-Caveat Lector-
------- Start of forwarded message -------
From: "carol wolman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;, >
Subject: Fwd: The Bush/Religious Right plans for America
Date: 3/16/2003 1:01:11 AM
From: "carol wolman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Subject:The Bush/Religious Right plans for America
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 23:01:11 -0800
Dear Friends, The following article explains how Bush got into power and
stays there, who in America supports him, and what they have in mind. I
strongly believe that these people are terribly misguided, and must be
shown
the error of their ways. The new peace movement has the true spirit of
Christ, while Bush et al are clearly greedy, power-hungry monsters, who
practice stealing, killing, lying, and many other sins, all the while
professing to be carrying out the will of God.
The battle of Armageddon is happening right now, between the
warmongers and
the peacemakers.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the children of God."
Matthew 5:
9.
Carol S. Wolman, MD
http://www.4religious-right.info/
This Web Page is produced by
Democracy and the Religious Right,
a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy at Cornell
University
By Joan Bokaer - Executive Director
Last Update February 24, 2003
"We are talking about Christianizing America. We are talking about simply
spreading the gospel in a political context."
Republican Strategist Paul Weyrich, 1980
Winning the War
"We need to find ways to win the war" Karl Rove, President Bush's
political director told a gathering of the Family Research Council in
March,
2002. Family Research Council is one of the most powerful lobbying
organizations of the Religious Right today. Rove wasn't talking about the
war on terrorism. He was talking about the war on secular society.
This web site features links to articles, particularly from the New
York Times, that document a systematic effort on the part of the Bush
administration and Republican-controlled Congress to overturn the
separation
of church and state and bring the government under religious control.
While
the United States public is focused on Iraq, our government is
undergoing a
conversion unlike any in its history.
In the short time since Republicans won majorities in both houses of
Congress, the federal government has issued an executive order allowing
discrimanation in hiring, then another allowing government funds to be
used
to build churches, both orders in clear defiance of a separation of
church
and state.
The Justice Department, under John Ashcroft's guidance, is supposed
to
be focused on the war on terror. At a time of huge and ever-increasing
budget deficits, the Justice Department has been spending its funds to
challenge Oregon's assisted suicide law and California's medicinal
marijuana
law. It is insisting that Attorney Generals from New York and Conneticut
use
the death penalty more frequently. It is interferring with academic
freedom
by investigating the choice of a university biology professor to refuse to
recommend students who don't believe in evolution.
You will find in this website links to newspaper and magazine articles
documenting the federal government's actions. Ironically, Ashcroft and
almost his entire staff belong to the Federalist Society (Topic 3b) which
advocates a weaker federal government and stronger states' rights (Topic
10).
To understand the war on secular society, we should go to the man
who
has been perhaps the most influential in taking control of the Republican
Party and giving the Republicans a majority in both houses of Congress:
Pat
Robertson, founder of Christian Coalition. Robertson told the Denver Post
in
1992 that his goal was to "take working control of the Republican Party."
He
defined the war on secularism in 1991 at a Christian Coalition rally. "It's
going to be a spiritual battle," Robertson declared. "There will be Satanic
forces.... We are not going to be coming up just against human beings, to
beat them in elections. We're going to be coming up against spiritual
warfare."
Robertson named his enemies in a 1992 newsletter, Pat Robertson
Perspective. The list includes, among others, the National Organization
for
Women, the National Education Association, the National Council of
Churches,
the Gay-Lesbian Caucus, as well as People for the American Way, and
Americans United for a Separation of Church and State. They are lumped
together as the "radical left."
"The strategy against the American radical left should be the same as
General Douglas MacArthur employed against the Japanese in the
Pacific...Bypass their strongholds, then surround them, isolate them,
bombard them, then blast the individuals out of their power bunkers with
hand-to-hand combat. The battle for Iwo Jima was not pleasant, but our
troops won it. The battle to regain the soul of America won't be pleasant
either, but we will win it." (from the book, The Most Dangerous Man in
America? by Rob Boston).
