I was an evangelical poster child. Societal takeover has always been the plan
Tricity Andrew, Ph.D.
I grew up heavily involved in various evangelical churches, and I cannot remember a single one that did not try to impose its rules and norms on the rest of the world. The recent Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett is just one addition to a long list of attempts to take over the culture and government of the USA.
Though Barrett is not evangelical, many of her Catholic sect’s rules are in line with evangelicalism and the Christian Right. For example, within the People of Praise, women are to defer and submit to their husbands in all things, and the group rejects gay men and women as sinners [1]. It is incredibly hypocritical that many on the right are acting as though disapproval of Barrett is faith-based discrimination, because 1) the Christian Right tends not to trust anyone from other faith traditions, and 2) in many cases, evangelicals do not even consider Catholics to be Christian. I was a high school senior when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. Many in my church repeated the lie that he was Muslim, and that being Muslim ought to disqualify him for president. Additionally, at my Christian high school we discussed whether or not Catholics could be “true Christians,” and our history books claimed they were not really “saved” or assured Heaven.
My concern is not Barrett being religious, but the extremity to which she believes her sect’s faith supersedes our government norms. Evangelicals and others on the Right argue that raising such a concern is religious persecution, or a religious test for office. However, it is a reasonable concern that someone like Barrett might try to legislate their faith, especially in light of the Religious Right’s long-sought and explicitly stated goal of turning the USA into a theocracy.
Growing up within the Christian Right
For about 25 years, the evangelical church was my home (specifically, the Southern Baptist Church). I also attended a private Christian school from 5th through 10th grade. In middle and high school, I was a member of the third largest Baptist church in Oklahoma where I attended church about 5 times a week, and even led Bible studies.
In my youth group, kids were taught that our mission was to have conservative Christians at all levels of government and to enforce evangelical rules through legislation and court decisions. This was the “cultural war” that we must win at all costs. We had services where we praised the “Christian leadership” of George W. Bush, and evening services where we sang only patriotic songs and talked about America being some form of Divine Providence.
The bluntest example of this was during a church camp service when the minister told us that, while his generation (Gen X) was the Moses generation, we (Gen Y/Millennials) were going to be the Joshua generation. In the Old Testament story, Moses delivers the Israelites from the Egyptian Pharaoh. Just as Joshua lead the Israelites into the promised land, my generation was supposed to lead the US into the promised land of a Christian theocracy.
Religion and Legislation
The Christian Right, as a whole, does not actually want separation of church and state. They cry “separation of church and state” when one of their own violates the law, such as the Hobby Lobby case regarding whether employee health insurance should cover birth control [2], or the Masterpiece Cakeshop case regarding whether a Christian bakeshop ought to make wedding cakes for LGBT people [3]. However, many of the proposed laws they support — such as those ending gay marriage and abortion, restricting birth control, and prohibiting alcohol sales on Sundays — are blatant attempts to force their faith on the rest of us.
One recent (and ongoing) coordinated effort to legislate religious norms is Project Blitz, which seeks to promote Christian rules and norms in government [4]. This was the effort responsible for many bills in the last decade that mandated “In God We Trust” to be displayed in every public school classroom, encouraged schools to teach the Bible, and required educators to teach Christian creationism alongside evolution in science classes.
When the Obergefell decision made gay marriage legal in the US, my church community acted like it was one of the worst decisions ever, and that two men marrying somehow violated Christian rights [5]. In other words, the Christian Right wanted to continue denying gay people the right to marriage, as well as all the rights that come with a formally-recognized marriage. Barrett has previously made remarks critical of LGBTQ+ rights, disagreed with the Obergefell decision, and has ties to the anti-LGBT group Alliance Defending Freedom [6]. With two sitting Supreme Court justices critical of the Obergefell decision and Barrett’s disapproval of LGBTQ+ rights, it is horribly surreal to see that decision possibly at risk.
Religious freedom must be preserved
Although one’s faith is incredibly personal, a faith that seeks to impose upon others is suspect — especially when supported by a group that raised a generation to take over the country. Separation of church and state has been incredibly important throughout the history of the USA, despite the Christian Right’s efforts to legislate their religious views.
We cannot have freedom of religion without freedom from religion. The Christian Right rejecting Merrick Garland, but ramming through the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett while the next election is already underway, is another attempt at implementing their own religious rules and jeopardizing our freedom of religion.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/us/people-of-praise-amy-coney-barrett.html
[2] https://time.com/2941323/supreme-court-contraception-ruling-hobby-lobby/
[3] https://www.aclu.org/cases/masterpiece-cakeshop-v-colorado-civil-rights-commission
