Ram Raiders of the Religious Right

It is well noted phenomenon, driven by pervasive American infotainment, that many countries tend to accept US cultural concepts as their own. Specifically here I refer to the concept of ‘separation of church and state’.
To be fair, it sounds logical enough to apply to any pluralist society. In reality it is a threatened species, endemic to the United States of American. Well, whoever said nothing good could come out of the old harlot?
The religious right, by any of its various labels, has steadily grown to a serious player in the ‘great democracy’. Controlling numbers and cash eagerly sought for increasingly expensive US election campaigns, leaders of the religious right soon worked out their potential to wield real power. As Nixon famously put it, “If you have them by the balls the hearts and minds will follow!”
The religious righ as a phenomenon is not isolated to the USA, simply more entrenched and now more open there. The USA is said to be the most ‘Christian’ country on earth, though I suspect this is open to interpretation. However that faith, whatever it might be, gives these fanatics and zealots more acceptances then elsewhere is the case.
In many countries the movement still practices stealth and secrecy, and for good reason; the majority of people would simply not tolerate the antics of the fanatical movement if it where clear and out in the open.
Wherever they exist the political agenda of the religious right is basically the same, and based on a moral code derived from biblical snippets and evangelical cultural constructs.
That their moral agenda is fraught with socially detrimental elements is a very real concern. That moral values cannot be legislated foreshadows chaotic governance whenever these people gain sufficient power to have their values enacted.
Still their beliefs, no matter how wrong headed, are not really the issue. It is, rather, that they would attempt to impose these beliefs on a wider community by stealth or any other underhanded method at their disposal. To fight for supposed moral ‘rights’ using morally dubious means hints at hidden agendas.
From personal experience, of the evangelical movement, the oft quoted numbers are largely composed of ‘social Christians’ who simply follow the pack and benefit from being part of some kind of family experience.
Independent thought and action is not only discouraged, it is rooted out, often viciously. This is the mark of the fundamentalist, the zealot. “There shall be no other thought than mine!”
Forget notions of ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild.’
At the risk of seeming dramatic, the leaders of the Christian right and their more devoted followers are downright vicious. They will brook no opposition, being willing to totally destroy anyone in the flock (and some outside if it suits their cause) who would stand in their way. The former leader of the NSW Liberal party’s self mutilation [see It’s a Scandal] can be directly attributed to the malicious tactics of the religious right.
I have seen clergy who would attempt to rescue the basic Christian ideals from the evangelical interlopers, only to be driven out of the church, or worse driven to their own destruction. Like visible politics, this is the law of the jungle!
It is doubtful that the religious right will prevail, with signs that their current power trip might have already peaked. It is now over three decades that we have endured the bankrupt political culture of greed and monetarism. It is time for the pendulum to start its return swing.
If we have learned anything through those decades it must be the need for absolute transparency in our public affairs. If our openly elected political leaders owe allegiance to unelected powers, we must be made aware of the facts. If groups who choose not to stand for public ratification want to play a role in policy making, they must do so openly for all to see.
The big problem for religious extremists is that have nearly always functioned in secretive ways, perhaps choosing another scriptural hint and coming ‘…as a thief in the night…’ If they are determined to be secretive then those who oppose them must be all the more vigilant.