I was born in 1978, and Ronald Reagan was the first US president I was aware of. I didn't get interested in politics until Dukakis got his ass kicked by Bush I (shouldn't have gotten into that tank, buddy) in 1988. Gramps was particularly hurt by that one. He really wanted to see a Greek in the Oval Office. His anguish over that election started me down this path.
For me the religious right has always been running the Republican party. It's hard for me to imagine otherwise. As it turns out Barry Goldwater was right. The Christians* took over the Republican party during Reagan's administration, and they've royally fucked conservatives since. All the same, it's crazy that this happened not just in living memory but MY living memory. These horny-for-the-apocalypse nutbags are, as Goldwater suggested, impossible to deal with. "It's my way or the highway" is their way of life. Even worse, most of our laws are "sin laws," ie. these things are illegal because they're sins.
But we've had those laws for a while, which suggests that Christianity had a much heavier hand in law making than one would think, but now they have the Republican party in their mitts, so clearing those laws off the books, as I wish to do, would be impossible. Not "near" impossible. IMPOSSIBLE.
I'm an atheist. Sin does not apply to me. However, if I wanted to suck a dude's dick, that would be illegal in 18 states. Granted, there's a 2003 Supreme Court ruling negating those laws, so I probably wouldn't do serious prison time for sucking cock, but it's times like these that I think about the recent Roe v Wade decision. How easy would it be for them today to throw these sin crimes back to the states? I would do time for SINNING. That may be cause for celebration across the country, but I personally find that unthinkable.
The best argument for kicking the religious right out of the Republican party (as they are not willing to compromise, they don't belong there) is the separation of church and state. If you're wondering where that's canonized for the American people (well, oligarchs, but that's a story for another day), it's in the First Amendment. It says that Congress can't establish an official religion in the US. The direct quote comes from Thomas Jefferson:
"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."
But the religious right will insist that the Founding Fathers were Christians, therefore the United States is a Christian country. A lot of the Fathers were, indeed, Christian, but not all of them. Aaron Burr, for example, was a self-avowed atheist. (Burr is a Father, whether you like it or not. Plus he did us the great service of killing Hamilton.) Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were mostly reticent on the subject, but there are a few clues. Jefferson claimed to be a Deist, but that doesn't mean he was a Christian. He rejected their beliefs, favoring reason instead of revelation. Franklin claimed also to be a Deist, valuing morals over doctrine. Regardless, those Fathers who were Christians thought the separation of church and state was necessary. That's a huge thing. If they could control themselves, why can't their modern day counterparts?
Look at who the Republicans hate the most. (Setting aside the words "Democrat" and "liberal" and other party identifiers for the moment.) These fuckers are looking at the LGBTQ+ community as the worst offenders in the land. Man having sex with man? Man changing sex to woman? Man having sex with any gender and not just his own or the "opposite"? None of these things must come to pass, as far as the religious right is concerned, but let's also throw in anyone who isn't white, too. God help them if they're not US citizens.
I get the Ham thing leading to slavery, hence America's built in racism, but I can't think of a commandment for the life of me requiring the faithful to be US citizens. I can't even find a reference to the United States in the Mediocre Book. How many people today believe that Jesus was a US citizen? And a Republican to boot! A *white* Republican! The only kind God approves of.
Reagan was an evangelical, meaning he believed in all that Judgment Day nonsense. He had a vested interest in forcing Armageddon's hand. There is some evidence showing that he would totally be cool with fast tracking the End Times, and he could have easily done this. He didn't, for some reason. Maybe self control got the better of him? But do we really want someone who looks forward to the apocalypse to have the nuclear codes? Especially now that we're on the brink of World War III?
The religious right has been rabid about defending their own freedoms while doing their level best to deny the freedoms of others. Isn't there a commandment telling them to love their neighbors? They don't think that "neighbors" only means people living next to them, do they? Or are they mixing up the definitions of love and hate?
Perhaps they should read their own Bible. This passage from I John might help:
"If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." I John 4:20
But more importantly it's impossible to maintain the millennia-long existence of those rules, hence our need to not have them on our books. Here's James SA Corey on the nature of tradition. From Mercy of the Gods:
"Preservation is irrational because it glorifies what cannot be. The universe is in constant change from the smallest measures to the greatest. To cling to one state of being over any others is foolish and futile and doomed."
Gore Vidal says that America was great for precisely five years. They're probably not the five you're thinking of. (Stay tuned tomorrow night for more on that!) But tradition can only be maintained by keeping oneself stupid. That's a strange attitude to have. Pretty good for authority figures, though. Stupid people are easy to govern.
Is that what Trump really means by "Make America Great Again"?
*DISCLAIMER: I don't have a problem with Christians or any religion. People have the right to worship as they see fit. Whatever brings you peace in this fucked up world of fuck. My problem begins when someone uses their religion as a weapon against others. Those are the people I'm talking about in this GF. It's a good thing I don't like to suck dick, because . . . well, just keep reading. It'll make sense shortly.
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