Protection for My Religion, But Not Yours

Republican politicians like Bill Frist are busy these days attending gigantic religious rallies, stepping up to the podium, and shouting in loud voices that they are sick and tired of religion being kept out of its rightful place of government power. They say they want religious judges, religious presidents, and a religious Congress. After all, they say, they’re just promoting religion, and who could disagree with that?

As always, when politicians speak, it’s important to look at the fine print.

What these Republican politicians are promoting is not really religion as a category. They’re advocating for political power to be given to certain religious groups, and not to others. In fact, the same people who are pushing to give their ability to institute religious law over all Americans are also campaigning to squash government access for the followers of religions that they do not like.

Pat Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate and the founder of the Christian Coalition, for example, announced this last weekend that he supports the following possible Republican presidential candidates:

- Kansas Senator Sam Brownback
- Virginia Senator George Allen
- Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

Robertson praised these candidates as being friendly to religion, and complained that religion is not given enough access to governmental power. Almost in the same breath, however, Robertson declared that he would forbid Muslims from federal judgeships and ban Muslims from seats in the Presidential Cabinet.

Robertson’s demand to forbid Muslims from serving in top governmental positions was joined by Reverend Louis P. Sheldon, who is the head of the Traditional Values Coalition, a religious right activist organization.

See, these Republican religious political groups talk a great deal about promoting religion, but when it comes down to it, they’re really only talking about giving government power to their own religious groups. That means that they’re not even willing to share power with liberal Christian groups.

When these Republican politicians have their way, America will become a theocracy – a nation in which governmental power is defined by religious power. As the comments of Pat Robertson and Louis Sheldon show, a theocracy is not just bad for secular Americans – it’s bad for the vast majority of religious Americans as well. If the religious right has its way, religious Americans will have to ask: Is my religion on the approved list of sects to be given special government access? Is my religion on the list of groups that are forbidden to have access to government power?

Separation of Church and State is fundamental to liberty, because it prevents American ayatollahs like Pat Robertson and Louis Sheldon from using the powers of the courts, the Congress and the White House to punish people because they don’t belong to the correct religion. First Amendment protections against government endorsement of religion help make religion as a general category more healthy, by refusing to allow the followers of one religion to use public resources to persecute the followers of another religion.

If you want to promote American religion, oppose Rudolph Giuliana’s presidential campaign. Oppose Bill Frist’s presidential campaign. Oppose Sam Brownback’s presidential campaign. Oppose George Allen’s presidential campaign. Above all else, don’t sit down politely in your pew when preachers like Pat Robertson and Louis Sheldon sermonize on the sacred right of their particular religious groups to lord it over everybody else.