Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Please, for the sake of your country, your children and their children, read John Dean's review of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, a link to which can be found on this Website or at http://writ.news.findlaw.co m/dean/20060825.html.

Here is the first paragraph of the review to whet your appetite:

"If more Americans would read works like Michelle Goldberg's Kingdom Coming: he Rise of Christian Nationalism, the longevity of our democracy, as we know it, would be more assured. I say this because the more people who understand the thinking and agenda of the growing forces of "Christian Nationalism," the less likely it will be that these forces will succeed. Not many people want to go where Christian nationalists want to take the country."<

I know I don't want to go "where Christian nationalists want to take the country" and I suspect you don't, either.  So if you are concerned about the forces that would steer America in that direction, please talk to your friends about Christian Nationalism and suggest that they, too, read Dean's review (and maybe buy the book).  Only by making Christian Nationalism part of the national debate can we protect what our Founding Fathers fought so hard to pass on to us.

That said, as I was putting this note together an article entitled "Rep. Harris: Church-state separation 'a lie'" triggered a Google Alert.

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris told a religious journal that separation of church and state is "a lie" and God and the nation's founding fathers did not intend the country be "a nation of secular laws."

The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate also said that if Christians are not elected, politicians will "legislate sin," including abortion and gay marriage. Harris made the comments -- which she clarified Saturday -- in the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention, which interviewed political candidates and asked them about religion and their positions on issues.

Separation of church and state is "a lie we have been told," Harris said in the interview, published Thursday, saying separating religion and politics is "wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers. "If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin," Harris said.<p> http://www.cnn.com/2006/POL ITICS/08/28/senate.harris.a p/index.html

To my way of thinking, there are two ways to assess what she said.  

(1)She's either nuts, or

(2)the message was crafted to resonate with her audience.

Actually, I think both are true but make no mistake about it; she has an audience and that's very, very scary.  

Not incidentally, Al Gore's running mate was a Jew.  Do you think her anti-anything-but-Christian point-of-view might have entered in Florida's re-count calculus?

Update to the Katherine Harris Story:

She won her district's Congressional Primary in Florida and while, according to political observers, she stands little chance of beating her Democratic opponent, the real story is the support she has garnered. This, from the Houston Chronicle, 9/3/2006:

"The forces of Christian fundamentalism have made terrific inroads in the Republican mainstream over the last quarter century. Some would argue they are the Republican mainstream. At the very least, they hold a position in the party roughly analogous to that held by blacks in the Democratic Party. Namely, they are a core constituency that sometimes demands, as a price of its loyalty, that the party adopt positions that are politically risky."

You can read more of this piece at: www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/4160777.html