Although I've
been moderately familiar with Christian Reconstruction as an extreme
facet of American fundamentalism for quite a few years, I was not aware
that its tentacles had spread so wide and so deep as Joe Bageant
reveals in "
The Covert Kingdom." Its
program
to establish 'Biblical Law' throughout the land is only the most
disturbing aspect of a plan to achieve a "Christian goal for the
world," namely "the universal development of Biblical theocratic
republics." But this is not some lunatic fringe with little influence
on
the minds and hearts of Christian believers. Rather, their ideas and
strategies have penetrated the evangelical ranks to an alarming degree,
focused on the coming of The Rapture, an expectation that rivals for
lunacy anything that ancient or modern religion has come up with.
Joe Bageant's powerfully written article will probably astonish you;
and it will certainly scare you.
History has shown that there is little to
keep the fundamentalist mentality from going to the limits of extremism
in seeking to apply the tenets of their sacred writings to the
fullest degree, or from believing that as the exclusive holders of
Truth and Righteousness, and appointees of God's will, they have a
right to political control over the nation
—and even other
nations. In the past, both Christian and non-Christian religions have
pursued that goal, often successfully, through conquest or other forms
of takeover. The average fundamentalist indoctrinated with those
convictions might not necessarily acquiesce to the fullest (and
bloodiest) application of biblical law, but it doesn't take unanimity
by all followers if those wielding power are of such a mind. As many
Muslim states have shown, fanaticism is capable of wreaking havoc
on a society, from nations like Afghanistan where they actually gained
power to those like Algeria where they have descended to terrorism in
the not always successful struggle to achieve it.
Fear-mongering? It can't happen in America?
Perhaps not. Let us hope that American democratic traditions are strong
enough, that the
rational element of American society is sufficiently influential to
prevent it from
happening. But the evangelical movement in the U.S. has
been steadily expanding in the last quarter century. Where is its
limit? There is no indication that it has reached that point yet. As
control of education, governmental affairs, political and
judicial offices increases, as more and more of the younger generation
are raised and indoctrinated in the evangelical mindset, why should the
process not be open-ended? No organized counter-swell of opposition has
yet taken place. As I suggested in the current (Age of Reason)
Reader
Feedback, "The nation's scientists, philosophers and general
intelligentsia need to speak out against the evangelical threat (and to
get the media on their side), and they probably need to organize. To
date, too many of them have simply buried their heads in the sand and
hoped that it would all go away...."
By way of analogy, it might be said that it is
like a similarly ominous situation we face in medicine. Over the last
50 years, rationality and science, including historical and biblical
research, has acted like an antibiotic upon mainstream religion to
reduce traditional beliefs and superstitions, and the literal
reliance on the bible as an historical and revelatory guide. The main
consequence has been a dramatic decline in the power and following of
the established churches. But like an antibiotic
—and evolution in
general
—the
elimination or reduction of a large swath of a population
in the environment creates the opportunity for others to move in,
namely the strains that are resistant to the 'medication'. The latter
are enabled to expand unchecked and to mutate into ever more resistant
and virulent forms. This is precisely what has happened on the
religious scene in the U.S., to the point that the expanding
evangelical and fundamentalist life form is threatening to overwhelm
the body.
An American Taliban in another generation?
Even if the Christian Reconstructionists (who
have almost become synonymous with fundamentalists in general) cannot
ultimately achieve their grandiose aims, the process of attempting to
do so could spell great tribulation for American society, to borrow one
of their favorite apocalyptic terms. Of course, when God and Truth are
on your
side, you don't care. One of their recent moves is to limit the
availability of abortion by ensuring that hospitals are not obliged to
provide this legal service. Religious-run hospitals are already so
disposed, but insinuation by fundamentalists onto the boards of others
could soon make abortion difficult if not impossible to obtain in many
localities; harassment and the threat of violence against abortion
doctors has also had a drastic effect. The damage to science education
by the
creationist campaign against evolution is mind-boggling. Threats to the
American Constitution, to the separation of church and state, are real.
The loss of basic freedoms and the reversal of progress in human rights
are impending. And so on.
When you can't impose something by direct legislation (though they will
try), there are other ways to accomplish the same practical result.
Tenacity is the hallmark of fanaticism, and it is difficult to
understand, let alone be countered, by those who don't share that
mindset. When you enjoy infallibility with God behind you, propositions
and aims that appear lunatic to the rational mind are held with perfect
credence and confidence in their achievability.
When I was a newly-minted atheist some 40
years ago, I was convinced that by the end of the century, religion as
a force in our society and as an enslaver of the mind would largely
have died out. Never would I have thought we would be facing the
situation we do today, with every promise of it growing worse.
Ironically, if I had been living in western Europe, my confident
expectations would largely have come to pass. The further irony is that
if the forces of religious regression are successful in North America,
they will take their boundless energies to that European scene, as
they have done in many parts of the third world and in a de-communized
eastern Europe. I won't see the end of the struggle in my lifetime, but
I refuse to believe that the evolution of the human mind has brought us
this far from the primitive to the enlightened, only to spill us back
into the swamp of ignorance and irrationality we have struggled so
mightily to emerge from. But there are no guarantees. As I
suggested in the reader feedback, evolution is
impersonal, uncaring and undirected, lacking any innate concept of
enlightenment or progress. It is up to us, as the products of
evolution, to keep an eye on the potential it has given us, and to
ensure that our newly developed concepts of rationality and scientific
investigation are kept alive and nurtured to maturity. But like
everything
else in this world-on-its-own, we have to work at it. I'd like to think
we are still
capable of making evolution proud.
Earl Doherty
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