Is it just me or does it seem like the religious right is taking over America?

Yes, we believe in freedom. I don't see the problem with that. Well, to say we as a nation believe in freedom is an absolute lie, but I have to say I see absolutely no problem with any of the things you have mentioned. What is wrong with people being allowed to do what they want? Why should they be punished or prevented from doing so because you don't like it? Why do you hate freedom?

 

How am I a hypocrite? How is right wing religious control over the government any better than left wing socialist control?

It's better to break down issues into one thing at a time.

 

The behavioral control is the low flow toilet and curly fry light bulb you are mandated to buy. Your behavior is being controlled every moment of every day and you are blind to it.

 

You want absolutely no laws? If not, define exactly where the line is drawn.

 

The contribution that the religious right is making in removing the Worst President in U.S. History. the Monumental Mendacious Fraud, Commie/Socialist, Black Racist Obami Salami is appreciated.

However, having them control America is outa the question.

 

I believe the title of the thread is misleading but there is no question that the "Christian Right" is taking over the Republican Party. They have an expressed religious belief that the Bible mandates them to create a Christian government (theocracy) in America even though America was founded as a secular nation which rejected religion as the foundation of government. They are on a "mission from God" to impose Biblical teachings upon America in the laws and Constitution of the United States. Because they are on a "mission from God" they are highly active in the political primaries which is why candidates like Bachmann, Perry, and Santorum even made the political stage in the Republican presidential nominations. Even Romney bowed to their political power in signing the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) Pledge which seeks to institutionalize their "Christian" definition of marriage on ALL Americans which would deny equal protection under the law for same-gender couples. These Republican presidential candidates signed the NOM pledge to try to institutionalize this religion based discrimination under the law by an amendment under the Constitution. NOM is a political front organization of the Mormon Church that sponsored Prop 8 which sought to impose this denial of equal protection in California and Romney is a Mormon that supports his own church to the tune of millions of dollars annually just so everyone knows.

So no, the Christian Right which endorses "social conservatism" that is authoritarian and tyrannical government based upon Biblical beliefs is not yet taking over America but it has to a large degree, based upon it's voting power during the primaries, corrupted and taken over the Republican Party. When we see the opposition to same-gender marriage and the opposition to women's reproductive rights by those in the Republican Party we're seeing the power of the Christian Right in the Republican Party today.

 

Republicans with any success have to be Christian or highly aligned with it. There's no noticeable voice for the conservative that is in opposition to christian pushing. It's very rigid; frustrating.

 

It is rather ironic as the Republican Party Platform explicity states that the Republican Party opposes religious intolerance but most candidates are Christians that are intolerant of other beliefs. They simply don't see that the imposition of their religious beliefs reflects their religious intolerance of others. It also states that they are opposed to discrimination based upon sex (gender) but overwhelmingly oppose same-gender marriage which is discrimination based upon sex (gender). The actions of Republican politicians such as Santorum, Bachmann, Gingrich and Romney do not support the Republican Party Platform and reflect political hypocracy based upon their religious intolerance of others that don't hold their personal religious beliefs.

 

How about:

Being able to watch or listen to music in the presence of children without the music or images being full of sex and violence

Finding clothes for 4-year-old girls that actually cover them up and don't make them look slutty

Not having religion (other than Islam) mocked in public

Not having kids taught to put on condoms in jr high

Not having to fight for the right to have a religious concious.

Not being called lazy for wanting to *gasp* raise my own children rather than have daycare do it.

For a start.

 

I believe what is happening is simply that the US is going through an identity crisis. The last couple of decades has seen a marked change in the very definition of morality and values. The oft hears statement "welcome to the 21st century" in response to any one who may not have that liberal a view point. Look at what is on TV and in movies. Cuss words, nudity etc is becoming increasingly common and are somehow equated with progress. Hallween costumes for even 13 year old girls sold in shops often resemble that of a hooker's. I remember when Britney's video "Oops I did it again" was released, there was a hue and cry over it and yet today on Tv, we seen far more indecent material. In many states, this is the prevalent cultre and is accepted for the most part.

However, there sitll remain many more conservative or religious minded families specially in the south who are shocked by this sudden shift in America and unable to accept it. consequently they look upon it as a warning sign of what would happen if they let people just do what they want and enforce more and more strict standards on their morality on not only their relatives, but society in general. A lot of it is fear mongering but they do genuinely fear that if they do not take these steps, their own children and neighbours will be assimiliated into this culture. This results in a more fanatical view towards religion and see anyone who has a less rigid stance as a threat to them. They take the most innocent and unrelated issues such as light bulbs and take it as an attempt by the West to detroy their culture and impose the "evil" liberal values on them.

In the middle are left the moderates who get the raw deal of being bashed by both sides who are equally outspoken and derisive of the others and feel out of place in society as society has conveniently labelled themselves into two groups and they fit niether. The result is that the number of moderates are decreasing and more and more people are joining one side or the other. Its a kind of turn war and people simply can not remain neutral. If you are a moderate and wants to make friends, you have to choose one side and once you choose a particular side, you are constantly bombarded with their values until slowly you start to accept their way of life as the norm.

