Thread: Religious Republics

^ it's happening already. The NeoCons believe religion should be central to control the mass, even if our leaders don't believe in it. It's basically the best excuse to control the mass while doing crazy things. The US might eventually become one. That's what we need: another nutter state like Iran in the world. You don't want to be there when they start their pissing contest with their "my god is better than yours"

Welcome back to the past.

Just as the United States largely remains a religiously observant nation, so the religious beliefs of Americans remain fairly traditional. In fact, more than one-third of Americans (36% in recent Pew polling) continue to believe that the Bible is the "actual word of God" and is to be taken literally, and an additional 40% say the Bible is the word of God although not everything in it should be taken literally. More than three-in-four Americans, in other words, view the Bible as God's word.

http://pewresearch.org/obdeck/?ObDeckID=15

Maybe we'll see more of this kind of thing in the future:

Originally Posted by stroller

In fact, more than one-third of Americans (36% in recent Pew polling) continue to believe that the Bible is the "actual word of God"

I bet they also think he spoke those words in English. Shit they likely think he had a southern accent! I wonder if they know that it was a college of Catholic cardinals that picked the texts that would be added to their bible. Those would be the same folks that most evangelical christians would call damn papists.

There are many different religious sects in the States, all claiming exclusive knowledge of 'the truth', based on the bible. Some are more bigoted and militant than others.

It's hard to believe how many of these branches of protestants have survived and thrived since the age of reason and enlightenment.

One of many possible lists of families of Christian denominations
Adventist Family Adventist groups, Jehovah's Witnesses, and British Israelism
Baptist Family Southern Baptists, American Baptists, etc.
Christian Science-Metaphysical Family Christian Science, New Thought
Communal Family The Jesus People, Twin Oaks, etc.
Eastern Orthodox Family Various Orthodox churches -- Russian, Greek, Serbian, etc.
European Free-Church Family Amish, Brethren, Mennonites, Quakers, Shakers, etc.
Holiness Family Christian and Missionary Alliance, Church of the Nazarene, etc.
Independent Fundamentalist Family Plymouth Brethren, Fundamentalists, etc.
Latter-day Saints Family Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The community of Christ
Lutheran Family Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran church - Missouri Synod, etc.
Messianic Judaism Jews For Jesus, and other similar groups
Pentecostal Family Assemblies of God, Church of God (Cleveland, TN)
Pietist-Methodist Family Scandinavian Pietism, United Methodist Church, other Methodists
Reformed-Presbyterian Family Reformed, various Presbyterian churches, Congregational, United Church of Christ
Western Liturgical Family Anglican Communion; Roman Catholicism, including the Latin Church and the Eastern Rite Churches: (Armenian 5 Catholic Church, Chaldean C.C., Coptic C.C., Marionite C.C., Melkite C.C., Syrian C.C.); Old Catholicism; and the Ukranian Catholic Church

Size of religious groups in the U.S.

Polling data from early 2001 indicate that:
bullet 76.5% (159 million) of Americans identify themselves as Christian. This is a major slide from 86.2% in 1990. Identification with Christianity has suffered a loss of 9.7 percentage points in 11 years -- about 0.9 percentage points per year.
bullet 52% of Americans identified themselves as Protestant.
bullet 24.5% are Roman Catholic.
bullet 14.1% do not follow any organized religion. This is an unusually rapid increase from only 8% in 1990.
bullet 1.3% are Jewish.
bullet 0.5% are Muslim, followers of Islam.
bullet The fastest growing religion (in terms of percentage) is Wicca. It went from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001. Their numbers of adherents are doubling about every 30 months. 3

The percentage of Americans who are Protestants are expected to dip below 50% at sometime before the end of 2006.

FAMILIES OF CHRISTIAN SECTS AND DENOMINATIONS

Originally Posted by Sanuk Canuk

I bet they also think he spoke those words in English.

