Sunday, March 27, 2005

The United States of Jesus

I always thought that the Terry Schiavo case was a poster child for the Republicans to rally behind and never really thought they had good intentions behind all the hoopla. Especially, if you listened to some of the comments coming from that camp. People were saying things like - of my G_d, this poor woman is suffering, I can't bear the pain she must be feeling (all the while I was thinking how can anyone feel pain if they are brain dead). Underneath all the protests, the Conservative leaders are actually making money off the back of this poor woman and her family's misery. What hypocrisy.

If this happens (The US of Jesus) - I wonder what would happen to all the religious tolerance in the US? hmm!!!

An exerpt from the article - The United States of Jesus.

This Schiavo matter, clearly, helps these far-right groups line their pockets. It gets the far-right grassroots worked up into a froth. The leaders of this push believe it provides them with a wedge issue with which to attack Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, a supposition yet to be proven.

The more strategery-minded in the crew saw it as some cheese dangled before Senate Democrats to lure them into a ‘Culture of Life,’ mudfight, and perhaps as a distraction to deflect attention from the looming battle over the filibuster. Thankfully, the Senate Democrats refused to take the bait.There’s more to it, though. Much more. The group Americans United for Separation of Church and State got hold of a recording from a March 17-19 meeting of the right-wing group The Family Research Council.

Both Rep. DeLay and Sen. Frist spoke at this meeting, and both declared their intention to refashion America into the United States of Jesus. A tasty quote from the confab by Mr. DeLay: "One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America."According to the Americans United release, during the FRC meeting, Frist and DeLay assured attendees that they would do what it takes to keep Schiavo connected to a feeding tube and also would exert great power to push a whole host of issues central to the Religious Right's agenda. DeLay urged the gathering to contact lawmakers in both chambers to support legislation that would allow churches to become much more involved in partisan politicking.

The Texas Republican blasted current federal tax law, which bars both secular and religious nonprofit groups from endorsing political candidates. "It forces Christians back into the church and that's what is going on," DeLay claimed. "That's not what Christ asked us to do. We have to fight back."I forgot to mention one aspect of this: The Schiavo noise is an excellent blast shield for DeLay, who is facing a raft of serious ethics charges that include a scandal in Texas for his active participation in illegally funneling corporate funds to assist state political campaigns. DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), is under criminal investigation for using corporate money to finance Texas campaigns. DeLay has tried to distance himself from the group, but documents show DeLay "personally forwarded at least one large check" to the group and was "in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation's largest companies" on TRMPAC's behalf.
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