Christian Right aims to undermine diversity

Christian Right aims to undermine diversity

By Lisa Martinez

As part of the debris swept in with the Republican tidal wave
last November is the idea of the government putting its stamp of
approval on school prayer ­ a very bad idea. As an individual,
I am not hostile to religion or spirituality. I unequivocally
support the right of all religious groups to live in peace, free of
any type of persecution.

However, I am completely opposed to government-approved or
sponsored school prayer because it is a small piece of a larger,
malignant, hidden agenda of divisiveness, intolerance and white
supremacy that is rapidly spreading across this nation.

Nevertheless, some people ­ namely Republicans of the
neo-right fringe — will angrily respond, "Give me a break …
Americans want ‘family values’ and school prayer; we won and you
lost …" Is this assertion true?

Partially. People indeed voted for a conservative, nationalist
agenda that includes in it school prayer. But let’s look at who
voted for it.

Who exactly is behind school prayer? Is it the Catholics, the
Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists or the Hindus, perhaps? Is it a
broad-based, grass-roots coalition that includes all of these
groups? No.

Over the past decade or so, there has been much fighting within
the Republican party. This in-fighting has stemmed from a growing
number of far-right, Protestant-Evangelical Christians saturating
the party at every level ­ local, state and national.

The Christian Coalition, an Evangelical group headed by Pat
Robertson and mainly comprised of rural and suburban
ultra-right-wing whites, operates within the Republican party and
has solidified a large voting block. This is the group behind the
demand for school prayer.

Its votes have become vital to the survival of the Republican
party, forcing mainstream Republicans to cave in to the Christian
Right’s agenda. The Republican party’s top-brass, as well as
right-wing Democrats such as President Bill Clinton, are now ready
and willing to institute such things as school prayer. Some are
willing to go as far as making it a constitutional amendment.

Is the tail now wagging the "elephant"? Not exactly. Mainstream
Republicans, whose economic programs offer nothing to the working
class ­ the factory workers, truck drivers, grocery store
clerks, etc., of America ­ have gained some legitimacy with
the white, Christian, working-class majority through patronizing
its members with empty symbolism like "school prayer" and "family
values."

Meanwhile, they will continue to write the rubber check of
supply-side economics, making themselves and a few defense
contractors rich and winking at the leaders of multi-national
corporations as they move more jobs in manufacturing consumer goods
overseas. Many mainstream Republicans and some Democrats could care
less about the dangers of white-Christian chauvinism as long as
they get elected.

School prayer may seem like an innocuous sort of thing, but it
is part of the larger "cultural war" that Pat Buchanan roared about
from the podium at the 1992 Republican National Convention.

Now that the Cold War has been won and there doesn’t seem to be
much else to do, the mainly white, Christian Right is fervently
seeking to undermine our heterogeneous, multi-ethnic,
multi-religious, multicultural, usually tolerant U.S. society which
was built upon the blood, sweat and tears of progressive-minded
social activists of all colors and religious faiths.

The plan is to impose the hegemony of the white, Northern
European, Protestant-Christian majority on the rest of us. If you
don’t believe me, check out Buchanan’s 1992 speech, tune into one
of the many Evangelical-Christian radio stations which crowd the
dial or check the URL for articles documenting the existence and
activities of groups that espouse "Christian-white supremacy."

Can any of us really say for sure that the Christian Right’s
next step won’t be to create some ridiculous law rendering
Protestantism the recognized state religion in America? And
remember, if Republicans are going to stick it to the white,
Christian working class economically, they need that carrot because
they need those votes, so never say "never …"

School prayer will usher in an icy, inquisition-like climate
that will alienate and perhaps even persecute those outside the
Protestant-Christian fold. In my personal experience as a Catholic
I have been told by Evangelicals that my form of Christianity is
wrong and because of it, I’m not quite good enough for God’s
kingdom and that Jews and Muslims and other groups need not apply
at all.

In the aftermath of events such as the passage of Proposition
187, and women’s clinic massacres openly supported by segments of
the Christian Right, the social deformities of intolerance, racism,
xenophobia, discrimination and violence are completely out of the
closet.

Is there any guarantee that in this nation’s public schools,
particularly those within rural and suburban America, the Catholic
who prays with rosary beads, the Jew who wears a yarmulke or the
Muslim who turns toward Mecca to pray will be respected and equally
encouraged by Protestant Christian teachers and class-mates? And
will these children be free from becoming targets of Evangelical
"missionaries"?

Of course not.

Needless to say, many mainstream Protestant-Christians do not
support the poisonous agenda of the far right. However, history has
proven that thousands will indeed swallow the propaganda and
unfortunately, become a part of this regressive movement that seeks
to revisit the darker moments of history.

Those who possess strong religious beliefs or spirituality are
already praying at school. They pray independently. It might be
that quiet moment before they eat their lunch or just before a
final exam or the time spent sitting under a tree after class.

Moreover, various student groups are now free to independently
organize prayer and religious study groups that meet after school.
Does the government, backed by the Christian Right, seek to step in
and replace these activities with its own religious "program"?

A Protestant-Christian majority government involving itself in
any way with the religious activities of young people is the last
thing this country needs. Students are quite capable of praying or
organizing independently. What’s needed is funding for more
computers and after-school sports programs.

I thought we wanted the government "off our backs." The
Christian Right’s secret agenda of a super-imposed, white,
Protestant-Christian hegemony must be rejected in favor of the
right to exist and self-determination of all the ethno-religious
groups that make up America’s rich cultural tapestry.

The cultural war deserves a resounding "NO."

Martinez, a former Viewpoint assistant editor, is a fifth-year
student who prays for shorter lines at Murphy Hall.