The Christian Right Killed the Republican Party
When Ronald Reagan began courting the religious right in his bid to win the Presidency, I doubt he knew he was spelling death to the lean tenets of Goldwater conservatism. Yet soon afterward, under the thumb of right-wing religion, the Republican party became a bloated fool, stuffed with hypocrisy, greed, and anti-intellectualism. In 2008, the price is being paid through lost elections and a loss of public trust.
While Bush railed about the axis of evil, there was another axis that gathered steam during the Reagan years. The Moral Majority, Focus on the Family, and The Christian Coalition were all formed within years of each other as religiopolitical groups. Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and Pat Robertson, the respective leaders of these movements, formed a triad that sought to influence politics through a gospel of neo-conservative Christian rhetoric aimed at millions of faithful adherents whose votes, it was hoped, could swing the socio-political pendulum away from progress and back to "traditional values."
In order to win the votes of the triad's faithful followers, Republican politicians bartered themselves into a hear-no-wrong, see-no-wrong trade-off. This trade-off allowed Falwell to hold sway with politicians, and appear as a respected political pundit on right-wing shows, even after outlandishly insisting that the purple Tinky Winky children's character was gay, or that the anti-Christ was coming in the form of a Jew. He could promote the idea of ending the public school system in favor of church-run schools, as he did in his book, America Can Be Saved, yet still wield considerable influence in Washington.
In trading endorsements for blindness, Pat Robertson could say that feminism "is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians" -- and even suggest that a nuclear device should be used to blow up the State Department -- yet Senators and other politicians would still appear on his CBN network, even after other controversies, such as the use of Operation Blessing planes for mining activities, splintered his Coalition.
Republican politicians continued to cater to James Dobson even after he distorted the research of scientists to promote his anti-gay agenda in Time magazine. Dobson, who operates several non-profits, has used millions in tax-free donations to try to influence nominations for the Supreme Court and to subvert the First Amendment separation of church and State, but legislators, rather than reining in the 800-pound gorilla, quaked under threat of being targeted by Dobson's political media machine.
There was a mutuality to the trade-off between the Christian right and its adopted Republican politicians. In exchange for being given credibility and influence in Washington, the triad and their various branches would justify the intrusive Patriot Act, torture at Guantanamo Bay, and massive governmental debt to their audience of millions -- if politicians would stand against Roe v. Wade. They wouldn't make a stink about outrageously expensive no-bid contracts -- if it meant that their "faith-based" charities could get governmental grants. They would support war against a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 -- if politicians went on the record against same-sex marriage.
The would ignore or excuse the fact that a large percentage of corporations paid no taxes at all -- if it meant no new taxes for them. They'd support Bush even as he misled the public about weapons of mass destruction, and they'd excuse the unethical actions of henchmen like Rove and Libby -- if it meant that school vouchers would be put on the agenda.
Working in tandem with their pocketed politicians, the Christian right would rejoice at the FCC's repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, which gave rise to a slew of unchecked right-wing programs that hawked the myth of a vast "liberal media", even as markets narrowed and became dominated by a handful of corporations.
Right-wing provocateurs like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh were encouraged to truck in fear, loathing, and controversy, mirroring the religious right's mission to divide the country into red/blue, good/evil, conservative/liberal, Christian/un-Christian factions. There was no room for the moderate middle in this "with us or against us" equation, as witnessed by the public shredding of moderate Republican politicians like Arlen Specter, a Jew, and a vocal critic of the Christian right. "What some are trying to do is take over the party," Specter warned in 1994. "That's bad for the Republican Party and bad for the country." Specter became a target of the religious right for his support of Roe v. Wade, and his refusal to bend to the will of religious power brokers like Dobson, who attempted to use his influence to block Specter's 2005 bid to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Today, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are among two of the more prominent Republican figures that have become mouthpieces for the religious right. Their attempts to split a diverse, multi-cultural country into "pro-America" and "anti-America" factions have left little doubt who is to be considered patriotic and who is not.
Those who are right-wing Christians -- anti-abortion, anti-feminism, anti-gay, anti-evolution, anti-taxes, pro-gun, and pro-deregulation -- and who are willing to ignore or justify massive governmental debt, corporate welfare, bank nationalization, unjustified war, falling markets, depleted retirement accounts, record foreclosures, government spying, broken treaties, torture, the impingement of a free press, the subversion of the First Amendment, the hiding of official records, the missing millions from Halliburton, and more - are patriotic. Everyone else is not.
