Missouri considers resolution to establish Republic of Gilead

Missouri state legislators are considering passing a resolution making Christianity the official majority religion of the state in order to "protect the majority's right to express their religious beliefs."

Now let me translate that for you:

Missouri state legislators are considering passing a resolution making Christianity the official majority religion of the state in order to "allow the Christian Right to impose their morality on everyone else."

From the Americans United for Separation of Church and State blog

Missouri’s Res. 13, however, reflects exactly what this nation’s Religious Right wants – a country where its extreme agenda is advanced by government. That’s why so many Religious Right activists loathe the First Amendment and perpetually claim that it contains no clause separating government and religion. These folks want laws that ban reproductive rights, stifle advancement of civil rights for gays and allow public school teachers to lead their students in Christian prayer, Bible readings and other religious activities.

The resolution is also reflective of the Religious Right’s warped understanding of democracy and the U.S. Constitution. The Missouri resolution states that America’s Founding Fathers envisioned our nation’s governing document as setting up a Christian nation. TV preachers Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a host of other Religious Right pundits have asserted similar claims for years.

The truth is that the nation’s Constitution was not based on sectarian principles. It is a secular document created by men who were witness to the destruction wrought by the union of religion and government in Europe and America’s early colonies. Nowhere does the word “God” appear in the Constitution. Founding Father and author of the First Amendment James Madison did not, regardless of the Missouri lawmakers’ puffery, envision an American theocracy.

In 1823, Madison wrote, “The settled opinion here is that religion is essentially distinct from Civil Govt. and exempt from its cognizance; that a connection between them is injurious to both….”

Reality, however, seems of no concern to some Missouri lawmakers or opportunistic Religious Right operatives who are bent on enforcing their religious strictures on the entire nation.