This commentary is by John Bossange of South Burlington, a retired middle school principal.
Make no mistake about it. The Republican Party’s traditional beliefs of smaller government, less taxation, unregulated capitalism, less gun safety controls, free trade, no unions, and fiscal conservatism, are slowly being overshadowed by the party’s belief that America should be an evangelical Christian nation.
The Republican Party’s adoption of evangelical beliefs began in earnest once the party realized the evangelical vote would help it win elections. President Reagan tapped into that base, and was successfully followed by Presidents Bush and Trump.
But all along this 40-year journey, the voice and message from the evangelical community grew and was supported by many others in the political arena, including Barry Goldwater, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, Pat Buchanan and Mike Pence, all of whom found a way to carry the torch of their version of Christianity.
However, the strongest voices for a Christian America came from those whose job it was to preach, write and convert the nation into believers. Notables like John Eldridge, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, Jim Bakker, Billy Graham, James Dobson, Mark Driscoll, Jerry Falwell, Phyllis Schalfly and Robert Schuller used their skills to promote not just Christianity, but most importantly, what would happen to America if we did not convert to a nation of Christian believers.
Little thought went into the historical fact that when a religion becomes that of a government, the drift from a religion of acceptance and compassion becomes one of narrow-mindedness, intolerance and bigotry. The world is filled with nations with one state-endorsed religion where believers wreak havoc on those who believe differently.
The Republican Party’s understanding of the power of this movement has served it well. For sure, there are those in the party who believe in the messages from the Bible, but do not see the use of those messages to gain a political advantage or to convert our nation.
However, since the campaign and election of Mr. Trump in 2016, the evangelical movement has become the most powerful voice in the party. Using the “Orange Messiah” as the messenger has proven to be very successful in local, state and national elections. The party has evolved into a religious cult focused on a religious-based culture while the traditional Republican Party’s foundation of fiscal conservatism has all but disappeared from the election radar.
This march toward making the country the ”United Christian States of America” exposes the party’s hypocritical position on the role of government. Now the Republicans want to use “big government” to their advantage. Federal and state laws codifying their belief systems are the new long arm and overreach of the government they once despised.
Gone are local control and less regulation. In its place we have laws, policies and regulations created to control the party’s religious and cultural agenda marching us toward Christian Nationalism.
Hypocrisy is nothing new to the Republican Party. Its cry for smaller government, freedom and smaller budgets stops when their call goes out for FEMA disaster relief, for federal dollars to fund roads and bridges, for laws to ban reproductive rights and censor book content, and for policies to subsidize the fossil fuel and agricultural industries. Of course, Social Security and Medicare continue to be acceptable big government overreach as well.
As the primary season gears up, this blatant hypocrisy has gone by the wayside because no candidate can defend it. Now it’s all about establishing an evangelical culture and creating a Christian nation, a much more unifying and easy-to-understand message for the party to promote. What used to be the Republican foundation of fiscal conservatism is now Christian conservatism.
Will this sea change work? Listening to the Republican candidates who have announced their presidential aspirations so far, all of them yearn for the evangelical vote and none has renounced the goal of formalizing a Christian America.
Further, we have yet to hear a candidate speak about the dangers of a religious state. Even more troubling are the orthodox religious beliefs (Opus Dei) of five Supreme Court justices who have not been timid about their vision of America and big government overreach when it can be used to enforce their opinions and rulings. Given that legal cover, Republicans will be even bolder in their march toward Christian Nationalism.
Get ready. We’ll hear talk about the debt ceiling, bloated budgets, high taxes, deregulation reform, freedom, bureaucratic waste, and defunding federal and state agencies.
But you will never hear a Republican now running for office remind us of George Washington’s statement: “The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” Nor will you hear a Republican candidate quote the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an established religion.” Or Article VI, Section III, which states: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for any office of public trust in the United States.”
Our Founding Fathers got it right. They never wanted America to become a Christian nation. They understood the dangers and the inevitable drift towards intolerance and persecution. So far, our Constitution has held up against those who wish to distort history and proclaim one faith as superior because it is more “American.”
Often we hear people talk about the ”Soul of America.” This is what all Americans should be concerned about this election season. Our national soul has always been defined by the words of wisdom given to us from our Founding Fathers and written into our Constitution, not by the words of narrow-minded preachers and self-serving politicians seeking to create a Christian nation.