On a smaller scale, you can see it in the colleges where most people do follow the "liberal" lifestyle of partying and drinking and the religious / conservative appalled by that is driven to the other corner. The moderates are few and far between and many moderates eventually do go over to one side or the other. It can also be seen in students who move to Eurprope or US from Asian countries particularly Muslim ones who start of with moderate views but within a few years, either become religious fanatics or ultra liberal. It could also account for the suicide bombers who were born and raised in London but went to the extreme right in terms of beliefs.

Its the same philosophy under which Muslims are targeted by the West as being enemies. The Muslim fanatics believe that the West want to impose their values on them, to destroy their culture and religion. The conservatives in the West believe that the Islamists want to destroy their freedoms. The moderates try and fight it for a while but eventually come to realise that no one views them as moderates and are under constant attack from both sides with their propoganda until they choose one or the other.

 

This is exactly the point. You are offended when anyone mocks or insults your religion or in any way impose their culture on you yet you feel justified in bashing others religion and denying them those same rights. That's the whole hypocrisy of it. Religion should be revered but on;y as long as its my religion.

 

you get plnty of propaganda thru children's prgramming. But i'm curious about what your experiences are. In my opinion, i think atheists and those that think they are atheists are merely uncomfortable with knowing that christians exist and that atheists know that their behavior is unacceptable so even if the christian says nothing, the atheists is still uncomforable.

 

There is no such laws. The liberal media merely said there was because they knew they could scare you

 

I didn't mean I want to mock Islam. What I mean is that people feel very comfortable attacking Jesus all over the place TV, songs, artwork. No one would be given art funding or museum space for "(*)(*)(*)(*) Muhammad" and the person who made a Qu'ran in a jar of urine would be called a racist bigot. However, crucifixes can be treated as such and be celebrated. We can't make fun of Muhammad on south park, but Jesus is fair game. Either both or neither. I don't want that to happen at all -- I want all religions respected,

 

It's just you.

 

Its very different when you mock your own religion as opposed to when you mock others religion. There is a difference however in the level of respect Muslims give to their religion as opposed to Christians. To them, the Quran and the prophets are sacred and an outsider has no right to mock them. If Christians want to make fun of their religion, its their own problem but that does not justify attacking others' religion in the same way.

Having said that, the Muslim reaction is quite extreme. You have to acknowledge most of it is just to spite them. We are lving in a world where Muslims are labelled terrorists because of their religion. Their countries have been attacked without reason (Iraq and possibly Iran soon). The number of civiliians killed by US in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, not to mention support for Israel have already fueled the fires of hatret against the West. This is just adding fuel to the fire. There is a problem of extrmism in Islam today created in parrt by US and instead of addressing it, their actions do nothing but make the problem worse.

 

The Religious Right hasn't taken over America, but they just happen to be really annoyingly loud.

 

Everybody has to get used to criticism and mockery. This includes Muslims (and even atheists like myself).

Coddling Muslims that are easily offended only encourages extreme reactions whenever someone else decides not to later.

When people learn to chill out, a lot of problems will go away, but the only way there involves being offended first.

 

Pretty much just you and the socialists. The socialists have taken over and some on the right, religious or atheists, would like to change that direction.

 

No , Patrick , although , if forced to prefer , I would favour your cave of denial .
The Right will grow exponentially as the US implodes .
It is a Universal fact -- the moment problems become complex , the more desperate the under talented become as stress and incomprehension rises .People move to the sect that can only live with simple questions and simple answers .
Republicanism -- the land of Black and White .
Then Stormfront -- the land of the ignorant and challenged .

 

No , Patrick ,

 

No man, no one's "taking over". They've always been there. Many years ago they really were a serious force in society to deal with. Consider the conditions that brought them out. I'll let you do the time in research. When it comes to abortion I believe we should give both parties two. On the house. After that both parties are neutered. It would be so easy to take the Y DNA from the destroyed fetus and ID the paternal. We have losers breeding out of control. These are the waste of life non-contributory leeches of society that can't be used by a draft or labor conscription. How would you like to get the obligation of paying their way?

 

Ever heard of a channel changer or the off button?

The last time I checked a 4-year-old girl doesn't shop for clothes, the parents do. Does this mean that the parents can't find decent clothes at Sears or Walmart?

So mocking Islam in public is acceptable but mocking Christianity is not? Are we now opposed to freedom of speech?

The last time I checked the sex education classes required parental consent. Of course knowing how to use a condom is rather important even in Jr High School considering that 13% of teens have sexual relations by the age of 15. I would say its rather important to teach safe sex to young teenagers.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html

There isn't a fight. Where do people come up with such absurdities.

No one prohibits a person from raising their own children. Once again where do these absurdities originate?

 

Again, Bachmann and Santorum were rejected in their bid to become standard-bearers. The OP is thus invalidated.

 

Romney is an Mormon that donated about $7 million to the "church" and panders to the Religious Right on such issues as same-gender marriage discrimination. He advocates a Constitutional Amendment to supersede the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to instutitionalize gender discrimination in marriage. Romney is a representative of the Religious Right and "Social Conservatism" which is authoritarian government which seeks to impose Biblical law which is the advocacy of a Christian Theocracy in America.

Just because the more radical Christian fundamentalists have dropped out doesn't imply that Romney is any better. If fact Romney could be far worse than either Santorum or Bachmann because they were so extreme that none of their religious agenda would have ever become law. Romney, by being more "moderate" actually has more of a chance of imposing Christian intolerance upon America.