Religious McCarthyism: What’s Really at Stake in the Judicial Nomination F

[realFedUp]

http://faithfulprogressive.blogspot.com/

May 20, 2005
Religious McCarthyism: What’s Really at Stake in the Judicial Nomination Fight

During this week’s debate on Bush judicial nominations, Sen. Patrick Leahy aptly described Sen. Bill Frist’s unsavory efforts to relate the rejection of a small number of Bush nominees to hostility to “people of faith.” “This kind of religious McCarthyism is fraudulent on its face,” Sen. Leahy declared. “It’s contemptible. Contemptible.” One can almost hear Sen. Frist reformulating that infamous question: “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of a liberal Methodist choir?”

Sen. Frist seems determined to join some infamous company. Apparently, he will stop at nothing to be the darling of the extreme Christian right. The Tennessee Senator has his eye on 2008, and he’s made the judgment that the support of religious extremists will be crucial. Sen. Frist participated in the so-called “Justice Sunday” with Tony Perkins, of The Family Research Council (formerly run by James Dobson, the Sponge Bob fan). As reported by The American Prospect, Mr. Perkins is the guy who recently said that the current conservative-dominated American judiciary poses "a greater threat to representative government" than "terrorist groups." This type of over-heated rhetoric is typical of people who hate. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Mr. Perkins is also a well-known gay-basher who is devoted to debunking what he calls the "myth" that “People are born gay.”

On Thursday, Sen. Rick Santorum compared Democrats to "...Adolf Hitler in 1942 saying 'I'm in Paris, how dare you invade me. How dare you bomb my city. It's mine.' This is no more the rule of the Senate than it was the rule of the Senate before not to filibuster. It was an understanding and agreement, and it has been abused." On Wednesday, in a similarly shocking choice of words, Sen. Frist said on the floor of the U. S. Senate: “THE ISSUE IS NOT CLOTURE VOTES PER SE. IT'S THE PARTISAN LEADERSHIP-LED USE OF CLOTURE VOTE TO KILL, TO DEFEAT, TO ASSASSINATE THESE NOMINEES.” This tasteless rhetoric was quickly condemned by U.S. District Court Judge Joan H. Lefkow, whose family members were recently murdered. Judge Lefkow also asked lawmakers to repudiate recent "gratuitous attacks" on the judiciary by commentators such as Pat Robertson and by some members of Congress, including Rep. Tom DeLay. "In the age of mass communication, harsh rhetoric is truly dangerous,” she said. “Fostering disrespect for judges can only encourage those that are on the edge, or the fringe, to exact revenge on a judge who ruled against them." The Christian Right needs to cool down its disgraceful and violent rhetoric, as Ted Olson, well-connected Republican and Bush lawyer in the Florida election case recently argued. In a Wall St Journal Op-Ed, Olson urged right-wing extremists to "lay off our judiciary." Olson wrote that..."it is time to take a deep breath, step back, and inject a little perspective into the recent heated rhetoric about judges and the courts."

Okay, let’s get a little perspective. An overwhelming number of Bush judicial nominees have been approved. But Sen. Frist and President Bush still aren’t satisfied. What would you call someone who gets their way more than 20O times but who still gripes about the 10 or so times things didn’t go their way? The word “bully” springs to mind. If anything is certain from the Gospel message of Jesus, it’s that Christians aren’t supposed to be bullies. So it’s very odd that some on the extreme right have tried to make the connection between religious faith and the approval of Bush judicial nominees. It’s especially odd given the over-heated and violent rhetoric so many on the right seem prone to using.

continued

[asjr]

1. I always wonder if these religious fundamentalists really

feel this way. They are in reality being used. Maybe when they discover that fact they will no longer worship Republicans.

[realFedUp]

2. most are being used....

or bought.

[Warpy]

3. The preachers are being bought with faith based

taxpayer cash, a lot of it.

Their flocks are being led around by the rings in their noses.

[realFedUp]

4. yes and distracted by two issues mainly

It's really a shame when people
can't see gay marriage as a civil
rights issue....they just want the
same rights given to hetero couples.

[Tux]

5. Exactly

Many fundies don't have critical thinking skills nor a proper education. Some do but don't let it interfer with their fundie religion. They trust their ministers as speakers for Jesus. They have a hard time questioning a minister since it is like questioning Jesus. That would show a lack of respect and faith. On faith, they have faith that ministers have their best interests at heart and when told to do things, they will do it since they have faith leaders are looking out for them.

[Roland99]

6. Owens is only up for renomination because Rove raised $1mil for her

and she returned the kindness in the form of $250k to his consulting firm.



Her "faith" has not one damned thing to do with it.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Illusion

Let's remember that we are being given a one sided view of the strength of the religious right, namely because the media isn't interested in telling folks about the many many tolerant liberal religious people out there who see through this sham and who are working to bring about justice.

In my world, here in NW Arkansas, I am around Southern Baptists, and none that I talk to on a regular basis are right wing nutcases. In fact, they think what is going on in Washington is appalling. They don't like Bush and don't like his policies. I do my spiritual work around people who are from the Society of Friends, Unity, and Native American spiritual traditions, and they sure don't like it, either. But are our peace rallies televised, or covered by mainstream media? Not the recent ones. But there's hope; at the last rally, a state representative spoke, as well as family members of a soldier killed in Iraq. That a politician came shows, imho, that the tide is turning. People are no longer believing in the media hype, they are looking at what is going on, and they are voicing their opinions to elected officials.

[realFedUp]

8. I agree that religious people who believe in the separation of church and

state aren't being given the soapboxes.