Big Government No, Big Religion Yes?

Here is something that kind of puzzles me.

From mormons to conservative Roman Catholics to suburban megachurch evangelicals, some of the most staunchly anti-big government people in this country are at the same time perfectly comfortable with big religion. The parallels between the two are not insignificant:

- Both are concerned mainly with institutional preservation.
- Both suffer from the inevitable inefficiency that accompanies huge institutions.
- Both depend on money coerced from productive citizens by means of guilt, threats and fear, using that money to sustain the institution and pay the employees of that institution.
- Both tend to add layer upon layer of rules on top of their purported governing documents (the Constitution and the Bible respectively), reinterpreting or ignoring statutes that are inconvenient.
- Both are generally led by elites who are widely removed from the people they allegedly serve and are often segregated from those same people by layers of bureaucracy and flunkies.
- Both use group identity and the fear of other to control and manipulate people.
- Both are perfectly comfortable with sacrificing innocents to protect themselves.

I could go on and on. Throughout Western history the rise of the ever more intrusive nanny state has been mirrored and abetted by the willing partnership of the massive religious institutions. Peel away the external facade of patriotic and religious obligation and you have basically the same thing. That doesn't mean that there are not lots of great, sincere people involved in both big government and big religion because there are. It is just the institutions themselves that have taken on a life of their own and become almost Skynet self-aware (and just as prone to violence when threatened).

The adoration of big religion by people who abhor big government is understandable as a symptom of the carefully constructed civic religion we live with in America. It is the same sort of schizophrenic relationships many "conservatives" have with different parts of the government, loving the part that wears a uniform and carries and gun and hating the part that wears a button down and hands out free money and food. We are taught from an early age to respect and obey those placed in positions of authority over us: policemen, teachers, clergy and to do so without question. We force children to pledge allegiance to a flag even though kids in 1st grade can't really understand what a Republic is or what pledging unswerving allegiance to that Republic entails. Sunday school and VBS serve the same purpose, inculcating an affinity for organized religion on children who become adults that have the rhythms of cultural religion so deeply embedded in their psyche that it becomes almost psychologically traumatic to question or worse yet reject those patterns. This is true not only for the individual who rejects these rhythms and norms but also the masses that don't. Try not having your kid say the Pledge of Allegiance. Try explaining why you don't dutifully show up to church on Sunday. The reaction from the rest of the culture is swift and merciless because asking the wrong sorts of questions is subversive and a threat to the stability of the institution.

I don't claim to have this all figured out but as I peel away the layers I am starting to see more and more parallels between the manipulative natures of both Big Government and Big Religion. I see more clearly the jarring disconnect between those who are most vociferous about the evils of Big Government showing up on demand to kowtow to Big Religion. I don't think many people have stepped back to examine the parallels and pondered why what is bad in government is somehow good in religion. I hope they start to because I obviously believe that Big Religion is as destructive to liberty and Christian community as Big Government. Whether they do or not you can be certain I am going to keep bringing it up, banging the drum and stirring the pot because I believe the greatest threat to the advance of the Kingdom is not Islamic terrorism or secularism, it is Big Religion.

More on public education's intrusion in religious life


In an ironic story in the Toledo Blade, the ACLU is threatening the school district in Findlay, Ohio because it is promoting religious indoctrination by Christian radicals! Well, not really. What they are really all riled up about is the school permitting students to leave school grounds for a few minutes, go onto a public sidewalk and get a Bible from the Gideons. Note that the Gideons are not on school grounds and kids are not required to leave to get them. No instruction in the Bible takes place:


FINDLAY - Findlay City Schools got a friendly but stern warning yesterday from the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio: It's not legal to let children out of school to get free New Testaments.

In March, fifth graders at the district's five elementary schools were permitted to walk off school grounds during the school day to receive a New Testament from Gideons International.

The ACLU said that while the Gideons have a right to distribute their materials on public property, the public schools cannot sacrifice class time to help them in their religious mission.

"By agreeing to the Gideons' request, pulling them out of class, and walking them over to receive these Bibles, the school crossed the line," said Carrie Davis, staff attorney with ACLU of Ohio.

She sent a letter to Superintendent Dean Wittwer asking that he "immediately stop school employees from escorting students to visit missionaries during school hours."


I love the "stern warning" part. The ACLU, and in cooperation much of the media, has appointed itself as watchdogs of our society and is treated almost like a law enforcement agency, one not ruled by any sort of democratic process and unaccountable to anyone. I must have missed that rule in the Constitution, or that piece of legislation deputizing the ACLU as the arbiter of what does or does not pass Constitutional muster. I thought that was the role of the Supreme Court. Silly me! They even have a briefing paper with the banner "Guardians of Freedom". There is perhaps no group of liberals, a generally self-important group if ever there was one, that is more self-important than the ACLU.


What probably has the ACLU all riled up is this comment by Chris Brooks, one of the principals:


Chris Brooks, principal of Bigelow Hill Elementary School in Findlay, said for years the Gideons have distributed to students what they call a "pocket testament," a palm-sized booklet that contains the New Testament, Proverbs, and Psalms. He said he doesn't have a problem with it.

"To me, you've got to look at the context of the community," Mr. Brooks said. "This is a Christian community. I'm not saying everybody is, but that's where Findlay is."


That might raise their ire just a bit. The ACLU then passes muster on the Constitution again, and throws a quick threat out there


The ACLU said that's not the point.

Ms. Davis said courts across the country have consistently held that it's unconstitutional for schools to have activities like this during the school day.

"For decades, courts have said the schools cannot be doing this," she said. "They say it's the parents' right to control their children's religious upbringing, not the schools."
....
While the letter from the ACLU said the organization was "prepared to explore other options, including legal action" if the district didn't address the issue, Ms. Davis said nothing is planned at this point.

"Right now, the ball is in their court," she said. "We're waiting to hear from the school district in terms of their response to this and whether they intend to consider policy changes" or whether to allow this in the future.


In other words: Do what we say or we bring an expensive lawsuit and bankrupt the school (all in the name of freedom of course) ! That really takes the cake. Parents are allowed to control their children's religious upbringing, but the law in Ohio requires kids to attend public schools unless you jump through a bunch of hoops (Ohio has some pretty restrictive laws regarding homeschool), and in that public school a decidedly anti-religious viewpoint is taught. So you can teach your kids however you want, once the school is done teaching them what it wants. This is just a further example of mandatory, compulsory public education forcing a religious viewpoint by actively promoting an anti-religious message and pushing the religion of secular humanism in it's place. The ACLU and the acolytes of secular humanism, in their quest to quash religious dissent and freedom, go so far as to threaten a small Ohio school because the school (which is supposed to be a place of learning, I thought) is allowing students a couple of minutes of school time (in a school bought and paid for by their parents) to leave school grounds to get a Bible. The truth is that it is the radical secular Left that are the religiously intolerant and closed minded among us.