“I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.”
That’s what Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said back in January in an interview in the New Republic.
Most of us feel the same way, but not all of us. Lawsuit after lawsuit has been and still is being filed to get rid of all campaign contribution limits, transparency laws, and bans on corporate election spending.
Guess what groups are filing these suits.
None other than the National Right to Life Committee, the Christian Coalition, the National Organization for Marriage, and Focus on the Family, according to a major report by Common Cause released in February.
In other words, “family values” organizations have been hard at work making sure American democracy is totally corrupted by money.
I can think of only one reason they are doing this. They don’t believe in democracy. They want a theocracy. They want to rule, and they think the best way to accomplish that goal is to support Tea Party candidates with unlimited funding.
Why Tea Party candidates? Because they don’t believe in democracy either. They believe in obstructionism, take no prisoners politics. They see compromise as capitulation. It’s their way or no way. Just the kind of thinking Christian fundamentalist groups promote.
Except that these groups are not Christian in any real sense of the word. They use Christianity for their own purposes, promoting a rigid personal morality while undermining the democracy of the very nation they insist was founded on “Christian” principles.
I believe groups that try to undermine the integrity of elections, but insist their beliefs about personal right and wrong are always right are guilty of both hypocrisy and self-righteousness.
As far as I can tell, neither of those qualities fits the biblical understanding of what it means to be a Christian, or even a decent person for that matter.
But I fear one of the consequences of their efforts to corrupt our democracy in the name of Christianity is that voters see what’s going on and then believe that mixing religion and politics is a bad thing. In my view that is not a good thing.
Certainly any formal relationship between religion and politics would be a bad thing, but, as I have said before, a truly religious person cannot separate her faith from her politics, nor should she.
What matters is the kind of faith a person has.
A faith (regardless of the tradition) that is strong, but humble, committed to the pursuit of truth without ever claiming to know it absolutely, concerned more about correcting injustices than acting like the moral police, is the kind of faith American politics needs.
I may be wrong, but I have a feeling Justice Ginsburg would agree.
But, of course, you will never find that kind of faith in the “family values” groups named above. They are too busy trying to buy America in order to use it for their own narrow-minded purposes.
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Jan, this is the clearest, most rational discourse I’ve seen concerning this issue. To say that “family values” groups (a misnormer if I’ve ever heard of one) are in line with biblical Christianity and allied with the vison of the Founders is a fundamental misunderstanding of both.
I think you are right on concerning the motives of these groups; they do not want to participate in the democratic process; rather, they want dictorial power.
Cheerz!
Gene, that “family values” is a misnomer is spot on. Thanks.
Your comments are always so honest and clear. Thank you so much.
I can do no better than add a STRONG second and AMEN to Gene Sorenson’s comment.
Thanks, Wally. I appreciate your agreement. Cheerz!
I am a religious skeptic who basically believes in following the words and actions of the man called Jesus, period. So I am always put-off by those who quote scripture to support whatever belief or cause they wish to promote.
That said, 1 Timothy 6:10 (KJV) states that “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” So there…..
In this instance that Jan has recognized, brought forward, and condemned, the “family values”(sic) folks seem to have abandoned their Christian(sic) faith in order to open-up the floodgate of money that will accrue to their personal agendas. It is both scary and shameful.
“Shameful” may be the best word yet to described what they are doing in the name of God. Thanks, Bill.
As usual, your comments are fantastic. Really enjoy your g-mail.
Thanks, Rev. Your comments are always appreciated as well.