Church and State in a Blender

Buzzflash sent an article today titled 33 Extreme Reasons to Give Bush the Boot. Maureen Farrell discusses, basically, what many of us know. That church and state are being mixed creepily by the Bush administration. He has abandoned the mainline Protestant churches (i.e. Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, etc.) in favor of more evangelical/right wing congregations. Some excellent quotes have been collected for the article.

"George Bush has shown an ideological commitment to the literalist Christian tradition at the expense of the broader view of the larger religious community," National Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Bob Edgar told Salon.com, which is just a nice way of saying that the girl next door has been dumped for Tammy Faye Baker.

On theology in regards to foreign relations...

"Most of all, apparently, we're not supposed to know the National Security Council's top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios," The Village Voice's Rick Perlstein wrote, making stains on a blue dress seem oh-so-run-of-the-mill.

And a declaration...

With a foreign policy that reflects Biblical prophecy and a domestic agenda that caters to evangelicals, the President's intentions are either starkly dangerous or politically crafty - with the end result being the same: George Bush is tinkering with something far too precious -- our country's future.

As stated in the title of this article, Maureen lists 33 extreme reasons to give Dubya the boot. I won't post all of them (but encourage you to follow the link above to the article), only a few that are most frightening. Many, I'm sure, you are already familiar with...this is what we are up against:

1. Howard Ahmanson: "On a mission from God to stop gay marriage, fight evolution, defeat "liberal" churches -- and reelect George W. Bush," this "quirky millionaire" (as Salon.com put it) is a chief financier of the Christian Reconstructionist movement. Affiliated with the Council for National Policy, he's also been connected to the controversial voting machine company, ES&S.

3. John Ashcroft: A former member of the Council for National Policy, John Aschroft was initially considered an extreme choice for Attorney General, but the folks at Prophecy Central rallied behind him, as did Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who reportedly anointed the America's Attorney General with cooking oil, in the manner of King David.

7. The Christian Coalition: A key player in the culture war, the Christian Coalition "applauds" recent legislative efforts to subvert the Constitution. Three especially frightening pieces of Christian Coalition-backed legislation are: The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 ("If the Act passes, Iraqis would have stronger protection from religious extremism than Americans," columnist James Heflin wrote); The Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act," (HR 3920) "to allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court"; and The Marriage Protection Act, which, having already passed in the House, could, according to the Atlanta Constitution Journal's Jay Bookman, allow Congress to pass a law "making Christianity the national religion, and bar the courts from hearing a challenge."

8. Christian Reconstructionists/Dominionists: Deemed "scary," even by Jerry Falwell's followers, Dominionists literally want to impose Biblical law and reconstruct America as "the Kingdom of God on earth." In short, they seek to toss out the U.S. Constitution, override the authority of the Supreme Court and turn the U.S. into a theocracy. Embracing a "Biblical world view" as the only worldview, Reconstructionists would squelch democracy and all its trappings, while making homosexuality and other "sins" punishable by death. Rev. Timothy LaHaye, who played a role in putting Bush in the White House, was one of the movement's framers.

19. Reverend Timothy LaHaye: Co-founder of the Council for National Policy and one of the framers of the Reconstructionist movement, Reverend LaHaye is also the co-author of the extremely popular Left Behind series and believes 1) that the Bible is the literal word of God and that 2) Armageddon will be unleashed from "the Antichrist's headquarters in Babylon." (i.e. Iraq) Newsweek recently explained that "Bush and LaHaye have a history, and share a sense of mission." while, according to Rolling Stone, LaHaye "played a quiet but pivotal role in putting George W. Bush in the White House."

Also on the subject of church/state mixing, Barry Lynn in Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel published No politics from the pulpit on Sunday. He speaks, as indicated by the title, of preachers like Jerry Falwell who use their pulpit as a means to promote political candidates.
According to law:

Federal tax law simply does not allow this (endorsing political candidates/parties). Under the Internal Revenue
Code, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organizations - including houses of
worship - may not endorse or oppose candidates for public office.

Jerry Falwell considers this blasphemy. He and his friends are urging evangelical churches to push Bush. According to Lynn's article:

Of all people, Falwell ought to know how wrong that is. His "Old Time
Gospel Hour" was found to have engaged in unlawful campaign
intervention by the IRS in 1993. The ministry's tax exemption was
revoked for 1986 and 1987, and he was required to pay $50,000 in back
taxes.

With regards to religious being caught for pushing political candidates from the pulpit and getting caught:

Tax law experts say it (being caught) may also lead to loss of
a church's property tax exemption or even put a pastor's ministerial
housing allowance in jeopardy.

...

By forging a church-based political machine, they hope to control the
government.