What Is It About Republicans And God
In a nation where Thomas Jefferson penned the bedrock principle of the separation between church and state, the Christian jihad is growing stronger by the day.
Any number of laws have been passed in recent months or are being considered, in the name of God, or rather, the Christian iteration of the almighty. Abortion, God; LGBTQ+, God; Guns, God; Sodomy, God; Separation between religion and state, God; money and schools, God; USA, God; Trump, god; slavery, God; war, God. Put God back in the classroom, back on the football field, back in the bedroom.
But whose God is it anyway?
Most recently the Supreme Court ruled that the revered, separation of church and state does not prohibit public school employees from praying aloud on the job near students. The case involved a high school football coach praying post-game at the 50-yard line, joined by his players.
“The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch, author of the 6–3 opinion for the conservative majority, who apparently never read Thomas Jefferson’s words about the wall between church and state.
So, that means an orthodox, hasidic, Jewish rabbi, in full regalia of long, uncut sidelocks, or payot, and wearing an elaborate hat of fur and a long black coat, can gather the Jewish players for post-game prayer. Oh, wait, there might not be any Jews on the team and most likely, no orthodox, hasidic Jews.
And in the same way, a Muslim imam could don his thombe, a long tunic that that drops past his knees, gather up the Muslim players and pray in the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. Sure that could happen and sure, pigs fly.
Thomas Jefferson referred to the “wall of separation between church and state” in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Color., who leans toward theocracy in the spirit of the Taliban, last week referred to Jefferson’s correspondence as “that stinking letter.”
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State,” Jefferson wrote.
Seems pretty clear, although not for Boebert, that right wing font of constitutional brilliance. Boebert, an election denying, rifle-toting, QAnon leaning, far rightwing nut, recently said the separation of church and state is “junk.” Her remarks come on the heels of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning a woman’s right to choose abortion, supporting school prayer and striking down a Maine law that made religious schools ineligible for taxpayer-backed tuition aid .
“The Church is supposed to direct the government, the government is not supposed to direct the church,” Boebert said. “That is not how our Founding Fathers intended it. And I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk. That’s not in the Constitution, it was in a stinking letter, and it means nothing like what they say it does.”
Boebert is far from a voice in the wilderness in her crusade to return the U.S. to her god. Doug Mastriano, the GOP gubernatorial nominee in Pennsylvania, called the separation of church and state a “myth.” Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., a trumper to the core, won a primary to run in the general election. Speaking at a Second Amendment Caucus press conference, Miller said “Our children are suffering and we face a mental health crisis in our country because the radical left has spent decades removing God from our school and our society. We need to go back to God, people.” Curious that Miller offered those comments at a caucus that focuses on the belief that the right to own any kind of guns is a God-given right.
Another genius and right wing nut colleague, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told women who get pregnant not to worry if they can’t have an abortion, because God will provide for them.
“If you are pregnant, God made you completely capable to be a mother, and he will provide for you, as you strive in life and become a mother,” Greene tweeted, making the gender of the almighty very clear. “Motherhood will be the most incredible journey of your entire life, bringing you continuous joy you’ve never known.”
And there were the Feb. 26, 2021, comments by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., who quoted the Bible in opposition to the Equality Act that would boost LGBTQ+ protections. Steube, a staunch trumper, election denier and homophobe, said that God “detests” LGBTQ people and that God is also offended by a “rejection of God’s design” of “complementary” sexes. Steube should keep his comments to himself and focus on baseball as he shined in the the 2021 Congressional Baseball Game, recording a win in 5 2/3 innings, throwing 120 pitches and hitting a solo home run.
Mississippi is near orgasm in the state’s support of the God-fearing ruling striking down Roe v. Wade. It’s so important to Republican Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn that even a 12-year-old victim of incest should not be permitted to get an abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. A 12-year-old is barely able to count to 15, at least in Mississippi. Mississippi GOP Gov. Tate Reeves was also dancing in joy of the Roe ruling, so happy was the governor that he proclaimed June to be “Sanctity of Life Month.” That is sanctity as in Godliness.
South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi L. Noem agrees that even incest or rape don’t warrant permission for abortion, because “every life is precious” and she doesn’t think that one tragedy is “a reason to have another tragedy occur.” And Gunn and Noem no doubt pray that they will do the right thing.
In his concurring opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas also said the rights to contraception and same-sex marriage are on shaky legal ground. In his opinion, Thomas mentioned that one case to revisit may be a landmark 2003 ruling that struck down a a 1973 Texas law that criminalized the act of sodomy.
And that led to Republican Ken Paxton, who as attorney general is the top law enforcement of Texas, saying he would support a sodomy law if Supreme Court revisits the ruling. What an asshole.
Sodomy is an appropriate place to spend the Supreme Court’s time, as it is rather steeped in Biblical references what with Sodom and Gomorrah, two legendary biblical cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. And all you smug Bible-thumping heterosexuals, remember that while sodomy laws often targeted sexual acts between persons of the same sex, many statutes outlawed certain sexual acts between persons of different sexes, in some cases even including acts between married persons, including oral sex.
Prior to 1962, sodomy was a felony in every state, punished by a lengthy term of imprisonment and/or hard labor. That year, the Model Penal Code removed consensual sodomy from its criminal code but left it a crime to solicit for sodomy. In 1962 Illinois became the first state to remove criminal penalties for consensual sodomy from its criminal code, almost a decade before any other state.
In 1986, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of sodomy laws but in 2003, the Supreme Court reversed the decision, invalidating sodomy laws in the remaining 14 states as of April 2022, including those redder than red states, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Minnesota, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. Penalties for violating sodomy laws have varied with the worst in Idaho, where a sodomy conviction could earn a life sentence.
Judging from the comments of many on the right, God is almost certainly a Republican.
Former Rep. Gary Franks, R-Conn., wrote in a July 2022 column in the Hartford Courant that “following God’s principles of love, peace, faith, and hope has made us the greatest nation in history.” Sadly, Franks wrote, a Pew poll found that Democrats get a C grade when it comes to believing God, just ahead of “the many troubled and disillusioned youth in America, 19 to 29-year-olds, who get a D in the God department.”
“These statistics underscore that members of the Republican Party have not changed their belief in God, but the Democrat Party has dramatically changed,” Franks wrote. “It is giving more reason for those Democrats who do not agree with the radical socialist agenda to seek consolation in the Republican Party.”
Then, as in the pot calling the kettle black, Franks, the first African American congressman from Connecticut, said “Let us demolish the ‘political spin’ and replace the Democrats’ language of ‘reproductive services’ with the ‘killing the unborn baby services.’ Or when Democrats cry Pro-Choice, we should complete the sentence — ‘Choice to kill potential babies.’”
And let us not forget the pearls of wisdom flowing like effluent from the mouth of Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. Gaetz tweeted on April 28, 2020, in praise of trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which in reality was a non-response that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Nevertheless, Gaetz tweeted trump as “the greatest testing President God has ever created.”
“The United States has tested more than anyone in the world by far,” Gaetz said. “@realDonaldTrump is the greatest testing President God has ever created.”
And speaking of ignorant statements often leads back to Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who said on June 9, that gun safety legislation is not the answer to stopping school shootings. No, Gohmert said, prayers to the Christian God were a better alternative to stop mass shootings.
And speaking of even greater ignorance, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., ranted on the radio on Jan. 5, 2022, that people should rely on the body’s “natural immunity” to COVID-19 after being infected with the virus.
“Why do we assume that the body’s natural immune system isn’t the marvel that it is? Why do we think that we can create something better than God in terms of combating disease?” Johnson said.
Huh?