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McCain’s Outreach to the Radical Religious Right |
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Have you seen the Simpsons episode where the Republican National Committee meets in a dark castle–Monty Burns is joined by Dracula and Frankenstein. A meeting held earlier this week made me think of that scene. Time reports that “about 100 Christian conservative leaders from around the country agreed to unite behind the candidacy of John McCain.” “Conservative” is a misnomer–the leaders who met are radicals, bent on re-shaping the United States as a fundamentalist Christian nation. Time names some of the leaders who were at the meeting, but doesn’t explain just how radical they are. Here’s some information that shows how radical these McCain supporters are.
Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum: Schlafly’s Eagle Forum, founded in 1972, has taken the lead in preventing kids from reading John Steinback while making sure they get a healthy dose of creationism (I won’t link, but if you’re interested, check out the nutty stuff Schlafly has written on this subject). Schlafly has called sex education classes “in home sales parties for abortion.” Schlafly has denounced “illegal aliens” as carriers of disease and rails against GLBT people.
Matthew Staver, Liberty Counsel: Liberty Counsel brings lawsuits that it says are aimed at “restoring the culture one case at a time.” “Restoring the culture”, of course, means bringing religion into every aspect of the public schools, railing against abortion, and “defending marriage” against the gay bogeyman. Liberty Counsel (like McCain) wants to roll back Roe v. Wade. Staver threatened to sue a library that gave children certificates for completing Harry Potter books–Staver said the library was promoting witchcraft.
Tim LaHaye, co-author of the “Left Behind” series: Americans United describes Tim LaHaye as “a fundamentalist extremist who hates church-state separation, seeks a government-enforced “Christian nation”, and has a long track record of attacking other religions and promoting bizarre conspiracy theories.” Mr. LaHaye envisions an ideal world where abortion is outlawed, homosexuality is lumped in with pedophilia and prostitution as “perverse sexual practices” that are universally shunned. Public schools lead daily prayers and teach creationism. Women stay home to raise babies and submit to their husbands’ authority. LaHaye’s “Left Behind” series describes a post-Rapture world where the anti-Christ joins forces with evil UN officials (at last, someone who understands the real threat we face! Do I smell a National Security Advisor position under McCain?).
These are just a few examples of the radicals uniting behind McCain (one unnamed leader suggested that defeating Obama is a divine mission, saying these leaders don’t want to be able to “meet their maker” without saying they did all they could to defeat Obama).
None of these religious extremists is a household name, and it’s unlikely we’ll hear anything about how radical these McCain supporters are. I’d like to know if McCain agrees that (a) encouraging kids to read Harry Potter promotes witchcraft; (b) public schools ought to lead daily prayers and teach creationism; (c) God wants followers who work to defeat Obama. McCain has some radical new friends with an extremist (far from “conservative”) agenda for America. Will the media tell us what these McCain supporters believe, and why they want to elect McCain?
Thank you for using the term radical. These folks are not mainstream, nor do they speak for most Christians. For some reason, though, the media tends to think they do.
thanks Jim–yeah, it bugs me when someone like LaHaye is called “conservative”–he, and other McCain supporters like Sens. Coburn and Brownback–have very radical views and goals. They also, of course, represent only a limited portion of religious Americans. I’m glad to see progressives in the religious community making themselves heard