Here I must point out that the rise of the so-called "Christian Right" Reaganites in the late 1970s was in response to the spiritual peace and freedom movements that had been reborn in the 1960s, and that was very similar to what had occurred in the 1930s. History repeated itself, because all right-wing, patriarchal theocrats hate real religious freedom and pluralism, and they seem to think that religious freedom means they have the right to try to impose their rigid and distorted brand of religion and ideology on the whole country and world. They always have.
The trouble is, the New Right Reaganite (and Bushite) Republicans have, in the name of God and Country, steadily and increasingly been chipping away at Roosevelt's democratic New Deal programs. They have tried to do away with and reverse all the rights and protections that had improved the lives of the American people and the environment during the 1940s and '50s, and especially during the '60s. They pushed for "deregulation" to "get government off our backs," which was very deceptive. They claimed that "we cannot afford a welfare state," but that was dishonest. What they really meant, and what they still mean, is that they and their wealthy supporters do not want to pay their fair share of taxes.
That is why Reagan insisted that tax cuts are absolutely necessary and good for the country (as Bush has done since he gained power in 2000), even though those tax cuts mainly benefitted the wealthy and actually and inevitably plunged the country into debt and proved disastrous.
Anyway, to get back to the story, with the rise of Republican Ronald Reagan to the U.S. presidency in 1980, the Military-Industrial Complex grew even more, and it took on a new aspect. With the influence of "Christian evangelists" Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, it then became the Religious-Military-Industrial Complex, and it established a culture I call Reaganism. However, the religious part wasn't really religious, because it was the hypocritical and bigoted "Christian" Right that was responsible for it. But, nevertheless, the Religious-Military-Industrial Complex grew under Reaganism, and got even more out of control.
Part of the reason for that was because in 1982, encouraged by the new power and success of the Reaganite New Right, a large group of right-wing extremist attorneys established a so-called "Federalist Society." I fully discussed it in my second book, because it has nothing to do with true federalism. It was actually designed to impose right-wing partisan political ideology into the U.S. legal system, and to establish even more firm control by the wealthiest few. (And that, by the way, is why a good number of its members later became part of George W. Bush's administration in 2001. In fact, in many cases, membership in the Federalist Society meant guaranteed entry into the Bush regime.)
Unfortunately, the New Right Reaganite movement pretty much succeeded in America. Their misleading, deceptive and hypocritical words and actions have achieved many of their political goals during the last twenty-seven years. They have been instrumental in electing right-wing conservatives in many political offices, from local school boards to the U.S. Congress to the presidency.
Consequently, the Religious-Military-Industrial Complex grew even more. And, with their support, right-wing conservative Republicans have created policies and laws which favor the very wealthiest few, at the expense of the majority, at the expense of the environment, and especially at the expense of the working poor, the poor, and the disadvantaged.
However, in spite of their political success, the Christian Right has been far less successful socially. That's very obvious if we consider the content of television and movies. Their attempts at censorship have been considered prudish and backward by most people, and right-wing politicians have had to be content with the manipulation and control of the political-economic system.
I must emphasize that the Christian Right has been so politically active because their goal is to politically and legally force all of us to be subject to their will. They can't be honest about that, of course, which is why they have been so adamant in claiming that their political action is simply an effort to "restore God to America" and "fulfill the intent and desire of the founding fathers." It is a concerted attempt to win power and control, and they have resorted to dishonest, deceptive and misleading tactics in that attempt.
That is why I have pointed out the fallacy in the claim of today's leaders of the fundamentalist Christian Right, because they are NOT doing what America's founding fathers would have wanted. As I've shown you, the founding fathers and many other early leaders of the United States did not rigidly cling to a narrow view of religion, nor did they favor one religion or religious denomination over all others. In fact, as I've said, founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson were highly critical of religious bigots on the fundamentalist Christian Right of his day, and that was partly in response to their heavy criticism of him.
Granted, some of the leaders of today's religious right very well may believe that they are doing the right thing. I do not believe it and it's very difficult for me to say, but they may actually believe that their words and actions are in the best interests of humanity, and that they truly serve God and Country. And, also granted, even though they often reveal their self- righteousness and malice, most of them probably do not mean to cause harm. But, the truth is that they are bigoted and hypocritical, and they have indeed caused much conflict, division, and harm. And those who support them and follow them just can't see they have been misled by divisive, harmful leaders, the worst of which are like wolves in sheep's clothing.
Right now George W. Bush is currently the most influential right-wing conservative Reaganite claiming to be a Christian. Jerry Falwell was influential, and Pat Robertson still is influential among the Christian Right, and over the last two decades they were joined by the likes of James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Robert Simonds, Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins, Hal Lindsay, Rick Joyner, Bob Jones, John Hagee and other like-minded right-wing conservatives who pridefully boast that they are the "true" Christians. But they are not. In fact, they tend to ignore the universal core teachings and principles that the Christ Jesus taught, and they instead serve what Jesus called "Mammon," which is worldly power and material wealth. (See the pages titled What Are Real Spiritual Values? and Christians Divided.)
Under the reign of George W. Bush, the Religious-Military-Industrial Complex has grown totally out of control. Corporations (especially oil companies, health insurance companies, and drug companies) are raking in record profits and indulging in terribly unfair price gouging, "ripping off" the public and rewarding the corporate Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) absurdly excessive financial "compensation" amounting to tens of millions of dollars per year. (See the page on Poverty: America's Secret Shame and the Failure of the Rich.)
Bush has even "privatized" (corporatized) war, and allowed private corporate contractors to profit enormously from his war in Iraq. Many roles and jobs formerly done by moderately paid military personnel are now done by highly paid corporate profiteers. That is one of the reasons why Bush persists in his war, despite growing opposition to it. (See the page on the Sunni-Shiite Conflict and the Real Motivation for Bush's War.)
The plain fact of the matter is that the Reaganite Republican New Right and the Christian Right in America unwittingly serves Mammon, not God. Rather than abide by real Christian values, they focus on the man-made patriarchal doctrine of preeminence and superiority that has been used over the last sixteen centuries to justify imperialism, colonialism and genocide, all in the name of "saving souls" and "spreading the Christian Word of God." And they have continued and even expanded the Reaganite policies that heavily favor the wealthiest few at the expense of everyone else and the environment.
Because the Christian Right supports and pushes a right-wing partisan political ideology, they are in cahoots with a large group of politically like-minded right-wing "conservative" ideologues, including many corporate executives, corporate attorneys, and judges. They are aided by many other influential people, including certain authors, pundits and speakers who serve as attack dogs. Some of them are horribly divisive, mean-spirited hatemongers, launching misleading, deceptive, dishonest, venomous attacks on good people who are trying to stop the rich right-wing "neo-conservative" movement from doing any more damage.
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