Theocracy? Bah!

This column by Michael Barone dovetails nicely with my "Paranoid Atheist" rant from this afternoon.

He examines the current Liberal "freak-out" over the dreaded (cue "Imperial March theme") movement of religious conservatives that is hurtling our culture toward a full-blown theocracy, exterminating all non-Christian heretics in its wake. Mwwaaahaaahaaahaaa! (music off).

It's "chill pill" time. As Barone explains:

[W]hether the United States is on its way to becoming a theocracy is actually a silly question. No religion is going to impose laws on an unwilling Congress or the people of this country. And we have long lived comfortably with a few trappings of religion in the public space, such as "In God We Trust" or "God save this honorable court."

The real question is whether strong religious belief is on the rise in America and the world. Fifty years ago, secular liberals were confident that education, urbanization and science would lead people to renounce religion. That seems to have happened, if you confine your gaze to Europe, Canada and American university faculty clubs.

But this movement has not been as benign as expected: The secular faiths of fascism and communism destroyed millions of lives before they were extinguished.

I think Liberals are starting to get a little pissy because the grand secular government-run utopia they've been dreaming about for so long is falling by the wayside. And the families that embrace religion are pumping out kids like they're some sort of organized GOP baby factory.

It's like - go ahead and register more convicted felons to vote, we'll just keep making more Republicans. This must be driving Liberals nuts - especially Liberals who are either single or childless.

Barone points out:

This doesn't mean we're headed to a theocracy: America is too diverse and freedom-loving for that. But it does mean that we're probably not headed to the predominantly secular society that liberals predicted half a century ago and that Europe has now embraced.

Posted by: Gary at 10:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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