As everyone knows, public schools are the tools of the Devil--that fiendishly educated tempter. So long as we keep our children locked in their rooms and scared to death of the world outside their insulated bubbles, we can keep Satan out of their tender little hearts and minds. Of course, we end up keeping history, science, and other inconvenient truths out of their minds as well, but it's a small price to pay for salvation, no? Plus, who needs a well-rounded education when memorizing the Bible suffices? And while several corrupting subjects need not be taught to our children (history, geology, philosophy, biology, astronomy, etc.) they must at least be taught how to play baseball or softball--otherwise, they won't be able to hurl stones at all of the infidels.
Does this sound crazy to anyone but me? Surely it does. Unfortunately, some Americans actually take this stuff seriously. Consider, for instance, a recent story by John Suggs over at Alternet (see here) about the Reconstructionist movement that is picking up political steam in this country (especially in the South where home schooling has been a particularly effective tool for indoctrination!). Here is a frightening and alarming excerpt:
Two really devilish guys materialized in Toccoa, Ga., last month to harangue 600 true believers on the gospel of a thoroughly theocratic America. Along with lesser lights of the religious far right who spoke at American Vision's "Worldview Super Conference 2006," Herb Titus and Gary North called for nothing short of the overthrow of the United States of America.
Titus and North aren't household names. But Titus, former dean of TV preacher Pat Robertson's Regent University law school, has led the legal battle to plant the Ten Commandants in county courthouses across the nation. North, an apostle of the creed called Christian Reconstructionism, is one of the most influential elders of American fundamentalism.
"I don't want to capture their (mainstream Americans') system. I want to replace it," fumed North to a cheering audience. North has called for the stoning of gays and nonbelievers (rocks are cheap and plentiful, he has observed). Both friends and foes label him "Scary Gary."
Are we in danger of an American Taliban? Probably not today. But Alabama's "Ten Commandments Judge" Roy Moore is aligned with this congregation, and one-third of Alabama Republicans who voted in the June primary supported him. When you see the South Dakota legislature outlaw abortions, the Reconstructionist agenda is at work. The movement's greatest success is in Christian home schooling, where many, if not most, of the textbooks are Reconstructionist-authored tomes.
Moreover, the Reconstructionists are the folks behind attacks on science and public education. They're allied with proselytizers who have tried to convert Air Force cadets -- future pilots with fingers on nuclear triggers -- into religious zealots. Like the communists of the 1930s, they exert tremendous stealth political gravity, drawing many sympathizers in their wake, and their friends now dominate the Republican Party in many states.
[...]
A Harvard-bred lawyer whose most famous client is Alabama's Judge Moore, Titus told the Toccoa gathering that the Second Amendment envisions the assassination of "tyrants;" that's why we have guns. Tyranny, of course, is subjective to these folks. Their imposition of a theocratic state would not, by their standards, be tyranny. Public schools, on the other hand, to them are tyrannical.
[...]
Among North's most quoted writings was this ditty from 1982: "[W]e must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation...which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God." Titus followed that party line when he proclaimed that the First Amendment is limited to guaranteeing "the right to criticize the government," but "free expression is not in the Constitution." When I asked him if blasphemy -- castigating religion -- was protected, he shook his head.
Like North, Titus sees public education as decidedly satanic. Also, welfare. He contended the Founding Fathers -- and Americans today -- owe their "first duties to God. It's not just worship. It's education... welfare to the poor. Welfare belongs exclusively to God. Why do schools fail? They're trying to do the business of God. Medicaid goes. Education goes. The church gets back to doing what it should do." And what should the church be doing According to these self-appointed arbiters of God's will, running our lives. And stoning those who disagree.
You see folks, if God wanted poor children to be fed and educated, he would miraculously make food and books appear. Yet, God has not made food and books appear. Therefore, God does not want poor children to be fed and educated. Of course, if your church wants to help out in this regard, that's fine by God. But if anyone else tries to help, it's blasphemy!
That people walk around with beliefs such as these in their head is truly staggering. That they have stones in their pockets is terrifying. Most frightening of all, however, is that they, too, have votes to cast. I suppose that's why we live in a democratic republic rather than a purely majoritarian theocratic regime.
Cross-posted at truth to power (with open comment thread)
Recent Comments