God in the Public Square

Are conservative Christians being discriminated against by the government? To hear them talk, you might imagine that there is an program of active persecution of Christian beliefs in America today - but an examination of the facts reveals that nothing of the sort of occurring. In reality, all that has happened is that the efforts of some conservative Christians to have the government enforce their religious beliefs have been stopped. Since when is that "persecution"?

Cathy Young writes for Reason:

These days ... there is so much God in the public square that you can hardly take a step without bumping into him, or at least his militant champions. ... Of course American culture is steeped in Judeo-Christian heritage. But our law has its roots in the secular Western tradition, from the Magna Carta to ancient Greece and Rome. Not that Roy Moore would know much about that: In a little-noticed ironic moment, he complained on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes that a statue of "Venus, the Greek goddess of justice" stood unmolested in front of the federal courthouse. (That would be Themis. Venus is the Roman goddess of beauty and love.)

The problem is that champions of God in the public square don’t just want religious beliefs to be a part of public discourse on an equal footing with secular ones. They often equate criticism of religiously based ideas with religious bigotry.

People like Roy Moore and his defenders want a privileged position for themselves and their religion in American society. Why? Is there some reason why other religions and other people should be accorded a second-class status in the United States? Not really, no. This comes down to a question of bigotry and theocracy for the most part. Moore and those like him are theocrats who are bigoted against everyone who doesn't believe the same way they do.

Thanks to "Gullibility" for the link!

Read More:

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