Little Chicken Strategy | East Bay Express
Right-wing reactionaries are still fighting a lost cause
America needs an opposition party. Ideas should be tested, debated and discussed. We need an opposition like the Grand Old Party of Everett Dirksen, William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater, a party with constructive ideas.
Hard to believe now, but the Environmental Protection Agency was created during the Nixon administration and Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren, a Democrat, to head the more liberal Supreme Court. Think what could have been achieved if that Grand Old Party had not been infected by the religious right and its MAGA slogans. However, recent elections offer some hope.
America has evolved. It has become a more pluralistic and egalitarian society. From the beginning, this has been America’s destiny. The principles of liberty and equality, enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, ensured that final result. America was sure to become multi-racial and white Euro-Americans would soon no longer be the majority. It is inevitable.
America has also evolved to become more secular. With the advancement of science and medicine, Secular Humanism has proven more capable of addressing societal needs than religious beliefs.
Religion is losing its followers, not because it has been undermined by some nefarious conspiracy, but because it has failed to live up to its promise. Neither the hypocrisy of the scandalous child abuse and cover-up by Catholic clergy, nor the preaching of anger and rage about Christ’s messages of love and charity by evangelical ministers has helped the cause of Christianity.
However, as America has evolved, the Republican party has become a party led by Chicken Littles who spread “the sky is falling” rumours, eg, “They’re coming for your guns”; “They are taking care of your children”; “they are attacking your religious freedom”; “They are stealing your vote.” Such claims are as baseless as a piece of the sky falling on Chicken Little’s head.
However, their purpose is to instill fear in an open audience and sway public opinion. Fear mongering is an effective strategy that religions have used for centuries, warning of hellfires and terrifying gods.
Ron DeSantis, with his “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the Orwellian “Stop Woke Act,” which dictates what can and cannot be taught in Florida schools, has become Chief Chicken Little. But other would-be autocrats vie for honor and threaten free society.
Unable to appreciate what is good for modernity, the conservative right clings to a suspicious view of the past while spreading fear to maintain power and influence.
This should not be surprising. The advance of Western culture has maddened others, including the Muslim Taliban, who also see it as a threat to their religion, and Vladimir Putin, who, along with the leader of leader of 100 million Russian Orthodox Christians justify the war with Ukraine as a holy war against the Nazis and Western decadence.
But right-wing reactionaries are fighting a lost cause. Recent elections suggest that most voters have moved beyond the baseless grievances of the far right. The Republican Party would be wise to roll with them, accept the modern world, imperfect as it is, and work with Democrats to find rational ways to improve it as they once did. And leave the outdated worldview of Christian nationalists. The survival of the party may depend on it; there is no turning back.
After 3500 years of Judaism, 2000 years of Christianity and 1400 years of Islam, none of these religions have brought peace to the world. But they have been a source of conflict and terrorism. Muslim Jihads and Christian Holy Wars, the Inquisition and the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. The January 6 attack on the US Capitol also had significant religious connections.
And thousands of years of instilling the fear of God in people may have made them obedient, but it has not made them happy or satisfied their needs and desires.
And this has not made them virtuous. dominated by Christians nation-states usually have higher crime rates. Why would anyone think that further reliance on ancient belief systems will improve things, in another 100 or even 1000 years? However, 4.3 billion God-fearing people, including Christian nationalists, adhere to these ancient beliefs.
Secular humanism, starting only 250 years ago, has produced a much better result. In a secular America, with laws and government based on reason rather than fear, human rights have steadily advanced to form a more just society. American culture has flourished and progressed through the advancement of racial and gender equality and individual freedoms. During these same 250 years, authoritarian and theocratic nations barely prospered as they continued to restrict liberty and deny equality and religious freedom.
Islamic countries remain particularly associated with barbaric customs such as torture and murder blasphemer. If Trump’s newest BFF, Nick Fuentesgets its way, the right wing will usher in a more draconian American version of Sharia law, a sort of throwback to Cotton Mather and the burning of witches.
The support of Humanism does not require the abandonment of religious beliefs. Our constitution guarantees this right and it will always be respected. But isn’t it time for the religious right to appreciate the successes of Secular Humanism? The American people have thrived because our government and institutions have been based on reason rather than subjective beliefs.
Religion has an important place in our society. However, it should have no place in our government as the founders intended. The separation of church and state has been respected throughout our history and should be respected even now. How can Christian nationalists, who consider themselves patriots, fail to understand the genius of our Constitution?
Over the past two generations, the religious right has gained power and influence. And it has made a concerted effort to promote Christianity and replace our secular government with a Christian theocracy. Really, 61% of Republicans favor declaring America a Christian nation, and Christian nationalists openly campaign for it. If this ever happens, it will be to the detriment of everyone, including Christians.
But this should not happen. We humans cannot allow that to happen. The sky is not falling. And America was built to be inclusive from the start. Founder Father James Madison understood the danger of the alternative when he stated: “Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, to the exclusion of all other religions, can with equal ease establish any particular sect of Christians, except all other sects. Can 61% of Republicans see the light in Madison’s words?
Bob Topper, syndicated from Voice of Peace, is a retired engineer.