Barry Goldwater once said that he was "sick and tired of the political preachers" that tried to dictate his morality.
"And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of "conservatism."
Goldwater, I think, would be rolling in his grave at the hijacking of his party by religious fundamentalists. It remains to be seen if the Republican party can recover from its long and seedy affair with the extreme right, but there is no doubt that many socially moderate, fiscally conservative Republicans are waiting for a leadership that is driven more by Goldwater ethics than by the bogeyman of a separatist, neo-con God.
Follow Jane Devin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/janedevin
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I wish I'd seen this article sooner. Thank you for writing it. I agree. The Religious Right needs to be forsaken by the Republican Party. When McCain chose Palin, I didn't know anything about her. I'd hoped that her coming on board would mean the end of the Relgious Right cuckhold. I was dead wrong.
I am more of a Goldwater Republican, although I disagree with his stance on abortion. However, I think Mr. Goldwater, if he were alive today, might appreciate my stance on it: the people of each state needs to decide whether or not it should be legal.
LeiftheLucky, you couldn't be more wrong. America was never founded as a Christian Nation. In fact, Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, which ended a conflict with North-African Muslim pirates and was signed by president John Adams (who of course was present at the founding of the country) states clearly "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries". Most of the founding fathers including Jefferson, Franklin, Thomas Paine, and John Adams, were not religious men. The Constitution never once mentions God and the Declaration of Independence (which is not a legal document since it was written BEFORE the current Costitution), while containing some religious references, never mentions Jesus Christ anywhere. The idea that America was founded on Christian values is a myth, plain and simple. We are, and always have been, a nation based on the secular values of the Enlightenment.
Good Post.
But there is one error. Jefferson, Franklin, Thomas Paine, and John Adams, all of the Founding Folks were all very religiious. They just weren't necessarily Christian. Many, maybe most, were Deists. Jefferson, one of the founders of the Unitarian Church, produced his own version of the Bible. His buddy, Adams was a congregationalist which is what the Puritans morphed into. Like the Puritans, Congregationalists of Adams time were noted for the fervor of their faith. Unlike the Puritans , they believed "you mind your religion, I'll mind mine." Franklin's views ran the gamut from atheist to jolly old pagan before finally settling in as a Deist in his old age. Of the group you name, Paine, a Deist, is a close one gets to areligious.
If I remember correctly. there is no amendment in the constitution that states Christianity is the official national religion. Like oil and water, the Bible and the constitution don't mix.
The Christian Right is neither
What is it called when a large group of people is defined by a minority fringe and held up to pervasive ridicule? That's right: bigotry! The vast Christian community is more diverse than most other groups, and the so-called Christian Right is likewise diverse. To narrowly define such a group as Devin attempts here, and to lay blame for the demise of Republicanism based on this errant definition, is the height of bigotry. Traditional, historic Christian faith is what gave birth to this republic. It is tragic to realize how far we have strayed from our roots, and to see how willing some people are to throw Christ under the bus simply to indulge selfish ambition. The Truth will stand, and withstand, any election, any political philosophy and any bigotted attempt at its destruction, as it has, down through history.
http://all
The 60's ended with "Make Love Not War" and the 70's, it was sex, disco & cocaine.Th
Wouldn't it be nice for change NOT to be promoted by fear?
I believe Obama has succeeded by promoting change by caring for each other and respecting each other's differences. We have come along way!
YES WE CAN!
The body politic is about to be de-wormed of the parasitic Christian Right by a strong vermicide called President Obama.
Two days until the Enlightenment!
~WolfLady~
James Dobson
Folks please do not confuse a criticism of the Christian right to a criticism of religion at large.
They are not Christian, they are not religious! They are just willfully ignorant of the true message of Jesus, which is love. Jesus in his days kept company with minorities and oppressed people... it's all written in the Gospel. I do not understand why the Christian right totally disregards that part of the bible.
Disregard? it isn't profitable, and do understand what you're saying.
It makes me sick and is nothing like the Christianity I've been taught.
It's more right wing than Christian. So, Jesus is coming to institute a world government, and they oppose the UN. So (Matthew 22:17-21) Jesus says pay your taxes, and they oppose all taxes. So, the saints (Acts 2:45) live from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs, and this is "Marxism." Say Jesus and the saints screwed up, a Christian would still have to keep an open mind on these subjects. You cannot scorn and oppose Jesus and rightly call yourself a Christian (Matthew 7:21-23)
I like evangelicals; they are good people. Of course, Satan only seriously tempts good people since we others already belong to him. When the good people error, they fall before the most subtle temptations. Yet, they can utterly fall.
