Religion is poison to democracy

[Belacqua]

I'm going to hazard a guess that you're not carrying a dead fetus in your uterus right now.

OK, it took me a while to decipher this one. 

You're saying that religion is a threat to democracy because some religious people oppose the right of people to get rational treatment for dead fetuses. I understand that in some places they have made unreasonable laws, driven by people whose reasoning is based in religion. 

So yes, some religious people want to make laws that go against majority opinion, and this is a threat to the right of the majority to make laws democratically. Any pressure group which manages to make laws against majority opinion is a threat. 

Maybe you recall the election in Kansas last year regarding abortion rights. Kansas is a deep red state and a very religious state. They voted democratically on the issue of abortion, and ended up with a result that you would approve of. 

(And of course the term "religion" is far broader than you are using it here. You are using it to refer to a certain subset of Christians in America. Shintoism in Japan is no threat to abortion rights. Buddhist temples have monuments for women who aborted to make sure the little fetus's soul is well taken care of.)

Have you read the book What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank? This is a well-researched investigation into how Republicans mobilized voters by cynically emphasizing wedge issues, especially abortion. I know the book is true because exactly what it describes happened in my hometown. There, the Republican Party had been run locally for decades by the guy who was the biggest employer in the county, a farm machinery manufacturer. He was always pro-business and didn't put much energy into social or religion-based issues. In the old days, there was a church on every corner but it wasn't polite to talk about their differences. One day the anti-abortion people stormed the party meeting, got a quorum, and voted out the poor old guy. 

I understand that opposition to some social issues comes largely from religious people in the US. But not always. The TERFs, for example, seem to be led by J.K. Rowling, who is also a target for fundamentalist Christians. And as the referendum in Kansas showed, religious majorities are capable of voting in ways which you happen to approve of. 

I stand by my statement that corporations are a far bigger threat to democracy than religion. In fact the issues that make people hate religion -- abortion, trans rights -- are very important issues, but they are also intentional wedge issues designed to take our eyes off the main problems, which are economic. If the pro-choice people are shouting at the pro-life people, then they aren't shouting at the financial elites who are ruining the country. Hate your religious opponents, hate Putin, hate China. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

[Mister Agenda]

I'm saying that may be easier to vew religious laws as less threatening when it's not your own life on the line. Yes, I'm referring specifically to laws passed on behalf of Christianists/Christian fundamentalists. I doubt Shintoists pose much of a threat legally, even if they did want to pass religion-based laws. I generalized 'religion' because IMHO; basing laws on religious considerations violates the !st Amendment. This time it happens to be Christianists, and unless some other religous group gains enough votes to matter, it will continue to be Christianists in the foreseeable future.

I have read that, another way to put it is the Republicans took advantage of the Christianist demographic to cement their power.

It's hard to view Christianists as the lesser evil when they've overtaken the Supreme Court and succeeded in passing laws that are already kiling women. I don't hate any demographic, but I'm pissed at some people. Including the man behind the curtain.

[The Grand Nudger]

Setting out to harm people, actively destroying democracy. These are expensive courses of action and the return is unclear. Sure, if people get hurt or if good governance is subverted in the course of chasing coin, that'll happen. It takes religion to do it when there's no money at all. No matter what the cost. Your political party in ashes. Your demographic prognosis... grim. Your retirement drained by endless grifting moneybegs. Your kids ignoring your calls with no invite to thanksgiving dinner.

There's no company in the world that sells that as a product. I'll let sane people work out why.