of life and death.” To the people: “Be afraid, be very afraid.”
In conclusion, the answer to why Rev. Regas was attacked by the
government while other Christian forces have been allowed to thrive and
gain power within politics. Because the Christian theocrats want to
create an America based on their literal interpretation of the bible,
where anyone that disagrees is punished and anyone that behaves outside
the biblically determined perimeters, deserves death. The White House,
in fact the Bush Regime, is becoming stacked with these types of
Christians. If you are a Christian and you hate the direction these
theocrats are taking this country and your religion; organize your
church and your community and join with the millions that hate this
Regime and work with and help build the movement to DRIVE THEM OUT.
Bush and co. are aiming to make critical thinking and expression
immoral and illegal. We can’t wait for that to happen before we act. We
must act now before it’s to late. A final quote from Rev. Regas’
sermon, “Do you remember those days when your heart was full of hope
that life could be different, that life could be transformed and
healed, that life could be better and more wonderful? Remember the
energy that brought to your life. Those dreams you have for your
children and grandchildren, those dreams for your marriage or close
relationships, those dreams for your job – they are powerful engines
for change in your life. Don’t let anyone take them from you. Nor take
from you your dreams for a new America and a peaceful world.”