I am appalled reading the comments from both sides of the aisle condemning the Christian terrorists and their attempt to overthrow the government on January 6, an event born out of the long-standing political division, as though the insurrection was a complete surprise. Unlike the saying ‘If you see something, say something,’ the insurrection has its roots in seeing something and saying nothing.
The United States has a long history of seeing something and, with no effective opposition from either party, essentially saying nothing. A couple of court cases illustrate how America encourages Christian terrorists. The Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision enables any company to discriminate against any employee if that person offends the owner’s sincerely held Christian beliefs. The Senate’s refusal to hear a Supreme Court nominee eight months before an election and forcing through the “Advice and Consent” process to seat an unqualified Supreme Court Christian activist justice two weeks before an election violates the overriding Constitutional principle of checks and balances between the three branches of government. Without checks and balances, all three branches can, and have, denied political and religious freedoms to “outsiders.”
These and other assaults on America’s democracy gave Christian Nationalists and other Christian terrorists groups the impetus to “stand back and stand by,” culminating in an attempted government overthrow on January 6. The time to stand up and say something is when our Constitutional rights are violated; after the fact is too little, too late. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom from Religion Foundation have been standing up for our constitutional rights as violations occur.
Jeffery Robinson, ACLU Deputy Legal Director, said, in essence, during an ACLU ‘At Liberty’ podcast – The insurrection did not start on Wednesday, January 6, and anyone whose eyes were open would have seen this coming for a very long time. Racism, (Christian terrorists), and white supremacy have been at the core of American society since its inception. Seeing Confederate and white supremacist flags flying side by side during the insurrection shows these ideologies still drive some groups opposed to American Democracy. https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_podcast_file/al21_capitol_response.mp3
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has been raising awareness about the dangers of Christian terrorists and theocratic extremism for decades. FFRF is “hopeful the attack on the Capitol has opened the nation’s eyes. New photos, videos, and reportage are continually emerging that illuminate the links between this attack and Christian Nationalism, says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. Bibles, shirts, flags, placards, patches, crucifixes, crosses, and prayers were omnipresent during the attack. Christian Nationalism is not going away even though its champion is no longer president. FFRF will continue to work to expose the insidious, anti-democratic nature of Christian Nationalism and its role in the attempted overthrow of our government.” https://mailchi.mp/ffrf.org/the-expanding-role-of-christian-nationalism-in-the-capitol-attack?e=329c0da415
The Heritage Foundation and other Christian terrorists groups are working to make the “insidious, anti-democratic nature of Christian Nationalism” the law-of-the-land. Lee Edwards of the Heritage Foundation writes conservatives of faith must “oppose a progressive agenda that promises more government programs and regulations, more taxes and spending that would take us down the road to socialism, the stated goal of the winning party’s platform” and defend “traditional American values based on our Judeo-Christian heritage.” https://www.centralmaine.com/2021/01/15/commentary-the-challenge-for-conservatives-in-a-post-trump-world/.
The line – defend “traditional American values” based on our “Judeo-Christian heritage” is a classic Christian terrorists coded message. Its Orwellian meaning is to create social laws that define marriage as between one man and one woman, life begins at conception, and abortion is murder. The economic message is to preserve socialism for the wealthy, keep rugged individualism for the proletariat, oppose a national federal minimum wage, and fight universal healthcare.
Edwards is correct. We are a divided nation, but he is wrong about the source. We are divided because the Heritage Foundation and other Christian terrorists political groups believe the country was established as a Christian nation for wealthy white men. These groups deny fundamental human rights to every other group, especially women, people of color, and the LGBT community. Until we can agree everyone has a right to universal healthcare, marry who they love, be paid a living wage, and women have the right to plan their family, we will remain divided.
Abraham Lincoln was right; a country divided cannot stand. Nations united around respecting fundamental human rights are happier, healthier, have a more highly educated workforce, a robust economy, and enjoy a higher standard of living than countries with repressive governments. Suppose the Heritage Foundation and other white evangelical Christian terrorists groups succeed in uniting all white Americans around their repressive social and economic policies. In that case, two things will be true – the nation will effectively no longer be divided, and we will not stand.
Tom Waddell is president of the Maine Chapter of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. He welcomes comments at president@ffrfmaine.org