The first leadership position I ever held was as head usher at my childhood church. I remember telling the usher brothers about the promotion. They weren’t impressed. Well, that means you have to go to church, they said.BeforeMore than anyone else.
Brotherly sarcasm aside, faith was important to my family, and it still is important to me, as is religious freedom.
That is why I am so concerned about the aggressive advance of white Christian nationalism, whose goals run counter to the fundamental American ideal that we are all equally American, regardless of how we worship.
ourConstitutional Separation of Church and StateThe United States of America stands for this ideal. But there are some people who have no intention of living by its principles. For decades, they have promoted the idea that this country was created by Christians, for Christians, and what they really mean is Christians who share their religious and political worldview.
They have built up power in our Congress and our courts, and they are using that power to undermine our nation’s defining feature: pluralism.
Governor of LouisianaJust signed into lawRequiring a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public classrooms, including primary and secondary schools and state universities. This would give government approval to a religious tradition. This is clearly unconstitutional and in violation of past Supreme Court decisions. And that is part of the strategy.
The same movement that pushed for such legislation helped shape the current Supreme Court majority, which seems intent on further dismantling the separation of church and state. And now the Supreme Court hasShifted to the rightThe groups want Congress to pass legislation giving courts the opportunity to overturn rulings that protect religious pluralism, the same strategy they have used to overturn rulings that protect religious pluralism.Roe v. Wade.
Earlier this month, attorney Matt Kraus told a group of Christian nationalist state legislators:AttackHe said he is working with lawmakers “to put the Ten Commandments back in our schools.”
On the other hand, the bill, which was intended to give conservative Christianity a privileged place in American society,Project Blitz. “
Researcher Frederick ClarksonExplainedIn other words, Project Blitz is doing for Christian nationalism what the American Legislative Exchange Council does for big business: providing ready-made bills to like-minded lawmakers. The Ten Commandments bill is part of a larger strategy.
Krauss saysHis legal group was instrumental in passing new laws in Louisiana. The Wall Builders are led by a father-son team that relentlessly promotes a false, Christian nationalist interpretation of American history.Claimed achievementsTim Burton, president of the company, said:gave testimony in supportHe attended the bill signing ceremony and participated in the bill’s deliberations.
The Burtons’ success in getting their fake history widely accepted by the right meant that a majority of the Supreme Court sided with them,A test of history and tradition”To evaluate the constitutionality of laws.
Supreme Court watchers know that the “history and tradition test” is one of the worst things to have happened to this Court in a long time. This standard, advocated by the Court’s ultra-conservative wing, is a conveniently subjective standard that allows the Court to rule based on which traditions it most favors.
Already there have been some court decisions that favor the religious right’s agenda.includeThe Dobbs decisionRoe v. Wadeand it isIt has garnered support in lower federal courts.
And now, leaders of the Religious Right, led by the American Family Association,Require a religious testWhen it comes to nominating federal judges, they want Republican presidents and senators to nominate and confirm only judges who meet the group’s “biblical worldview” standards.It’s so unconstitutionalIt’s breathtakingly beautiful.
These groups are not just a vocal minority. The American Family Association and some of its alliesProject 2025A plan by powerful organizations to use the federal government to advance Christian nationalism and many other harmful policies whenever the next conservative president is elected.
What does this mean for Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and people of other faiths?No religious affiliationIt is frightening to hear such statements even from Christians who do not agree with Christian nationalist policies.
It all boils down to who can be a full, respectable member of American society — whose rights are protected and whose rights are not. The clear message coming from some quarters is that conservative, white, Christian, males get preferential treatment, while everyone else gets individual consideration.
This backward-looking vision stands in stark contrast to the promise of a multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society in which the rights of all are protected — a future worth building together.
Voters, it’s up to us.
Svante Myrick isAmerican Way People.
