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The Public Eye, Fall 2002

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The Public Eye, Fall 2002 TheA PUBLICATION OF POLITICAL PublicEyeRESEARCH ASSOCIATES FALL 2002 • Volume XVI, No. 3 The Right Family Values The Christian Right’s “Defense of Marriage:” unpopular beliefs. Despite the First Amendment’s prohi- Democratic Rhetoric, Antidemocratic Politics bition against the establishment of religion by government, Christian conservatives By R. Claire Snyder cans oppose. While conservative Americans and their supporters often insist that Amer- are free to practice their beliefs and live their ica is really a “Christian nation.” They Introduction1 personal lives however they choose, the argue that the American founders believed government of the United States cannot he United States was founded as a that democratic political institutions would legitimately let those beliefs violate the “liberal democracy,” in which a secu- only work if grounded in religious mores T human rights of others in society. Similarly, lar government acts to protect the civil within civil society, emphasizing a comment it cannot generate public policy supporting rights and liberties of individuals rather made by John Adams: “Our Constitution a particular religious worldview or deny legal than imposing a particular vision of the was made only for a moral and religious peo- equality to certain groups of citizens. “good life” on its citizens. Equality before ple. It is wholly inadequate to the govern- the law constitutes one of the most funda- ment of any other.”9 William Bennett has mental principles of liberal democracy, as Liberal Democracy or Christian Nation? contributed greatly to this right-wing proj- does freedom from State-imposed religion. ect of revisionist historiography with the iberal political theory constitutes the These principles, enshrined in our found- publication of Our Sacred Honor: Words of ing documents, have become an almost Lmost important founding tradition of 5 Advice from the Founders, a volume that cat- universally accepted norm in U.S. society American democracy. Both social welfare 6 alogues stories, letters, poems, and speeches 2 Democrats and neoliberal Republicans today. Nevertheless, the Christian Right is that emphasize the religious beliefs that ani- (see sidebar page 4) endorse its basic prin- currently mobilizing its supporters across the mated many in the founding generation ciples—individual freedom, religious liberty, country to undermine these basic principles, (among other things).10 The Christian equal rights, constitutional government appealing to popular prejudice against an Right hopes that once the religious beliefs unpopular minority, lesbians, gays, bisex- and impartial laws—although they interpret 7 of the American Founders are established, 3 these concepts in different ways. Accord- uals, and transgender people. Moreover, in a theory of constitutional interpretation that ing to the liberal founding myth of “social a change from their previously virulent privileges “original intent” will authorize the contract,” self-interested individuals left homophobic language, right-wing forces are imposition of Christian moral precepts on the state of nature in order to better secure increasingly masking their antidemocratic U.S. society at large.11 their natural rights and liberties. Conse- and un-American agenda using democratic While the relationship between reli- quently, they established a constitutional rhetoric. While populist appeals constitute gion and democracy in the U.S. context is a mainstay of the Right,4 conservative government of impartial laws that would 8 thinkers have recently entered into ongoing protect all citizens equally. The Declaration “Defense of Marriage” continues on page 3 conversations about “civil society”—the of Independence states the basic values of realm in which citizens act together to liberal political theory—“all men are created IN THIS ISSUE achieve common goals—generated by both equal and . are endowed by their creator “democratic theorists” within academia with certain unalienable rights, among Guest Commentary . 2 them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- and ordinary citizens concerned about civic Books Received . 20 life, pushing that agenda far to the right. ness”—while the U.S. Constitution created While the Christian Right claims to speak a secular government that would not dis- Eyes Right . 22 criminate against those who do not practice for the “moral majority” of U.S. citizens, they Eye Lashes . 