A new year is just getting started and Religious Right activists are already agitating for a government based on their fundamentalist Christian beliefs.
Blogger Shane Vander Hart discusses a new book by Dr. Wayne Grudem, professor of systematic theology at Phoenix Seminary, called Politics According to the Bible. In Grudem’s tome, he claims that anyone who thinks the government should exclude religion is plain wrong.
Grudem and Hart believe groups that advocate for that view don’t want religious people to participate in public life or vote. They argue that Americans United and our allies just want religious people to be quiet and stay home.
But if they really took a moment to understand Americans United and our mission, they would see that’s not at all what we advocate. We believe all Americans, religious or not, should participate in our democracy, at least if they choose to do so.
We only insist is that no one should try to impose his or her religion on others through governmental force. The government should remain neutral on matters of faith, in order to make the United States a welcoming place for believers and non-believers alike.
That was the intention of the nation’s founders. Not only is this clear in Constitution, it is further supported by other early governmental documents, including the Treaty with Tripoli, which celebrated its 214th anniversary yesterday.
Tags: islamophobia, religious freedom, religious pluralism, separation of church and state, treaty with tripoli
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