Or your freedom from religion-- the First Amendment guarantees both.
“The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that everyone in the United States has the right to practice his or her own religion, or no religion at all.
Our country's founders -- who were of different religious backgrounds themselves -- knew the best way to protect religious liberty was to keep the government out of religion. So they created the First Amendment -- to guarantee the separation of church and state. This fundamental freedom is a major reason why the U.S. has managed to avoid a lot of the religious conflicts that have torn so many other nations apart.
The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits government from encouraging or promoting ("establishing") religion in any way. That's why we don't have an official religion of the United States. “
See how that works? But a great many Republicans (who never stop shoving “the Constitution” in your face) have apparently never read it, or have decided to ignore the bits they don’t like, kind of like they do with religion.
Much like the clerics in Iran, they want to do exactly what the First Amendment EXPRESSLY FORBIDS —which is to establish a state religion, namely Christian nationalism, or Dominionism, the belief that Christians should take moral, spiritual, and ecclesiastical control over society. This was definitely not what the Founders had in mind, as this belief system arose in the mid 1950s.
Their perfect society would provide man—specifically the male gender—with the greatest possible freedom, due to the absence of a government that currently limits that freedom. A federal government would no longer be responsible for laws that govern public safety, social programs (including public schools and welfare), or just about anything else.
So you’ll never guess the kind of people this appeals to… the MAGAtized, of course.
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/14/1156642544/more-than-half-of-republicans-support-christian-nationalism-according-to-a-new-s
“Researchers found that more than half of Republicans believe the country should be a strictly Christian nation.
In fact, according to the survey, half of Christian nationalism adherents said they support the idea of an authoritarian leader in order to keep these Christian values in society.
The survey also found correlations between people who hold Christian nationalist views as well as anti-Black, anti-immigrant, antisemitic views, anti-Muslim, anti- LBQT and patriarchal views. (What a surprise, right?)
According to the survey, nationalists say they will go to great lengths to impose their vision of the country. Many agreed with the statement: "true patriots might have to resort to violence to save our country."
" A sizeable minority is not only willing to declare themselves opposed to pluralism and democracy — but are also willing to say, 'I am willing to fight and either kill or harm my fellow Americans to keep it that way.'"
Take Ron DeSantis (PLEASE) chief book-burner, black history cancel culture warrior and terrorist of trans children and their families, in the benighted backward swampwater state of Florida. It is looking like he might be the Republican candidate for potus next year — if certain friends of the former guy don’t put a dead horse’s head in his bed.
Now the schisms in the bloody, barking mad R party are deep and wide these days, so this nomination battle is likely to be an amusing steel-cage match. But their zombie manufactured outrage is likely to spill into the public square, so I advise anyone with the means to consider a nice long cruise for the latter part of next year.
Unfortunately, we are stuck with the six Taliban members of the Supreme Court, who are also very anxious to shred the Constitution before any “conservatives” learn to read it. They like to call themselves “originalists” because they believe it’s more important for American laws today to align with the views of 17th century witch- burners (like Sir Matthew Hale, a fave of Alito’s) than to shield Americans from harm.
Now with Groff vs. DeJoy, the Court will hear a case brought by a disgruntled postal worker who doesn’t want to work Sundays. And the Court, on a roll with a string of victories for white christian privilege, (did you hear the one about the christian coach who is allowed to lead his players in prayer on school grounds — ostracizing the ones who don’t wish to join in?) — will almost certainly rule in Going Postal’s favor.
Don’t you wish you could just work whenever YOU felt like it? Well, you can’t, unless you’re one of the ruling religious class. The only real question is, how will they word this so it only applies to christians?
I think back to Republicans' shrieks of how Democrats were going to foist sharia law on the populace not that long ago. Every GOPist's projection is an admission of guilt.
Thanks Claudia for this piece. This needs to see the light of day more frequently than it does now. I am fed up with this blatant push for declaring America a Christian nation & I find it extremely alarming that our 2nd in line to the Presidency is a full-on Dominionist