Originally posted by bigMoneyRacing:
They seek politcal gain through financial means, kind of like the AFL-CIO or ANY other group. Sounds like you don't want a faith-based group to rightly participate in the free selection of this country's leaders. Denying a group access to democracy; you can't be serious!



Did I say I think evangelicals should be disenfranchised? No. They get to vote just like everyone else.

I said the megachurches are a threat to secular democracy. They already push for displaying the ten commandments in courthouses, for taxpayer support for christian schools, and for prayer in public schools. These initiatives are all unconstitutional, as they advocate erasing the line between church and state, one of the great principles on which this country was founded. They disrespect not only the constitution; they also disrespect the pluralism and religious tolerance that makes our country strong and stable.

And they want so much more. They want Bible Nation. They want their disturbing intolerance for other faiths (and for secularism itself) to be the law of the land. No other religious group I know of seeks to subvert the basic legal principles on which our nation was founded, and to impose its values on us through political influence.

I'll admit my biases here: the evangelical political movement (as expressed by megachurches and others) bugs me because it is overwhelmingly supporting conservative candidates like Dubya. The evangelicals have allied themselves with Big Business in funneling money to the conservative agenda. And it also galls me because Jesus was mostly a bleeding heart liberal, yet His legacy and His message have been highjacked by right-wing corporate interests. He would be appalled, I think, to see the political agenda His followers are promoting.