by Jim » Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:14 pm
Michelle Goldberg via something called Huffington Post: As I wrote [in her book], "I want to be clear, however, that I am not suggesting that religious tyranny is imminent in the United States. Our democracy is eroding and some of our rights are disappearing, but for most people, including those most opposed to Christian nationalist agenda, life will most likely go on pretty much as normal for the foreseeable future."
Ms. Goldberg (age admittedly unknown and probably impossible to discover) may not know anything about the extinct “Blue Laws,” the fact that virtually nothing secular (especially in schools) used to be scheduled on Wednesday evenings (prayer-meeting times) or Sunday evenings, or that local ministers and visiting evangelists routinely preached in high school assemblies. She would have labeled that not-far-distant past (in my lifetime) as the quintessential paradigm of “Christian Nationalism.” Instead of moving toward a theocratic mess, this country is moving at warp speed away from anything remotely suggesting a spiritual impact (pseudo or otherwise) of even measurable proportions, much less of massive size. This country is becoming more un-theocratic by the minute, and a handful of loudmouthed preachers or legislators will only serve to drive it farther in that direction, so Goldberg should be happy to have them screaming. Does anyone take her seriously? Surely not. The huge chain Best Buy is not even allowing the word Christmas to appear anywhere in its stores this year, either printed or spoken, though, as Wal-Mart learned last year, it may change its rule.