"Republican North Carolina state legislators have proposed allowing an official state religion in a measure that would declare the state exempt from the Constitution and court rulings.
The bill, filed Monday by two GOP lawmakers from Rowan County and backed by nine other Republicans, says each state "is sovereign" and courts cannot block a state "from making laws respecting an establishment of religion." The legislation was filed in response to a lawsuit to stop county commissioners in Rowan County from opening meetings with a Christian prayer, wral.com reported."
State Religion Slippery Slope
The Christian Right is always depending upon the argument of the "slippery
slope" when it comes to social issues like gay marriage which, according
to them, is a slippery slope to bestiality. So what about the slippery slope of
a state religion?
Just as the the Roman Empire declared Christianity the state religion and
outlawed paganism, when will North Carolina ban other religions? When will it
then declare that only certain Christian denominations are truly Christian?
Think of it: in about ten years, a Reconstructionist Southern Baptist faction
could first outlaw Islam (obviously), then Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism,
Judaism, and eventually Catholicism (John Hagee would be soooo pleased). The
road to Reconstructionism would not be smooth - churches, temples, mosques and
synagogues would have to be closed and renovated (or turned into brothels, like
the Revised Righteous Roman Empire did to pagan temples), but a theocracy would
be established in the end. All citizens seeking public office would be required
to be male Southern Baptist ministers. or at least have gotten a masters in
Divinity at an approved university.
And speaking of education, all schools would be required to conduct approved
prayers, teach strict young-earth creationism, revised history and junk
science.
Let's not talk about criminal sentences for abortion, homosexuality, adultery,
or child disobedience. Draconian laws await, so we can easily imagine what they
will be.
The Other Slippery Slopes
The ridiculousness of North Carolina's proposed legislation lies in the fact
that by touting state sovereignty, it immediately knocks out freedom of religion,
as well as other freedoms: in negating the Constitution, it can pick and chose
what, exactly, from the Bill of Rights it wants and what it thinks is an
abomination. And added to the slippery slope of draconian religious laws, there
are two more slopes to consider: the negation of the ENTIRE First Amendment, so
that North Carolina (aka the Southern Baptist Convention) can control speech,
assembly, the press and petitions and the slope of other states - like
ever-secessionist Texas - in passing the same legislation.
Christian Right Backlash
Pundit Gil Smart, may have hit the nail on the head when he said that North
Carolina's proposed legislation may just be a reaction of scared
traditionalists who will only uphold section of the Constitution if it suits
their push for tradition (see below), This writer has stated before that the
big CR should be treated as a wounded animal these days: they will not go down
as a dying breed of "bible thumpers" (as even Bill O'Reilly termed them) will
undoubtedly come up with a rationale for such a move and will sidestep the idea
of religious intolerance, somehow making it a "freedom of religion"
move. The Constitution, they will say, meant freedom of Christian religion
only, thus giving pseudo-historian David Barton a boost to sainthood. They will
also posit that there is no separation of church and state.
"We Look Like Mississippi"
When the state voted on an amendment to ban same-sex marriages, former governor
Beverly Perdue said "We Look Like Mississippi," and got a lot of
flack - from Mississippi. But this piece of proposed legislation ironically
takes it cue from Mississippi:
January
28:
"Two Tea Party lawmakers in Mississippi have proposed legislation to create a permanent committee charged with nullifying federal laws the state does not want to follow."
And while the proposed legislation was in opposition to Obamacare, we all know that the Christian Right (staunchly anti-Obama) had a hand it. as it also has a hand in the NRA and its staunch defense of the 2nd Amendment. So while the WTF? comments have been fast and furious, there still are the occasional:
"The
way this country is going ,I'm all for it.
Not to mention they better do it before Islam does ..!"
Pam Geller would certainly approve.