The American Theocracy

Every Fourth of July we drag out our flags, march in our parades, wax on about freedom and the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, and then we spend the next 364 days marching blindly towards an American theocracy, in our case, a government based on fundamentalist Christianity. It's not what the Founding Fathers wanted - it is, however, what many Americans want - so it's probably a good idea that we only honor the Founding Fathers one day a year. Any more than that would expose our national hypocrisy.

The Iranians have a religious theocracy, and their leader can't stop using religion as a justification for wanting to wipe a neighbor off the map. The Iraqis have two theocracies, and both can't stop killing each other long enough to get the electricity turned on. The Saudis have a religious theocracy - and they use it to beat and jail their rape victims as criminals. Pakistan and Afghanistan are religious theocracies, and the Taliban is on the move again, trying to reclaim and re-establish the harshest of religious law in both. Life in either place has never been a picnic and only promises to get worse.

You can't really point to any religious theocracy, save perhaps the Vatican - which is just a religious seat for the Pope - and say that the people are actually thriving there. That's because religious leaders are frequently not interested in promoting freedom or the common good. They're interested in promoting their own brand of religion. There's a big difference.

I know we Christians believe we're different; that ours is the one true religion, and if folks would simply follow our way of thinking and live as we tell them to live, life would be great and they would be happy. But that's what every religious theocracy claims, and it's never yet come to fruition.

The Founding Fathers knew as much. That's why they chose to separate church and state instead of making the two inseparable. It's too bad we refuse to listen to them.

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The New York Times printed an excellent op-ed piece on religion and the presidency, referencing Mitt Romney's attempt to court the Christian Fundamentalist vote. It's good reading.

http://nytimes.com/2007/12/07/opinion/07fri1.html/?th&emc=th