The Dominion Mandate
Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, an organization that
monitors the Religious Right sums up their goals in one word: dominion.
Sara
Diamond in her book Road to Dominion is credited with recognizing
dominion
as a political goal. "Our aim" according to Pat Robertson at a banquet in
1984 "is to gain dominion over society."
Authors Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell have written an
influential
textbook for Christian schools titled America's Providential History. "The
Puritans are prime representatives of this "spirit of dominion," they
explain, holding out the Puritans as examples of good government. "They
recognized the scriptural mandates requiring Godly rule, and zealously
set
out to establish that in all aspects of society." Dominion is described by
the president of Family Research Council, Kenneth L. Conner as a society
that "reflects, in the final analysis, the sovereignty of the Lord over all
aspects of our daily life."
The term dominion means control over; in this case control over all
of
the democratic institutions in this country. The Republican Party has
been
the key vehicle in the drive for control. Now that the Religious Right
controls both Congress and the Presidency, they are highly focused on
the
one remaining branch of government: the courts.
"Judges are the basis of the land's righteousness, " said David Barton,
a 'Christian nation' activist and Vice Chair of the Texas State GOP, who is
dedicated to overturning the separation of church and state. Barton was
speaking about the coming 2002 elections. "We have a Senate election
here in
Texas. The only issue that should matter is judges. "*
David Barton was speaking at Worldview Weekend, April, 2002, an
event
whose aim is to teach fundamentalists how to gain political influence and
bring government under religious control. Another speaker at that event
was
the new House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, but it was Barton's speech
that
captured the spirit of the 2002 elections: "The only issue that should
matter is judges."
In his speech Barton was urging the audience to vote for any
Republican
Senator, even moderates. Since Republican leadership is firmly in the
hands
of the Religious Right, the strategy was to insure a Republican majority in
both houses. The section on Government in this web page, Topic 2, goes
into
more detail about who the Republican leaders are in Congress.
Who is the 'Religious Right'?
This web page is not about Religion. Many religious leaders, including
those from mainline Christian churches are deeply concerned about the
Religious Right. The Interfaith Alliance, as stated in its website, "is a
non-partisan, clergy-led grassroots organization dedicated to promoting
the
positive, healing role of faith in civic life and challenging intolerance
and extremism."
This web page is not about Christianity. The Religious Right does not
view mainline Christians as true Christians. In the words of Pat Robertson
on his television program, the 700 Club: "You say you're supposed to be
nice
to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists, and this
and
that and the other thing. Nonsense! I don't have to be nice to the spirit
of
the antichrists." (Pat Robertson, the Most Dangerous Man in America?,
Rob
Boston)
The term "Evangelical" is sometimes used to refer to the Religious
Right, but that is a mistake. Evangelicals cover the whole political
spectrum as we can see in the former President Jimmy Carter, an
evangelical
who is considered a liberal Democrat. The Evangelical Environmental
Network,
a coalition of Christian groups is deeply committed to stewardship of
God's
creation. They have been running advertisements asking the question "
What
would Jesus drive?" (Answer: not an SUV.) Topic 6 of this web page,
Religious Institutions, discusses different belief systems.
This web page is not about Republicans. During the 2000 Presidential
primary John McCain claimed that the Religious Right was "destroying"
the
Republican Party. Time magazine quoted John Moran, Bob Dole's financial
manager during his bid for the presidency, as saying that Christian
Coalition had "hijacked" the Republican Party.
This web page is about Republican strategists who target
fundamentalist, Pentecostal and charismatic churches as a way to expand
the
base of their Party, and about a very specific group of Religious leaders
who are using the Republican Party as a way to gain "dominion" over
society.
Of course, not all fundamentalist, Pentecostal and charismatic
churches
join in the effort to gain control of the U.S government, but those
groups
are targeted by Christian Coalition organizing efforts. While the Mormon
Church does not necessarily participate, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Ut) a
Mormon
who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee has been perhaps the most
influential person in Congress in helping the Religious Right gain dominion
over the courts (See topic on Judiciary).
