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The religious right isn’t going away: Why proclamations of its decline are a dangerous myth
Salon
Saturday, Aug 15, 2015 03:30 AM PDT
Elias Isquith
Because non-politicians like Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson have garnered the most attention during the GOP presidential primary thus far, another distinctive feature of this cycle’s batch of candidates has gone relatively unnoticed. For all the talk and hype about the GOP modernizing and learning the lessons of the George W. Bush era — and for all the breathless speculation about the millennial generation and how it demands of politicians a different approach — the religious right’s presence within the party remains formidable. The aforementioned Carson, for example, is in the habit of crediting God as inspiration for his tax reform proposals. And if he’s not explaining public policy through religion, competitors like Rick Santorum or Mike Huckabee can be relied on to step in for him.
The unbroken influence of the religious right over one of America’s two major political parties is just one of the many reasons why “God & Government: Twenty-Five Years of Fighting for Equality, Secularism, and Freedom of Conscience,” the latest book from the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, is so valuable. For a quarter-decade, Lynn has been struggling with the forces that propel figures like Huckabee to the national stage and allow them to come so close to the reins of power. And while the recent, epochal successes of the gay rights movement, as well as the continued ascendance of pop feminism, may lead you to think that Mike Huckabee’s America is coming to an end, Lynn reminds us that keeping religious fundamentalism out of public policy requires constant vigilance.
Recently, Salon spoke over the phone with Lynn about his work, the recent Supreme Court rulings on religious liberty and marriage equality, and why it’s a mistake to laugh off people like Santorum and Huckabee, regardless of how silly they may seem. Our conversation is below and has been edited for clarity and length.
In the book’s introduction, you say you’re optimistic about the country’s future regarding the separation of church and state. But you also say vigilance will be required to make sure the gains of the last two generations or so are not lost. What would it mean to “lose” in this sense? (emphasis in original)
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/15/the_religious_right_isnt_going_away_why_proclamations_of_its_decline_are_a_dangerous_myth/
Saturday, Aug 15, 2015 03:30 AM PDT
Elias Isquith
Because non-politicians like Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson have garnered the most attention during the GOP presidential primary thus far, another distinctive feature of this cycle’s batch of candidates has gone relatively unnoticed. For all the talk and hype about the GOP modernizing and learning the lessons of the George W. Bush era — and for all the breathless speculation about the millennial generation and how it demands of politicians a different approach — the religious right’s presence within the party remains formidable. The aforementioned Carson, for example, is in the habit of crediting God as inspiration for his tax reform proposals. And if he’s not explaining public policy through religion, competitors like Rick Santorum or Mike Huckabee can be relied on to step in for him.
The unbroken influence of the religious right over one of America’s two major political parties is just one of the many reasons why “God & Government: Twenty-Five Years of Fighting for Equality, Secularism, and Freedom of Conscience,” the latest book from the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, is so valuable. For a quarter-decade, Lynn has been struggling with the forces that propel figures like Huckabee to the national stage and allow them to come so close to the reins of power. And while the recent, epochal successes of the gay rights movement, as well as the continued ascendance of pop feminism, may lead you to think that Mike Huckabee’s America is coming to an end, Lynn reminds us that keeping religious fundamentalism out of public policy requires constant vigilance.
Recently, Salon spoke over the phone with Lynn about his work, the recent Supreme Court rulings on religious liberty and marriage equality, and why it’s a mistake to laugh off people like Santorum and Huckabee, regardless of how silly they may seem. Our conversation is below and has been edited for clarity and length.
In the book’s introduction, you say you’re optimistic about the country’s future regarding the separation of church and state. But you also say vigilance will be required to make sure the gains of the last two generations or so are not lost. What would it mean to “lose” in this sense? (emphasis in original)
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/15/the_religious_right_isnt_going_away_why_proclamations_of_its_decline_are_a_dangerous_myth/
Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty...even if the quote isn't actually Jefferson's.
Mods: Posting here rather than Religion because this entails a broader issue, I think.
2 replies
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