In difficult times, nations sometimes embrace extreme solutions. In 1494 Florence became a Christian Republic and Savonarola commenced his inquisition. Now America is in turmoil and Republicans offer a radical vision -- Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. Is the US sliding towards Theocracy?
In 1494, Florence, Italy, was in economic and social turmoil. Catholic Priest Girolamo Savonarola declared Florence a Christian Republic and formed a Theocracy. Claiming to receive direction from God, Savonarola preached about the Last Days, and sparked a moral "purification" campaign. Homosexuals and liberal thinkers were killed, thousands of books were burned, and gangs ravaged Florence looking for indications of moral laxity, resulting in the notorious Bonfire of the Vanities.
In 2011, America is in economic and social turmoil and Republicans offer the solution of Theocracy. It's been tried here before. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a Puritan Theocracy -- in 1660 Quaker Mary Dyer was hanged on Boston Common for advocating her religion. Until the nineteenth century, several states had official Christian churches. Nonetheless, the separation of church and state seems a solid legal principle -- "free exercise" of religion is in the First Amendment of the US Constitution (the notion of "separation" came from an 1802 Thomas Jefferson letter).
Recently, Republicans and Democrats have argued about the notion of the US as a "Christian Nation." In 2007 John McCain stated, "The Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation." Yet in 2009, Barack Obama remarked, "One of the great strengths of the United States is... we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."
Now Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachman and Rick Perry actively advocate Theocracy. They believe the US was founded as a Christian nation and disdain the notion of separation of church and state.
Bachman and Perry are proponents of radical Christian fundamentalism, Dominionism. Dominionists believe the US should be a Christian nation; their version of Christianity should be the state religion; and Biblical law - the Ten Commandments -- should be the foundation of the US legal system. (They also believe that God gave humans "dominion" over all life on earth.)
Writing in the New Yorker, journalist Ryan Lizza examined Michele Bachman's radical views: "Bachmann said in 2004 that being gay is 'personal enslavement,' and that, if same-sex marriage were legalized, 'little children will be forced to learn that homosexuality is normal and natural and that perhaps they should try it.'" "She believes that evolution is a theory that has 'never been proven.'" Bachmann is anti-abortion and believes Christianity should be taught in public schools.
Rick Perry has similar beliefs. Writing in The Texas Observer, journalist Forrest Wilder described Governor Perry. He's allied with the "New Apostolic Reformation" wing of Pentecostalism and believes he's a modern-day prophet directed by God to purify the US by becoming President.
Why have Republicans turned to such extreme candidates? It's consistent with a disturbing change in their base. The most recent Pew Research Report on US politics described: "the emergence of a single bloc of across-the-board conservatives. The long-standing divide between economic, pro-business conservatives and social conservatives has blurred. Today, Staunch Conservatives take extremely conservative positions on nearly all issues -- on the size and role of government, on economics, foreign policy, social issues and moral concerns. Most agree with the Tea Party and even more very strongly disapprove of Barack Obama's job performance."
While only 11 percent of registered voters, staunch conservatives are angry, energized, and well funded. They're united by a dislike for government, a belief in state's rights, and disdain for President Obama. Staunch conservatives are white, conservative Christians, advocates of unfettered corporate capitalism, who see Obama as black, Muslim, and a socialist. Staunch conservatives share many ideas that fueled the Confederacy. Not surprisingly, Dominionists seek to redefine the civil war as a conflict between "a Christian Nation," the South, and barbarians led by the Northern elite.
In difficult times, nations sometimes embrace extreme solutions. Now America is in turmoil and Republicans offer the radical Theocracy of Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry.
I can just imagine if this country ever did go theocratic. If, as a Christian, you think your rights are being violated now (which they aren't,) just wait until religion is in charge of government. If you don't agree with the government once it does, then you needn't worry about your rights being violated. BECAUSE YOU WON'T HAVE ANY.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
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Fascists seek to purge forces, ideas, people, and systems deemed to be the cause of decadence and degeneration, and to produce their nation's rebirth based on commitment to the national community based on organic unity
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Fascists believe that a nation requires strong leadership, singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong.
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Fascism promotes violence and war as actions that create national regeneration, spirit and vitality.[7] It views conflict as a fact of life that is responsible for all human progress.[8] It exalts militarism as providing positive transformation in society, in providing spiritual renovation, education, instilling of a will to dominate in people's character, and creating national comradeship through military service.
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Historians, political scientists and other scholars have long debated the exact nature of fascism.[28] Each form of fascism is distinct, leaving many definitions too wide or narrow.
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Paxton sees fascism as "a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.
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It's a showdown and a big one. Democracy or theocracy. These dominionist must be severly defeated at every level of government.
Those of us who support this constitutional principle need to know the textual basis for it. This is especially true in an age when Fox News and the like claim there is nothing in the constitution about separation of church and state -- this is simply not true.
- Thomas Jefferson
The cream of the "republican party" has not risen to the top. They have been dredged from a theistic sewer.
Of course you dismiss this with a perceived intellectual prowess not reserved for we lesser souls. Do so at your own peril. As a "libertarian" this theistic minority are playing you, for you staunch "hands off" philosphy, that you think the current crop of republican contenders supports. They do not. Give these people free reign and the Blessings of Liberty you crave so much - gone.
Oh well no more "cato"
Thanks to the Religeous right T Baggers for rejecting Christian responsibility toward the poor and hungry.
But don't worry: Corporations are making money, stocks are up and at least there are, jobs, aren't there? See, "Trickle Down" does work!. For some.
http://www.allbusiness.com/economy-economic-indicators/economic-indicators/15410289-1.html
And note: Even with Democratic Party leaders the contest is represented of being the Corporate/ wealthy vs the Middle Class. How about advocating for the welfare of the workers and the poor as well? Or would that be inflammatory? The American valued possibility of social mobility should not be so easily discarded. That is to deny us hope.
Nietzsche said "It is not their love for man, but the impotence of that love, that keeps the Christians of today (from) burning us." I had always thought that to be an exaggeration for dramatic effect. But these T-Baggers with their focus on greed and rejection of assistance to the poor and hungry are not true Christians. They are the re branded "Religious Right", the handmaids of the multinational corporations and their lobbyists. Zealots in the service of Mammon perhaps, but not Christians.
www.herescope.blogspot.com/2011/.../denying-dominionism.ht...
And perhaps. like addicts, we need to hit rock bottom (in this case, Theocracy for our entire country) in order to start the climb back to sobriety and sanity. Heaven help us if that is the case.
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
After Nazi Germany, there was a lot of research done on how the Leaders operate, but precious little on the essential Followers. Altemeyer has gone in to look at what makes them tick and how they are exploited.
By the way, Altemeyer is Canadian.
"OK, what’s this book about? It’s about what’s happened to the American government lately. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government has made. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country. It’s about the United States standing at the crossroads as the next federal election approaches."