The Religious Right - revealed*
News Flash - Do your evangelical Christmas shopping now . - including figurines of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns, engaged in activities such as bull riding, surfing, panhandling and soccer
This site is an attempt to create a one-stop location for an understanding of the Religious Right, how its kidnapping of "morality", rhetoric and behaviour threatens basic human rights, the people involved, and to provide support for people trapped in the fundamentalist lifestyle/mindset.
Christians, Jews and Muslims are all "children of the book". Most of the problems caused by religion in today's world (and in times past) is caused by "fundamentalists" who distort the teachings of their respective religions for their own purposes, often political. Islam is a religion of peace and caring. Fundamentalist Islam is a religious ideology promoting hatred of the United States and Israel. Christianity is a religion of love. Fundamentalist Christianity is a religious ideology proclaiming hate against Jews, Catholics, gays, immigrants and anyone not like themselves. I believe the United States is now engaged in a Crusade against Islam in the middle East driven by Fundamentalist Christians in the US Military.
"Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith but in doubt. It is when we are not sure that we are doubly sure." - Reinhold Niebuhr
Down through history, the Religious Right has been opposed to science and free thought, subjecting their opponents to torture, hanging and burning at the stake. More recently, religious people have been content to distribute leaflets and tracts, confident that Armageddon will happen soon. Now, however, the Religious Right has taken to the streets, the airwaves (televangelism), the media, the Internet and especially politics in a bold attempt to get people to conform to their version of "morality". This has even been referred to as the Vast Right-Wing conspiracy. The Religious Right has been furthering its agenda using the following tools:
- Television and radio
- Newspaper publications, ads and editorials
- The mail
- Billboards and bumper stickers
- public funding of religious programs
- Religious tracts, flyers, pamphets, voter guides and give-away magazines
- Bestsellers like the Left Behind series
- Local, State/Provincial and Federal politics including George W. Bush
- Right-wing Dominionist economic policies
- Using government supplied funds (eg. abstinence education) for religious purposes
- The Courts
- The Schools
- The Workplace
- Junk science and Conservative think tanks
- The Internet
- Picketing funerals
- Picketing and boycotting Disney and other gay-friendly companies
- violence
- Attacks on other religions
Lately their primary target has been gays, whom they say are sodomites, perverts and "an abomination", "should be put to death" and will "burn in hell" due to eternal damnation. They claim to have Biblical proof to justify this. They claim there is a "gay agenda" designed to spread AIDS, prey upon children and destroy "family values" by (among other things) gay marriage, gay adoption and other "special rights" and have been therefore furious with any government body it perceives as promoting gay rights. The religious right also promotes an ex-gay movement that claims to cure gay orientation. The most recent result of this activity has been an unprecedented wave of hatred, homophobia, discrimination and violence. Interestingly, the Religious Right now complains about being discriminated against.
In many cases the Religious Right has little to do with religion and plenty to do with money and politics. Many televangelists TV programs are nothing but ongoing demands for more and more money from their viewers. Some churches have become so emmeshed in politics that the IRS has removed their tax-exempt status.
* People have complained that I am tarring all religious people with the same brush, making this a hate site against Christians. That is not my intention. There is a group of people who have identified themselves as being the Religious Right. I playfully refer to them as the "Rabid Religious Right" or "RRR" for short. This site addresses remarks and behaviour of those people individually and as a group where they have so identified themselves.
They are promoting a twisted message of Christ, something hateful and practically unrecognizable and certainly not "Christian". In many cases this is through no fault of their own - they have been brainwashed. I hope to offer a ray of hope to people affected by this ideology.
I have attempted to link all information to my original source.
The following additional links are useful. Please bookmark me so you'll make it back.
Rants, statements and breaking news
The dish^ rants - rant1, rant2, rant3
Religion and conservatism
Walk away from fundamentalism - forum
Derrick Neill's "Duck Egg Blue" - a novel about the religious right
Religious Opinion on Social issues
Ontario Consultants on Religious Intolerance
How to fight the right
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
The American Right: about the true nature of the American Religious Right movement
Gay Issues
Advocate Magazine online
LYRIC - Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Centre
PFLAG
What does gay mean - National Mental Health Association
GLAAD online
Human Rights Campaign
Gay Today
Pride Centre of Edmonton
Homosexuality: Common Questions and Statements Addressed
LAMBDA
Temenos - gay, lesbian, trans and bi Community online
Hate and violence
Wired Strategies Hate Site
Fighting homophobia in the schools
Fighting Hate Across the Nation
PFLAG - Hate Crimes
The Public Eye
New York Gay & Lesbian Anti-violence Project
Politics
EGALE
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
Other
A bit of humour
Mel White's Soulforce Website