The range of anti-gay rhetoric among the GOP candidates spreads from Ron Paul’s not-quite-equal rights to Rick Santorum and Michele Bachman’s belief that they’re just basically animals. While they all rant and rave in interviews and at forums and debates, Rick Perry is the first to put out a blatantly anti-gay ad.
While religion plays a major role in many peoples lives especially, it seems, in those of politicians, it should not be used as a political tool as it so often is here in America and around the world. Because of the variety of beliefs among world religions, social policies cannot be tied to a specific religious belief. For example, in Perry’s new ad he says, “But you don’t need to be in a pew every Sunday to know that there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military, but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”
Despite the fact that almost 75% of the country supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” kids here can openly celebrate Christmas. Listen to how many Christmas tunes are on the radio, in the car, in stores, everywhere. What about Hanukkah songs? The only one I can think of is Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song,” a comedic song that’s really kid friendly. And the fact that children cannot pray in school is not an issue at all, because it cannot be an issue. The First Amendment strictly prohibits the government involving religion in the public sector.
While Perry, along with Michele Bachman and Rick Santorum, are working to garner more support from the evangelical conservatives. But while Perry is more the standard patriotic God-loving American, Bachman and Santorum are more Bible thumping, stone throwing believers. This puts them in a harder vantage point when it comes to religious voters, because not all voters who consider themselves evangelical believe in the hate-driven rhetoric of these two.
And then there is Newt Gingrich. He says he’s tough on anti-gay legislature. But does he really believe everything he's saying? While the other three have brandished their Christianity as a sort of divine right to the presidency. But can a man who has had 3 wives be as religiously devote as the other three, or is he using the religious angle for his own politics? His lesbian half-sister, along with many politicians and political strategists, believe that he’s just looking for votes and that he isn’t really as vigilant against gay rights as he says he is.
But with the influx of religious contenders comes an increase in religious individuals who truly believe that the government is infringing on their religious rights. A recent video aired on Al Jazeera English talks about how the religious right has come to take control of the Iowa caucuses. "Our Constitution was designed for religious people, it was designed by religious people, and the principles of our law and our Constitution come directly from Moses and his system of government. And that information's not taught anymore," said Rev. Cary Gordon.
The religious right has also been forcing its hand directly into the public when the conservative group, the Florida Family Association, demanded Lowes Home Improvement to remove its ads from the TLC show "All-American Muslim." The group complained that the show was "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda's clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values." Last time I checked the Crusades were done and over with, and the Christian armies failed to accomplish their goal of seizing Jerusalem from the “infidels.” It seems that religious bigotry is also a prominent feature on that side of the political spectrum.
This growing idea that the country was founded as a Christian nation based on Christian beliefs has gotten out of hand in the past few years. People are being taught false history for the purpose of political benefit. This trend of morphing religion into politics to influence every aspect of society may more dangerous than we may know.
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