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NEWS & LETTERS, June -July 2007On Falwell's deathWith the death of Jerry Falwell, the decline of the Christian Coalition, and the falling public approval ratings for the religious Right, there is a danger that people will think they are no longer a threat. In reality, its huge number of constantly multiplying organizations influences society on many levels. Religious Right think tanks like the Heritage Foundation influence Republican Party and Bush administration policy and have boards that include politicians, their wives and speechwriters. Even those funded by corporations and supposedly focused on free enterprise such as the American Enterprise Institute include in their list of issues the "culture war," prayer in school, and school vouchers for religious and private schools. Religious right-wing law schools like Regent University produce lawyers and judges indoctrinated with the idea that our founding fathers intended this country to be a right-wing Christian theocracy. Religious right colleges and home school curriculums promote this, using false "quotes" concocted by David Barton and his Wallbuilders organization and attributed to Jefferson, Madison, and others who believed the exact opposite. The Discovery Institute tries to insert creationism into public school science classes and replace a view of the world understood through scientific investigation with one dictated by religious and political leaders. Marriage counseling programs developed by the Campus Crusade for Christ and Chuck Colson’s prison ministry promote patriarchy. The religious Right wants to make this "counseling" mandatory before marriage, and a requirement of welfare "reform." There are groups that fight the religious right, such as Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, People for the American Way, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. It's a good thing too because, unfortunately, Falwell's bad ideas didn't die with him, but are reincarnated so that we have to fight them again and again. --Adele |
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