February 17, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Invention by Republican: Obama’s War On Religion
Invention by Republican is a regular series on The Left Call, highlighting factually inaccurate and hyperbolic narratives by Republicans, conservatives and right-wing ideologues.
Consider this what-if scenario for a moment. What if Obama was going out of his way to discriminate against Muslims? Do you think Christians would charge Obama with waging a war on religion?
Republicans, right-wingers and people of faith who say Obama is waging a war on religion are using the phrase “war on religion” in place of what they really mean, “war on Christianity”. I doubt they would have shown the same level of concern if the recent focus on government and religion had only involved Muslim organizations instead of Christian organizations.
Any unbiased review of the recent birth control debacle (fabricated almost entirely by the Right) or any other actions by this administration during its first three years would conclude there is no war against religion. In a Mother Jones column, ‘What War on Religion?‘, Stephanie Mencimer finds that the Obama administration has been more than generous to religious organizations, particularly with stimulus dollars, including “more than $650 million” that has gone to Catholic organizations alone.
From Mother Jones – What War on Religion?:
Far from waging war on religious organizations, Obama has largely left in place the federal faith-based infrastructure created by President George W. Bush. He has also increased the amount of federal dollars flowing to religious groups—much to the chagrin of civil liberties and civil rights groups. They believe the administration is turning a blind eye to ongoing and egregious constitutional violations over church-state separation by religious groups receiving millions in taxpayer dollars.
It is amazing to see Christians jumping to the conclusion that they are being religiously persecuted when the Obama administration has done as much or more for religious organizations as compared to the Bush administration. That is saying a lot considering the erosion church-state separation during those 8 long years.
if Obama thought that keeping evangelical and Catholic religious organizations flush with federal money would earn him their political support, he’s now discovering that’s just not the case.
Conclusion? There is no war on religion. Instead, this flare up is an example of the inflexible nature of religious dogma. It leaves no room for reasoned or tempered responses. If a person of faith believes the laws of a secular nation are not compatible with that faith, they skip ‘reasoned response’ and arrive instantly at ‘raving hysterics’.
The people of faith who charge Obama with waging a war on religion do so because they aren’t getting their way, fully, and without compromise. If their demands are not met with 100% compliance, they conclude Obama is waging a war on religion. It is these people of faith who offer no room for compromise, and that is the crux of the problem.
dks
