The Threat of Religious Extremism!

There is a movement in this great country that is hell bent on making America a life-controlling Theocracy. 

You may not think this is such a bad idea but hold on for just one minute. Think long and hard before you sign on to any movement whose ultimate goal is to control your heart, mind and soul. 

If you really believe that these far right extremists, who inhabit the fringe of the Christian tribe, are harmless then you are in for a rude awakening.

These Christian extremists would sell their birthright for a half bowl of partridge if they thought for a second that they could successfully impose their right wing moral agenda on the rest of America. The Moral Majority may have been officially disbanded years ago but the spirit of that movement is as strong as ever. 

This extreme brand of Dutch Reformed hyper-Calvinism is determined to siege the free thinking ability of most Americans. They are wired for control and manipulation and as of right now are in powerful positions to achieve their goal of controlling your life. 

If you think, for example, that the recently appointed Secretary of Education has an educational agenda that favors all our children (both rich and poor), then you have been drinking some really strong Kool Aid my friend. You know the best way to seize control is to control the minds of the young. Thank about that for a minute. 

It’s called “indoctrination!” Is this what you want for America’s children?

Right Wing extremists, whether they are Christian or Muslim or from any other religious tribe are into one thing and one thing alone, and that’s control—if they can control you then they own you.

Right Wing Christian leaders want to control every aspect of your moral life: Sexually, medically, and religiously. 

They want to enforce their own homophobic sexual ethic on you; they want to legislate morality at all government levels; and they want to restrict the number of medical decisions you can make for yourself (e.g., abortion). 

They even aspire to control and manipulate your religious freedoms by insisting that you must not fellowship with Christians from other tribes. It’s a closed-minded system designed to tell you how and what to believe—all in the name of Jesus!

The sad irony here is that Jesus was the lest controlling and manipulative person you would ever meet. Just a casual reading of the Gospel stories reveals a Jesus who extends freedoms to individuals to respond to the Gospel in their own unique ways, in whatever state he found them.

He never dictated to anyone, that I am aware of, how and what he or she must believe. His counsel always trended towards freedom to trust. Jesus was the living example of Divine grace.

Trying to make America a Theocracy is the goal of Right Wing Christian extremists and should be resisted by all freedom loving citizens. I don't want the government imposing some delusional theocratic philosophy upon me at the expense of my personal freedoms. I don’t want my grandchildren to have to live in such a controlling State.

I don't want some Right Wing preacher or politician or government appointee telling me what is best for me morally, medically, sexually, or even religiously; and I certainly don't want some government appointee making decisions on how my children are to be educated. 

This is no small issue my friends. If you really think that there aren’t some religious folks in this country who aspire to gain control over your lives then I have some swamp land in Arizona to sell to you. Just because they present their agenda in the name of Jesus does not make them legitimate practitioners of Jesus’ teachings.

Many years ago in seminary my theology professor taught us to avoid extremes at all costs, extremes both conservative and liberal. That advice has served me well over the years. It has helped me maintain some balance.

Don't let all the Jesus talk of Right Wing extremists fool you, they are nothing like Jesus at all. Religious tyranny is never good, I don’t care how well it is dressed.