A.F. Alexander - Religious Right: The Greatest Threat to Democracy

Copyright 2011 by A.F. Alexander

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof, in any form whatsoever, without prior written permission.

For information, address Blazing Sword Publishing Ltd.
PO Box 8088, Colorado Springs CO 80933

Cover artwork Miss Liberty Decayed by Rainer Kalwitz, www.kalwitz.kunstprodukt.com
www.facebook.com/rainer.kalwitz.
Cover Design by Blazing Sword Publishing Ltd.

Many sources have been quoted and the author maintained use of the Fair Use standard.

For more information or to book an event, please refer to the author website at religiousright101.com.

Library of Congress: Pending

ISBN-10: 0615515630
ISBN-13: 978-1-620-95608-3

1 Religion
2 Current Events
3 Politics, United States

Acknowledgements

Writing this book was a long process, and I was often writing or researching rather than attending a social gathering. I thank my spouse and friends for their patience, and for believing in this books importance.

I particularly appreciate the interviews with Dr. C.J. Pascoe, and with former Quiverfull member, Vyckie Garrison. I cant express how thankful I am for your contributions. I am grateful to my test readers, and my editor, K.C. Arceneaux, for their diligence. A thanks goes to Rainer Kalwitz, for his stunning artwork that graces the front cover and first page.

I thank all those who believe in liberty, justice, and freedom for all citizens, without exceptions or caveats.

Contents

Introduction

The threat from the Religious Right is ominous, and requires immediate attention before their ideologies gain more power and control. It is not too late. Within this book you will gain the tools to understand the threat to your life, liberty, family, neighborhood, and country. The multi-pronged agenda of the Religious Right is carefully explained, and their tactics revealed. You will be given various ways to make a difference in your home, school, neighborhood, state, and country. It is time to turn off the celebrity news and find out how you can preserve this great democracy, and strengthen it for the next generation.

Who am I to write a book on the Religious Right? I was a member of the Religious Right, graduated from a church-sponsored Bible institute, sat in Religious Right pews, taught Sunday school to their children, and was a church secretary, and even wrote for the churchs monthly publication, and became its editor. Even in my college years, I was an early Religious Right follower, and was fully integrated into its culture. Because of this unique rank-and-file perspective, I delve into the rationale behind the movements agenda as only an insider can understand it. This allows me to explain, authentically, their worldview and tactics. I relate what this means to the larger picture of our country, and its future -- from our First Amendment struggles, to the public-square arguments, and even the historical record of the conflict between church and state, from the perspectives of both.

When I shared with a Buddhist acquaintance that I was writing this book, I was asked if I was writing it with love. I vow that this is the case, through a great love for democracy and its continued vitality in this country that I dearly love. If you love democracy and want to participate in making this country the best it can be, with justice and liberty for all, please keep reading.

About This Book

The book is divided into six sections. Section One, The Critical Issue, presents an overview of the importance of the separation of church and state.

Section Two, Who They are and How We Got Them, comprises a history of the rise of the Religious Right from their origins, to their joining with the Republican Party; there is information about Dominionists and Reconstructionists, and the Religious Rights tactics are detailed. Key players in this ongoing threat are named. Section Three is The Resulting Worldview, including discussion of the importance of End Times to the Religious Right, higher law ethics, and the religious caste system. Section Four is entitled The War is On, and presents a detailed discussion of six of the Seven Mountains of Influence strategy for achieving Christian dominion. The seventh Mountain, that of the family, is discussed in Section Five The Family Mountain. Included in that section is information about the Religious Right and the role of women, abortion, birth control, the Quiverfull movement, attitudes about gays and gay marriage, and the war for childrens minds and beliefs. Section Six, The Past and the Future, presents ideas about the church in history, and the penalties for a lack of separation of church and state. Also in this section are positive suggestions about how to become active in preserving that vital church and state separation in the U.S. government, including an array of resources and useful techniques for fighting back. The final chapter is a summation of the concepts in this book.

I provide many quotes throughout the book. Rather than a works-cited page, footnotes, or endnotes, each work is cited within the text, because its often useful to see the source in proximity to the quote. I have followed a simplified MLA 7th Edition format. The citations do not provide page numbers. A bibliography is provided at the end of the book, with books (but not articles), listed in MLA format.

I hope you take from this book a greater understanding of the risks of losing the separation of church and state, the history of the Religious Right in this country, and the methods they are using. It is not enough to watch this unfold in a passive way, and so the book includes positive steps one can take to counteract this growing threat to democracy.

Section 1 The Critical Issue

In this section:

Religious liberty is guaranteed in the very first sixteen words of the Bill of Rights. The rest of this book hinges on these words, their interpretation, and their intention in our national Constitution. We begin with this crucial aspect.

Chapter 1

Separation of Church and State

What to Expect From this Chapter

Thoughts on the simple guarantee of religious liberty for all.

Why it was important at our nations founding, and is still critical today.

Why a battle over the separation of church and state is being fought today and the arguments used against it.

How the separation of church and state impacts your rights.

What does the separation of church and state really mean and why is it important? You may have heard of it and dismissed it or felt such matters were for others to sort out. The time has come for every household to understand what the phrase means and how important it is to the very fabric of Democracy upon which our nation was built.

Some people are fiercely protective of their own beliefs and dont want to support any other religions, directly or indirectly. Like Thomas Jefferson, they contend that it is sinful and tyrannical for the government to force citizens to give material support or public acknowledgement of religions in which they disbelieve. Accordingly, these people demand that they never be taxed to support any church or church-related institution, such as parochial schools, or be asked to take part in religious events against their will.

Others are motivated by self-interest. If the government can sponsor my religion today, they argue, it can just as easily denounce it tomorrow and sponsor someone elses. Its better, they say, to keep the government neutral toward religion, thus placing every faith on the same footing