U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is a good example of the Religious
Right in government. He spoke at a Christian Coalition rally, October 11,
twenty-five days before the 2002 election. "Get the few liberals out" he
told the crowd talking about the U.S. Congress. "You will be doing the
Lord's work, and He will richly bless you for it." Pat Robertson's mission,
Operation Blessing, was richly rewarded. Just before the election it
received a grant of $500,000 from the Presidents Faith-base Initiative.
An Estimate of Political Strength
This drive for "dominion" is underestimated by the media and political
analysts. Karl Rove estimates the number of people from the Religious
Right
who voted for Bush in 2000 to be about fifteen million, and he talked
about
raising that number to 19 million. With the Religious Right's passion to
gain control of the federal court system, and it's ability to send followers
to the polls by the bus load, Rove's estimate is probably modest, and its
number as a voting bloc could exceed twenty million.
A bill defeated in the House of Representatives on October 3, 2002,
was
drafted with help from Pat Robertson's law school. Its purpose was to
bypass
campaign finance reform and allow houses of worship to collect money
for
political campaigns. This bill was opposed by a strong coalition of
religious groups, and lobbied for intensively by virtually all the key
organizations of the Religious Right, for it would have allowed
unrestricted
campaign contributions to be made through the collection plate. These
contributions would have been both anonymous and tax exempt.
Since virtually everybody except the Religious Right opposed the bill,
it was a good measure of their numbers in the House. Roughly 43% of
those
who voted supported the bill (178 for, 239 against). Religious Right backed
candidates won sixteen new seats in the House of Representatives and
the
bill, along with other legislation designed to make the United States a
'Christian Nation' will be introduced in the next session of Congress.
Karl Rove was disappointed with a turnout of 15 million voters in 2000,
but that number is not trivial, especially at times of low voter turnout.
Their strength becomes magnified when the Religious Right joins forces
with
other groups over specific issues. Even after the tragedy at Columbine
High
School, a Million Mom March did not produce significant gun control
legislation when the Religious Right, adamantly opposed to any form of
gun
control joined lobbying efforts of the NRA.
They join with corporations to lobby against legislation designed to
regulate industry. As quoted from the Texas 2002 GOP Platform: "A strong
and
vibrant private sector [should be] unencumbered by excessive
government
regulation." The 'government regulations' they want to abolish protect
the
environment and workers.
Those who believe that biblical prophesy forecasts the return of all
Jews to Israel before the final Apocalypse has lead some leaders of the
Religious Right into an alliance with the Likud Party in Israel. Falwell has
been helping fund settlements in the West Bank and Gaza since 1979.
Jewish
voters in the U.S. are divided about the question of Israeli expansion, but
those that support the Likud Party have formed an alliance with the
Religious Right to oppose the withdrawal of settlements from Palestinian
areas.
Ironically, the Green Party has helped swing elections to the Religious
Right by challenging Democrats in a political system that doesn't have
run-
off elections. Helping Republicans win the Presidency and three key
House
seats in 2000, and then additional House seats in 2002, the Green Party
has
inadvertently helped the Religious Right win control of the White House
and
House of Representatives.
With a champion in the White House and strong leadership in both
houses
of Congress, the courts have taken on a special importance, for they
have
been the greatest barrier to dominion. Throughout this web page there
are
references to times the higher courts, in support of a separation
between
church and state have overturned decisions by lower courts, state
legislatures, and state boards of education."The only issue that should
matter is judges. "*
The rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party is perhaps the
most important story in modern politics. The battle for "dominion" over
society is being waged in all major institutions including government, the
courts, schools, mainline Protestant churches and the media. This web
page
will describe the impact of the Religious Right on our major institutions
and how they have found in the Bush administration a strong ally. Section
13
of the Topic List offers a look at the State of Texas GOP Republican
Platform. This web page is a wake-up call to citizens of the United States
who believe in a democratic, pluralistic society.
-------- End of forwarded message --------
Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article
have to stand on their own merits.
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do
not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera-
tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and
rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is
written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on
the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after
careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with
reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief,
from the Kalama Sutra
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