Chicago Free Press Editorial - Un-American

Chicago Free Press Editorial - Un-American
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
August 30, 2006

Hats off to U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (R- Fla.) for having the temerity to say what so many of her fellow right-wing conservatives believe but would never publicly admit—that she envisions the United States as a fundamentalist Christian nation ruled by “God’s law” rather than the Constitution.

In an interview that appeared last week in the Florida Baptist Witness, Harris said that separating religion and politics is “wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers.”

“If you’re not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin,” including gay marriage and abortion, she added.

America remembers Harris as the embattled Florida secretary of state who took it upon herself to pronounce George W. Bush the winner of the 2000 presidential race over the objection of the Florida Supreme Court. She was widely criticized for her inappropriate show of partisanship, but her recent statements indicate she might have been following what she considered the dictates of a higher authority than Republican Party officials.

Harris, in fact, has ties to the Christian Reconstructionist movement, whose goal is to turn the U.S. into a theocracy governed by a narrow and literal fundamentalist reading of the Bible. Christian Reconstructionists not only have within their sights the eradication of legal abortion and GLBT civil rights but also a radical policing of society and personal behavior that’s identical to what’s practiced in fundamentalist Islamic nations.

In recent years, elected representatives influenced by this movement have proposed laws that would discourage women from working, ban labor unions, criminalize adultery, outlaw “blasphemy” and the teaching of evolution in public schools and impose a strict code of censorship on everything from art to theater to broadcast media. In short, they seek to reshape our culture according to a biblical model and strip all Americans of the individual liberty upon which our nation was founded and has prospered.

“We are not looking for a ‘voice at the table’ nor are we seeking ‘equal time’ with the godless promoters of pornography, abortion, safe-sodomy subsidies, socialism, etc.,” writes Christian Reconstructionist Jay Rogers. “We want them silenced and punished according to God’s Law-Word.”

According to Rogers, “God’s law” includes capital punishment for even minor religious infractions such as failure to observe the Sabbath.

A decade ago, Christian Reconstructionism could be dismissed as a lunatic-fringe movement not even worthy of attention from level-headed citizens. But type the words “Christian Reconstructionism” into a Google search today and you’ll get close to 300,000 returns.

Even more frightening than this proliferation, however, is the kind of rhetoric coming from Harris and other right-wing political leaders, including U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrove (R-Colo.) and U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). They have become shockingly emboldened in their contempt for the Constitution.

Half a century ago, Americans who were even remotely associated with political philosophies advocating the overthrow of our system of government were charged with treason and hauled before congressional subcommittees. Today they sit in the halls of power thumbing their noses at our most cherished democratic values and traditions with impunity.

This is unequivocal: The United States is a secular nation founded on laws that hold freedom of religion and individual liberty as our highest values. As the most immediate and visible target of a movement that seeks to undermine these principles, the GLBT community has a critical role to play in fighting this simmering menace to the freedom of all Americans. GLBT leaders should strive to frame our struggle within this broader context.