The goal of several fundamentalists sects of America’s Protestant groups is to take control of the government of the United States and have Biblical law reign supreme over the Constitution.
We have several Presidential candidates whose religiosity begs the question of whether America’s separation of Church and State will survive. Candidates Ben Carson, Senator Ted Cruz and former Governor Mike Huckabee wear their religion on their sleeves and the very real threat is that their intent is to make America a theocracy.
Our court system is being clogged with cases that have the goal of having religious tyranny. This week, the week of November 9th, it was announced that an extension of the Hobby Lobby case will be heard before the Supreme Court. As a result of the Hobby Lobby case a non-profit religiously based entity may state in the paperwork regarding health insurance under the ACA, that they have a religious objection to having to take part in a health care system that pays under it’s insurance for a woman’s contraception or abortion drugs. Their new objection is that they are forced to seek an exemption for employers who have a religious non-profit organization, and fill out and answer the paperwork that will allow them to have an exemption. It is hard to contemplate an example of a greater form of religious tyranny for the employees of those non-profits who might wish to have their contraception paid for by their insurance. The employer is quite free to not have a doctor prescribe any drug to them regarding contraception, but to try to control their employees desires is not an example of conservatism but rather an example of seeking to control the private lives of their employees. An employer has no right to interfere into the lives of those individuals who work for them. It is hard to see the distinction between their argument now, and the argument that parents have made before the court that their religion does not permit blood transfusions for their children.
America is unique, we are home to people of all religions and people from all the countries on the face of the earth.
Let us not forget that the very first words of the Bill of Rights were about religion. ” Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
There is no war on Christians. Christians like any other faith have the right to freely exercise their religion.
Today’s Republican candidates, Cruz and Carson would have you think otherwise. Carson even uses the word tithing when it comes to his tax plan. Cruz uses Biblical references all the time. According to his father, Senator Cruz is the anointed one, by God to lead the nation.
Doctor Ben Carson is a 7th Day Adventist. Adventists believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ is eminent. He famously said that if Jesus comes back in his first term he would welcome it. These End of Times believers are potentially quite dangerous if by their actions as President they would help bring on the End of Times.
Both Cruz and Carson talk the tough talk when it comes to what would be the Last Crusade, as they fire up their followers by encouraging a war with radical Islam.
We have succeeded as a country for over 200 years by making our home a place that welcomes all faiths. The last thing we need to do is to forget the lessons of Jefferson and Madison when it comes to separating Church and State. Countries fail and are intolerant of others when they have a theocracy, a country based upon Biblical law. Whose Bible and whose interpretation of the Bible are we to trust? Madison was quite wise when he warned us about any Government naming a particular religion as a State religion for as he said it would not be long before a particular sect of that religion would claim that they were THE ONES with the answers.
We must keep the keep religion and politics separate so that we can maintain our religious freedom.