Religious Power: The certain endgame

In the history of the world, there never has been a government ruled by the religious right that has not devolved into a dictatorship. That is the certain endgame of religious power.

The first clause in the Bill of Rights states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”  

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison said that state support for a particular religion or for any religion was improper. They argued that compelling citizens to support through taxation a faith they did not follow violated their natural right to religious liberty. 

Today’s, Catholic-dominated Supreme Court disagrees, and demonstrated their distaste for judicial precedent by allowing abortion restrictions, contrary to other religions’ beliefs.

Thus does the law, in violation of the Constitution, establish the beliefs of one religion over other religions’ beliefs.

The problem with religious power is that everything it does, from the most heinous, brutal, unthinkably cruel, to the banal and even beneficial — everything — is done in the name of God.

So nothing can be questioned and everything is excused.

I have heard the religious right phonies in America speak of their “God-given” right to own guns. Guns? God-given right? Really?

Did God speak to them and say, “Thou shall own guns and shoot them at whomever you wish”? Whose God said that?

For the religious right, everything is “God-given” so do not argue with them. God, is all the reason the right needs for atrocity and abomination.

Their God always is right, though not all other Gods are right. Their God says abortion is a sin. Never mind that your God may not agree. All that counts is their God.

And their God tells them which books to burn, which speech can get you fired, with which sex you are required to identify. Their God approves of slavery, and male domination, even what you can and cannot wear, and which young boys you are allowed to bugger.

That last was in reference to the world’s largest religious right-wing government, the Catholic Church and its absolute dictator, the Pope.

Dare I speak a criticism of him without being subject to a stream of vile hatred. Perhaps not, for his power is “God-given,” so cannot be questioned, though the history of Popes is not one to be admired.

Truth: Once established in any nation, a religious right-wing dictatorship cannot become a democracy without massive protest and bloodshed.

Israel, once the most democratic of all the mid-east nations (a low bar to hurdle), now is learning the certainty of that Truth, because to gain freedom one must overthrow God (theirs), and He (She, It) is a stubborn tyrant.

So long as Israel’s religious right has the leverage to control the engines of power, that nation will become ever more intolerant of anyone or anything not part of the clique. With the relatively young, possibly criminal, Netanyahu in power, things look dim for that tiny nation.

But at least they have some semblance of an excuse for their drift into totalitarianism. They are surrounded by large, brutal nations that would stomp Israel into the ground, the moment they feel they could do it.

People living under that threat tend to gravitate toward the authoritarian who projects a feeling of power, and who promises to protect them. In reality, he will enslave them, but they only will learn the lesson too late to save themselves.

That is the people of Israel’s excuse. What is our American excuse?

We are the most powerful nation on earth in military and economic wealth. We are capable of dealing with any foreign threat. Additionally, we are buffered east and west by mighty oceans, one of which is guarded by our own islands. North and south we are blessed by the relatively benign nations of Canada and Mexico,

As a nation, we are a safe from outsiders as has been any nation in history. So why are we drifting into religious right-wing protectionism?

Are we Americans so weak minded that we are terrorized by the poor, weak immigrant families that, falling exhausted on our shores, ask only to be allowed to work toward the American dream?

Do we Americans really fear those who, confused and embarrassed by their own sexuality, ask only to be allowed to exist as fellow human beings?

Are we so insecure about our Gods that we must set out to destroy all those who worship other Gods?

Are we Americans so ignorant about our resources that we must establish a garrison state to exclude those who have proved they can help us build America?

Are we Americans so stupidly craven that we must arm our persons beyond any rational need, and in doing so, arm every fuming, foaming-at-the-mouth nut, against whom all the guns in the world are no defense?

Israel is in the final stages of its demise. The religious right, with their claims of “God’s will,” are obliterating civil law and replacing it with religious law, and finally to one of religious despotism.

America has replaced its secular Supreme Court with a religious right Supreme Court. Additonally, we now have a docile, amoral political party that agrees cheating and lying are clever, greed is good, and the attempted coup was just a “normal visitor’s day.”

For all this, we will pay a price.

Those beyond our shores are not the real enemy.

As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Russia and China will not enslave us and take away our freedoms.

No, that will be done by our own religious right in the name of anti “Woke” laws.

“Woke,” has become a devil in name, though the masses don’t know what it is.

It now can cost you your job, what you learn in school, who your leaders are, what you can read, where you can be. Every law against it is a vague law against free speech.

The right wing, which proudly “freed” people from the hardship of vaccination now wishes to take away the right to discuss the fact of bigotry in America.

Woke is defined by the DeSantis administration as “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them,” Really? That’s a bad thing to discuss?

Ther ar no systemic injustices in America? Courts and employers treat blacks and whites, Jews, Muslims, and Christians, males and females, old and young, gay and straight all the same?

Are there people who truly believe this?

Religions, by their nature tend to be among the more bigoted groups in America, and to deny it is to accept the bigotry. The bigoted crusade against “Woke” is the latest barrage against democracy, but it won’t be the last.

The religious right never is satisfied. Success at enslavement begets further enslavement.

In religion, facts mean nothing. Proof means nothing. All that matters is who believes it  and who claims it, not what it is. Lies are not challenged; rather they are defended blindly, vigorously and with acrimony.

It begins with the thoroughly dishonest and incompetent Donald Trump and continues through such unprincipled creatures as Paul Gosar, Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham, Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, John Kennedy, Tucker Carlson, the rest of the Fox News bigotry disseminators, and others too many others to name.

American democracy almost was lost once. Fortunately for America, the Civil War defeated slavery. Now the battle against tyranny rages, again. The rich are exalted. The poor are oppressed. The New Colossus teeters.

The RINOs (in this case, Religious In Name Only) pretend America needs to cut spending for Medicare, Social Security, ACA, and every anti-poverty, pro-poor measure one can imagine, while spending must increase for the military and tax loopholes for the rich.

If the right wing succeeds, the King and his court will prosper. The Pope and his SCOTUS priests will thrive. Israel’s democracy will fade. The rich and their minions will grow more powerful.

The religious right will enslave the left, because far too many of those most affected — the blacks, browns, yellows, reds, gays, Jews, Muslims, immigrants and pregnant women — will have voted for their own subjection or not voted at all.

They then will wonder. “What happened to us.”

They will need only to read history for that answer.

There is an endgame. It is terrible and it is certain.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty
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The Sole Purpose of Government Is to Improve and Protect the Lives of the People.

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