(Originally appeared in Mutant Renegade Zine #7, Winter 1998)
Two words that shouldn't go together, yet many people keep trying to make them intertwined. Pretty bold statement for the first line of an article, wouldn't you say? Well, yes it's up-front, but religion mixed with politics really worries me and I think it's a big problem. It seems like this problem mostly comes the political right, since they lean towards the fascist type of regime, which most religions also uphold. Now comes my turn to draw some parallels and without naming any specific organization, attack one of the major players in the church and state alliance.
Imagine a organization which is dedicated to upholding, preserving and in generally imposing christian values on all US citizens. (I grew up catholic so I know quite a bit about that area of religion.) This group under its new young energetic leader decides to strengthen and expand its membership and reach through a number of calculated moves. They form coalitions with other groups that have the same general desires and objectives. To help speed up reaction times and spread information, they teach their members how to use the internet. E-mail, web sites and other devices are put into place so that propaganda can be spread fast and efficiently to the waiting and gullible masses. Since this is all done under the guise of being god's word or desire, many people go along with the messages and never stop to question the motives or end results.
Once they have their information network fully linked and functional, they begin to concentrate more on politics. Since the Republican party is more towards the fascist end of the political spectrum, they make their move there. Through careful collection of data they compile politicians voting records and personal viewpoints. Those that fall within the organizations boundaries are endorsed via the web and email. The others who don't are approached to reform their views or risk losing the support of this ever growing and ever influential poll of voters. Support for a particular politicians is kept to their private network. This way they can influence many who belong to their cause, yet they can keep from drawing to much attention.
This is sounding pretty far fetched or like a conspiracy theory, isn't it? Well, what you have read so far is true. So what? You ask. Well, here comes a vision of what may happen and some information about what this organization likes or doesn't like. If this organization can keep its momentum and continue to influence voting patterns, soon it will be easy for them to have their agenda voted into law or even amendments to the constitution. If this happens it could become something equal to the scale of what the Nazi party did in Germany. I can't say that they would kill those who did not believe the catholic religion, however they probably would have re-education camps. So, maybe you say you can handle these catholic values and maybe it will make our country safe, virtuous, and happy. See how many of these positions you agree with and ask yourself if you could live with it.
- mandatory prayer in school (since no jews, Muslims or other major religions are included in their agenda I assume it would be a catholic prayer). the death penalty ( I guess it's the old eye for an eye thing) no abortions "all life is sacred" (I guess that's only true if they didn't get the death penalty) homosexuality is not allowed (and before all you homo-phobic guys chear, that means no more pictures of two girls with each other). mandatory Sunday church services. massive regualtions on what music and written works contain.
- most of our basic freedoms being nullified, for our own good, since we are too weak to resist temptation or think for ourselves.
Think about it.