Jesus said (Matthew 7:21-23) Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many deeds of power in your name?" Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you, go away from me, you evildoers.
Try to rise above partisan hatred and try to honor truth.
Another eye-opening post that draws from fact, history and today's tumultuous political climate. Well said!
Don't forget Chuck Colson.
These people scare me with their rantings and ravings about wedge issues. They only want to further their own agenda and anyone else is anti-American and anti-religious.
Their mercenary army is what is scarier yet. Blackwater has made it a business to train policemen and government agencies in this country and across the "friendly" world. I find that unsettling.
" Religion. It's given people hope in a world torn apart by Religion. "
-- Jon Stewart
OMG - that's one of the greatest lines EVER?!?! Did he really pop that?
Excellent piece, Jane. Religion is the programing that is pitting people against each other around the world, and even in our communities. Religion is a mental and emotional disease. Religion tears parents from their children, husbands from their wives, and families apart. Religion is the cause of incalcuable deaths and incomprehesible destruction. When you give up your free will to another, you are very likely to be enslaved.
I want to say thanks for the article. Although, overall I agree with little of it. You've brought a great issue to attention. First of all, I agree with KingPen5 (above) when he points out that you ignore the politicians themselves. They are not puppets. They are individuals who make choices as each one of us does. To say that 2 or 3 people associated with a party are wholly responsible for our country's current condition is entirely short-sighted and off balance.
Agreed, these republicans have done severe political damage, and have brought a bad name to many religious people. But how can one ignore their counterparts on the democratic side? Do the names Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton ring any bells? Just as the republicans, these men have sought nothing but to attack those that don't fit with their individual beliefs; and as you said in this article, "are willing to ignore or justify [this country's problems].
I believe a true and good citizen, politician, journalist, banker, or handyman, should always strive to present an objective view of the problems we all face. Only then can we solve issues and move forward. The democrats didn't create all the problems. The republicans did not create all the problems. No one religious group created all the problems. And it will take everyone to fix them.
Your analysis is short-sighted. The 'problems' that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton caused pale in comparison to the nightmare that the republican religious zealots brought about. I remember the frustration I went through in 2004, when I knew that a vote for Bush is a vote for more war and disaster, yet all those religious zombies voted republican because that is what their minister told them. If you didn't share in that frustration, you must have slept through those years. Wake up now and give due blame to those that deserve it. Denying the problem won't help to solve it.
As a former Republican I can tell you that the current GOP will never recover form its religious conservative and corporate fascist domination. Currently I am voting a straight democratic Ticket until a new party emerges. I am not a Democrat - I think they are terrible at finding real solutions to problems, but at least they are trying.
To think that to be a Republican I have to oppose abortion, gay rights, a free press, habeus corpus and support torture, preemptive war, bigotry, racism, religious oppression and genocide is an anathema to me. Until all the Republicans in office have left office, I will never vote Republican again.
AMEN!
I'm a former Repub myself - also voting straight Dem until something is done about the Republican party. Although I would no longer go back to the right. My eyes have been opened, and I no longer believe that it's really fiscally conservative to attempt to leave the poor to help themselves. We end up paying more when they go to the hospital for free care, when it would've been cheaper to have paid for them to get preventative treatment from a GP. We pay more to lock them up from robbery or drug crimes, when we would've benefited from helping them get a job they could afford to keep (minimum wage, subsidized childcare, transportation aide, etc.).
Of course I'll always be looking for a party that's willing to do something about the useless pork barrel spending, but I no longer think the answer is to not spend money on anything but police & defense. Therefore I'm no longer a Libertarian either.
I'm a partyless wanderer. A permanent independent.
Hear, Hear -
I have been an independent since Carter lost to Reagan. I come from a dyed-in-the-wool Republican family, and conversations regarding politics are futile. I have come to accept they refuse to educate themselves. There is a glimmer of hope for my younger sister - I sent her research regarding Joel's Army and the dominionists. She was surprised the MSM had not brought that to the surface, and I reminded her that any candidate who speaks openly about radical faith is committing political suicide. Better to get elected, and then impose your beliefs on others.
I'm wondering if all the people who don't like their neighbors value systems couldn't just buy, say, a state, and run it the way they want to? That way they will be able to dictact values their way. I hear Alaska has plenty of room for 50 million or so new residents.
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