Secession theology runs deep in American religious, political history

[rug]

By By G. Jeffrey Macdonald| Religion News Service,
Nov 29, 2012 07:43 PM EST
Updated: Thursday, November 29, 2:43 PM

Corruption has gone too far. The righteous must break away. Hope now rests with a holy remnant that will honor foundational texts.

The message sounds familiar. A church schism? No, mounting calls for secession from the United States.

Since President Obama won re-election, more than 750,000 Americans have petitioned the White House website to let their respective states secede, from Alaska to Iowa to Maryland and Vermont. Those leading the charge are framing it, observers say, in terms that suggest a deep-seated religious impulse for purity-through-separation is flaring up once again.

But this time, it’s playing out on a political stage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/secession-theology-runs-deep-in-american-religious-political-history/2012/11/29/bb82bb7c-3a5c-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html

[Sekhmets Daughter]

1. Can we move all 750,000

of them to Texas and say adios?

[cleanhippie]

6. Texas is turning BLUE! Lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

maybe give em Mississippi or something?

[Sekhmets Daughter]

8. That'll work...

I suggested Texas only because they seem to have the largest number of petitioners.... Or how about Arizona?

[cbayer]

2. It's the survivalist part of this that is most frightening to me.

Children raised in those environments are going to be even more frightened and bigoted than their parents, as they will have virtually no exposure to *others*.

[patrice]

3. +++1

[cleanhippie]

7. Indoctrination of the children. It's a religious thing, no?

[Dorian Gray]

12. I'm totally open and honest

about indoctrinating my daughter to be a Brooklyn Nets fan (already, yes!), so it's not just a religious thing.

[patrice]

4. Would love to see the statistical co-relations in Vermont. Are those Vermonter

secessionist what calls itself "the Left" or the Right.

If they are the Right, what in f-ing hell do they propose to do with those Single-Payer Vermonters? I really do think we should be concerned about the answer to that question.

[JNelson6563]

5. This time

there is no "new world" for the puritans to go to and set up an oppressive society.

Perhaps they can all go to a state and make it their own, sort of like Utah.

Julie

[tama]

9. There's been many state level secessions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secession_in_the_United_States#Secessions_from_a_state

Federations of Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Checkoslovakia have resently dissolved into constituent states, and similar processes are now going on in UK and Spain.

Just to give perspective.

[rug]

10. I was struck by how quickly the Soviet Union fragmented.

[Dorian Gray]

11. Really?

Theology?

This whole movement is stupid. WAH! I didn't get what I wanted, so I'm going to secede. And now religion is being brought into it.