Journalism Student Calls for Theocracy

The threat and danger of theocracy is most obvious with those who are explicit and open about their desire to overthrow liberal democracy - but they aren't the only or even necessarily the biggest threat. There are plenty of other religious people who aren't explicit in their demands but who instead spread what appear to be mild religious platitudes. When examined closely, however, it becomes clear that those "platitutudes," if taken seriously, are antithetical to liberty.

An excellent example of this can be found in the writing of Jennifer Hughey, a sophomore journalism major at the University of Maryland. In a recent column in The Diamondback she stated:

A couple of weeks ago, an atheist argued before the Supreme Court that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance are unconstitutional and offensive. I'm not sure how these words are offensive. If a man is an atheist, how can something he doesn't believe in offend him?

Is Jennifer Hughey really that clueless or is she being deliberately disingenuous? Newdow made it clear that what is "offensive" is the government taking the stand that in order to express patriotism, people should also express belief in a particular sort of god that has particular sort of relationship with the nation. Some religious believers find this offensive as well - a fact which is clear to anyone who spends even a moderate amount of time studying the case and the arguments made in it.

The United States was founded by men who feared God and strove to obey his doctrines.

That is true about some of those who were involved in the creation of the nation... and it is also serves to bolster Newdow's case. Jennifer Hughey seems to think that our government should be made responsible for promoting the beliefs of the founders, but it is notable that they didn't think so - that's why they explicitly refused to incorporate their beliefs into the Constitution. The fact that they didn't think the government had the authority to promote what they personally believed is one of the reasons why "under God" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. Thus, instead of providing a reason to keep the phrase, Hughey actually provides a reason to do the opposite.

Our country has certainly strayed away from that. Now, we treat God like he's our own personal maid. He's supposed to clean up our messes but get out of our way when we want to have fun. Think I'm lying?

I don't think that it matters whether this is true or not. Why? Because it's not the responsibility of the government to tell people to treat some particular god with gratitude, to treat that god like a maid, or to have any other sort of relationship with any god whatsoever. This is the point which Jennifer Hughey doesn't seem to get - or doesn't want to acknowledge: from the government's perspective, it doesn't matter how people do or do not relate to this or that god. It's none of the government's business.

This love/hate affair with God is present even here on the campus. Some students take away his reverence and blaspheme God by using his name as a curse word. Some engage in activities he's clearly against, such as premarital sex, drinking and lying. Some groups even go to great lengths to deny his existence. ... God deserves more than just a few measly minutes one day out of 365. Campus life is void without God's presence. If we continue to keep him away, the absence will grow and be felt.

So what? Does any of this have any possible relevance to the Pledge of Allegiance? No, not unless one thinks that it is the job of the government to promote some particular belief in some particular god - and I think that perhaps this is exactly what Jennifer Hughey wants. Read on...

America isn't the way it was in the days of yore when the Constitution was written. It's now a dark and twisted junkyard filled with all kinds of violence, debauchery and evil.

Yes, America was much better when women couldn't vote and slavery was legal...

If God is taken out of every aspect of our country, we can only expect it to get worse. Putting God back in our government and institutions will not be an easy task. Issues and topics will have to be addressed that will incite and upset people who don't believe in God. But my response to them is that: laws, both manmade and divine, were not meant to please. It's what must be done in order to save our nation. ... God unites us, heals and will fix our nation if we put him in all of the facets of our lives and return to him.

None of the above is even remotely possible unless Jennifer Hughey has in mind a particular god with particular qualities and within a particular theological system. What god should be put into government and institutions? What sort of theism should be promoted by the government over and above other types of theism? Which group of believers should have their religion favored over other religions? Which "god" should be used to unite some of the population while excluding the rest?

If Jennifer Hughey is to be taken seriously, it must be assumed that she has answers to these questions - but that means that she favors a political system and a society in which one religion has a preferred status and adherents to any other religion is basically regarded as a second-class citizen. And of course, no gods will come down to preside over the legislature, so in order to do what some god wants and to follow "divine" laws, we'll have to rely on what one group of religious leaders tell us - which ultimately means being ruled by the dictates of religious leaders rather than the consent of all the governed.

Jennifer Hughey is not calling explicitly for a theocratic system, but if we are to take her and people like her at all seriously, we must acknowledge that what they do call for is incompatible with the liberal democracy we have today. Her ideas are antithetical to the equality of all religions and the liberty of all citizens. Her ideas are also depressingly common precisely because too few people consider them closely and fail to realize what they really entail.

Read More:

• Christian Nationalism
• Religious Intolerance & Bigotry
• Separation of Church and State 101