During a recent appearance on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, Newt Gingrich explained why he thinks he's getting more popular among evangelical voters despite being a Catholic, a serial adulterer, and divorced. It's because he more than any other candidate understands that there is a "war on religion" out there and he's willing to do battle on evangelicals' behalf.
I think the two key appeals are passion -- I think they instinctively can tell that I care so deeply of this country and the future of their children and grandchildren -- and second, I think the sense that I understand that there's a war against religion, and that I'm prepared...to actually fight back for the first in their lifetime and take on the judiciary when it's overreaching and when it's trying to drive God out of life.
Source: Crooks & Liars [emphasis added]
First, I think we probably need to understand that Newt Gingrich doesn't really believe there is a "war on religion" -- or if he does, that he thinks it's a bad thing. He surely doesn't think that there is any kind of "war" targeting Buddhism, Hinduism, or Judaism in America. If there is a "war" targeting Islam, he's probably be happy to join it.
No, when he says "religion" he only means "conservative evangelical Christianity." That's where he's getting the support, after all, and this is a group which considers itself to be perpetually persecuted. Conservative evangelical Christians do imagine that they are being targeted in a war and they will surely support any politician willing to pander to their martyr complex.
Second, the only "war" that might credibly be claimed to exist is a "war" on religious and Christian privilege. Neither Christians generally nor conservative evangelical Christians in particular are being discriminated against, harassed, threatened, or otherwise being excluded from political, social, or cultural life. Quite the contrary, in fact: Christians wield all or nearly all of the levers of power in society while atheists are consistently harassed and threatened.
So if Newt Gingrich is offering to ride into battle on behalf of evangelicals in this "war," it means he's offering to defend their unjust privileges -- privileges that they only ever acquired through the abuse of power in the past. Preserving such unjust privileges means opposing basic principles of civil equality and equal justice. So that's basically Newt Gingrich's political platform: "a vote for me is a vote to preserve white male Christian privilege in America".
I
dislikedespise all the Republican candidates for president, and which one is most despicable varies week to week. Several of the pack are Liars For Jesus; Romney changes positions with the same frequency as my cats migrate from windowsill to windowsill to follow the sun; Paul lives in a very scary fantasy world. But Gingrich the human being is just over-the-top amoral. Of course he’s going to use all the appropriate dog-whistles to reassure the Evangelical base that he’s a Real Christian (TM). He might be able to pull it off, too; he is a master of rhetoric. But I seriously doubt he’s any more of a Christian/Catholic than I am.However, since it’s almost impossible to get one’s name removed from the baptismal roll of the Catholic church, and I haven’t bothered to try, theoretically Newt and I belong to the same church! Ugh, my lunch is unsettling just thinking about it.
One of the remedies that Newt proposes would be to eliminate the idea of an independent judicial branch..
and…who is it that is really the object of political and social warfare? Does anyone today believe that a rational, agnostic,or atheist, could ever be elected in this country? ..even one as rational as, say, Thomas Jefferson?
You bet there’s a war on religion! As long as I’m alive it will be raging like a firestorm.
But according to Christians it is impossible for atheists to go to war. As soon as they get in the foxholes they get religion.
OZAtheist—
You’ve got it all wrong! The reason the atheist leaves the foxholes is because standing on the butts of the shaking Christians who are praying like hyenas makes effective fire almost impossible and besides, all the loud praying attracts mortor fire. The atheists leave the foxholes to take on the enemy themselves. In cases like WWII in Europe, the Nazis were more Christian than us and were so busy -outpraying the American Christians that atheists were able to leap over the German foxholes and move on to Germany and win the war. I know this is a bunch of bull, but it’s better that the crap the Christians come up with.
Grandpa