Stop the Nonsense

COMMENTARY: We have to call out radical & extremist American religious fundamentalists and nationalists. Their rise is toxic.

It's time to stop the nonsense. This nation is being destroyed by the toxic rise of Christian Nationalism.

I do not want to live in Christian America or Islamic America or Jewish America or ... I want to live in secular America, as the founders intended.

All Americans have freedom of religion and freedom of speech. So, feel free to pray in your places of worship. Feel free to practice your faith in your homes and hearts. Feel free to speak your mind in the public square. All of that is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Know that. Defend that. Honor that.

No one, absolutely no one, is jeopardizing or curtailing any American’s ability to believe whatever myths they cherish. And no one is preventing them from living their beliefs. No one. Anyone who tells you otherwise is cynically lying to you.

But, please, please do not bring your religious doctrines into public law or electoral politics. This nation has separation of Church & State for good reason. We are a democracy, not a theocracy.

I respect people of faith. Their faith is their right. But, I have no respect for religious fundamentalists and religious nationalists who want to impose their beliefs on civil governance. They are dangerous.

Christianity is not under attack in America. No religion is under attack in America. There is opposition to fundamentalist and nationalistic extremists who are attempting to radicalize public discourse and corrupt the will of the citizenry in order to co-opt American secular democracy.

That's the truth.

So, stop all this nonsense and be kind to each other, tolerant & understanding. Do unto others are you would have them do unto you.

I believe that there is only one path to peace. And that is through forgiveness. One has to be able to forgive the most violent, agregious & despicable acts and beliefs of those who have wronged you. As long as one justifies their fear and hatred of the other by continuing to find them unforgivable, there can be no peace. Only continuing grievance. And, too often, rising unforgivable violence.

Using the tenets of religion, any religion, as justification for demonizing the other is untenable. Using ‘your’ god to wage war (any kind of war) is, in my mind, the pinnacle of ungodliness.

So, when one sees the rise of religious fundamentalism in any American, or the rise of religious nationalism anywhere in America, you should worry. That is not who we are. We are a secular nation where diversity of thought is debated, honored and respected. And where the freedoms of religion, thought & speech are practiced and protected.

This nonsense has to stop. We are a majority-ruled democratic republic where minority rights are sacrosanct. Believe that.