While you are being facetious, I have had this exact same exchange with a Southern Baptist gentleman who became quite angry when I suggested that Jesus did not speak the same kind of English spoken in the time of King James. I was so shocked that I was literally speechless. You will never lose a bet when you wager on the astonishing ignorance of right-wing religious fanatics. Especially those residing in the southern United States.

Originally Posted by baldrick

no more segregation of church and state.

Not quite:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . ." (The first such mention was in Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 in 1878.)"

from:

Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (Separation of church and state in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Didn't know they rewrote the Bill of Rights or that the Supreme Court overturned previous rulings. If so, please provide a link! Thanks!

Originally Posted by Jools

You will never lose a bet when you wager on the astonishing ignorance of right-wing religious fanatics.

That's because they are obsessed. Obsessed people are very predictible.

Originally Posted by Hootad Binky

Congress shall make no law...

"Congress shall make no law." But what other possibilities are there? It says nothing about neither the President nor the Supreme Court, does it?

Originally Posted by baldrick

Just how dangerous are Evangelical Religious Republics with control of nuclear weapons ?

Pakistan. Possibly within a few years.
Iran. Possibly within a few years.

I think we need a Kiklon translator (sp)

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

Constipation?
Farted and "followed through"?

Originally Posted by Hootad Binky

Originally Posted by surasak

Originally Posted by Hootad Binky

Congress shall make no law...

"Congress shall make no law." But what other possibilities are there? It says nothing about neither the President nor the Supreme Court, does it?

The President might propose or consider a law, but only a Congression majority can approve it. The Supreme Court can then interpret that law.

Congress is prohibited from either discriminating against religion, or using it as a basis to formulate legislation.

That's why Muslim women have more freedom to wear their veils without discrimination in the United States than they do in France.

You're missing the point. The President could theoretically fill the entire Administration with Christians and there's nothing unconstitutional about it. He could propose judges that are all Chrisitians and it wouldn't violate the Constitution because the First Amendment specifically states "Congress" which is defined elsewhere in the Constitution as "A Senate and House of Representatives."

A bit like stuffing the Supreme court with social right-wing conservatives?

Or any other for that matter.

Think of the situation posed by this: a single religious party manages to capture the Congress and Presidency. There comes up 5 Supreme Court openings during a period of 8-12-xx years (however long the party stays in power).

Could they have enough voting power to override the First Amendment (by passing another repealing it)? Maybe not, but, by stacking the Court (and the Court decides which cases they will take) Congress could pass some religious law without having to worry about a challenge.

What if Congress passes a religious law and denies jurisdiction to the Courts (Article III, Section 2:

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States;--between a State and Citizens of another State;--between Citizens of different States;--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

I don't think the First Amendment is the slam-dunk every thinks it is.

Originally Posted by surasak

Think of the situation posed by this: a single religious party manages to capture the Congress and Presidency. There comes up 5 Supreme Court openings during a period of 8-12-xx years (however long the party stays in power).

Could they have enough voting power to override the First Amendment (by passing another repealing it)? Maybe not, but, by stacking the Court (and the Court decides which cases they will take) Congress could pass some religious law without having to worry about a challenge.

True, but:

The Supreme court can only be filled with a new candidate when and if a new vacancy comes up (we're talking octagenarians here), so this:

Originally Posted by surasak

There comes up 5 Supreme Court openings during a period of 8-12-xx years (however long the party stays in power).

is presumptuous. Not only that, but the court is a mix of previously-appointed judges, appointed by different presidents. No-one can tell these old whip-smart old owls what to do or say.

Let's return to reality:

Originally Posted by surasak

a single religious party manages to capture the Congress and Presidency.

That's certainly not the situation now! The Religious Right is in total dissaray.

The premise of this thread also depends on the American people becoming suddenly religiously radicalised and then expressing that power poltically.

But a lot of religious people voted Democrat this time because of Republican Congressman Mark Foley dithering with page boys and the small matter of evangelical leader Haggart's 10-year masseuse/rentboy proclivities.

My examples are hypothetical, but, possible, eh?

Not now, IMHO (thank God ). Your other post was scarier!