22 actually support policies that most Ameri- the dominant religion or who espouse THE PUBLIC EYE 1 FALL 2002 The Public Eye Guest Commentary ThePublicEye Editor By Sylvia Rhue, Ph.D. Nikhil Aziz, Ph.D. Design/layout In the United States, we have two parallel universes. One is the secular State estab- Hird Graphic Design Printing lished by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The other is religion, the Church, Red Sun Press and the thrust to make the United States a Christian nation. Mailing Walnut Street Center The Christian Right works on the front lines and behind the scenes to deny basic rights to women, LGBT people, and people of color. Their agenda is clear: to impose PRA POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES their particular religious worldview on every U.S. citizen and to have that world- Board of Directors view codified into the law. Joseph Agne In their never-ending crusade against women, LGBT people, and people of color, Miguel Bustos Michael Chapman they are fundamentally and inextricably antidemocratic. They manipulate religious Jean Entine Jean V. Hardisty, Ph.D. texts and distort secular texts to achieve their goals of patriarchal control of life, Michael Kozu liberty, and the pursuit of happiness according to their terms, their definitions, their Vivien Labaton Mohan Sikka proscriptions and their limitations. Faith Smith In his book, Stealing Jesus, author Bruce Bawer addresses the danger that the Paul Watanabe Loretta Williams, Ph.D. Christian Right poses to a democratic society: “In America right now, millions of Lucy A. Williams children are taught by their legalistic Christian parents to revere a God of wrath and Staff take a sanguine view of human suffering. They are taught to view their fellow Nikhil Aziz, Ph.D., Research Analyst Toby Beauchamp, Information Specialist Americans not as having been ‘created equal,’ as the Declaration of Independence Chip Berlet, Senior Research Analyst Stephanie Clark, Office Manager would have it, but as being saved or unsaved, children of God or creatures of Satan; Kate Cloud, Director they are taught not to respect those most different from themselves, but to regard Jean V. Hardisty, Ph.D., President Richard Allen Jackson, Jr., them as the enemy, to resist their influence, and to seek to restrict their rights. This Director of Development & Communications is not only morally offensive, it’s socially dangerous—and it represents, for obvi- Palak Shah, Researcher ous reasons, a very real menace to democratic civil society.” Advisory Board Rita Arditti Skipp Porteous As progressive people of faith we actively oppose the manipulation of religion Ann Baker John Roberts Donna Bivens Mab Segrest to promote exclusion and inequality. Equal Partners in Faith daily challenges the Sara Diamond, Ph.D. Alice Senturia ‘very real menace’ to democracy and to our children posed by the Religious Right Fred Goff Holly Sklar Beni Ivey Barbara Simon that R. Claire Snyder and Sean Cahill elaborate in this issue of The Public Eye. Maya Miller Lucius Walker Suzanne Pharr Leah Wise The Public Eye is published by Political Research Sylvia Rhue is director of Equal Partners in Faith, a multiracial national network of Associates. Subscriptions are $29.00 for individuals and non-profit organizations, $39.00 for other religious leaders and people of faith committed to equality and diversity. organizations, $19.00 for students and low-income individuals. Outside U.S., Canada, and Mexico, add $9.00 for surface delivery or $14.00 for air mail. Please make checks payable to Political Research Associates, 1310 Broadway, Suite 201, Somerville, Massachusetts 02144-1731. 617.666.5300 fax: 617.666.6622 PRA is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. © Political Research Associates, 2002. Website: www.publiceye.org All rights reserved. ISSN 0275-9322 ISSUE 41 THE PUBLIC EYE 2 FALL 2002 The Public Eye a complicated one, the fact remains that the institutional racism.14 guarantee that politically-appointed judges Founding generation intentionally took The struggle for genderblind law has also will rule in a principled way. Societal atti- the radical and far-reaching step of con- been largely successful. Although femi- tudes are changing. Fifty-eight percent of structing a secular government, constitu- nists lost the battle for the Equal Rights first year college students now “think gay tionally required to remain neutral toward Amendment (ERA) during the 1970s, and lesbian couples should have the right religion. As Isaac Kramnick and R. Lau- since that time the principle of legal equal- to ‘equal marital status,’ i.e., civil mar- rence Moore rightly stress, “God is nowhere ity for women has been largely imple- riage”—including “half” who identify as to be found in the Constitution, which also mented through the Courts,15 which are “middle-of-the-road” or “conservative”16 — has nothing to say about the social value of charged with following the logic of liber- and the Courts are slowly beginning to Christian belief or about the importance alism as they apply the principles of the recognize
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