Martin Luther King Jr: The Church as the Conscience of the State

“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.” ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Put Hetero-Sexual Marriage on Every Ballot and See If It Passes

In an otherwise useless article, comedian Dean Obeidallah says that we should put man-woman/traditional marriage on the ballot and see if it passes:

So I say forget putting a question on the ballot about legalizing same-sex marriage. I propose we put a question on the ballot in each state asking voters whether straight marriage should be legal. I think there is a good chance straight marriage might not pass in every state (especially in those with high divorce rates such as Nevada, Maine and Oklahoma).

I'm against gay marriage--and straight marriage too || CNN

The Anti-Gay Marriage Reader - Written by Gays

Reasons to Oppose the Institution of Marriage || IndyBay.org

A progressive argument from a faction within the LGBT movement against the institution that, in their view, is the tool of power and privilege. Rails against pro-gay marriage proponents who want a slice of the imperialist pie.

The Libertarian Case Against Gay Marriage || Justin Raimondo

Justin Raimondo is a Rothbardian, atheist, and openly gay man. He is also one of the leading thinkers in the American libertarian movement and the anti-war right. Here he reminds gays that like its heterosexual counterpart, gay marriage existed before the state intervened in the marriage realm; and argues that gay marriage will hurt gays.

The take-away from both articles:

Both a hardcore old-school progressive and libertarian agree: in the early days of the gay rights movement, "[the prospect of freedom—not only from traditional moral restraints but from legal burdens and responsibilities—is part of what made homosexuality appealing." The modern gay rights movement is far from its anti-state roots on this issue. Somewhat ironically, old-school progressives are more for "limited government" on this issue than conservatives are.

Great Idea: Put "traditional" man-woman marriage on the ballot.

Murray Rothbard on Establishing a religion

Rothbard on establishing a religion:

Establishing a religion has a specific meaning: paying for ministers and churches out of taxpayer funds. To ban even voluntary prayer from the public schools, or to ban the teaching of religion, is a pettifogging willful misconstruction of the text and of the intent of the framers, in order to replace our former Christian culture with a left-secular one. The banning of creches in front of local town halls demonstrates how far the secularists will go--indeed shows how totalitarian they are in their drive to ban religion from public institutions.

Murray Rothbard, The Religious Right: Toward A Coalition, The Irrepressible Rothbard: The Rothbard-Rockwell Report Essays of Murray N. Rothbard

Ron Paul Rejects the Official Religion

Thanks to Lew Rockwell's Political Theater blog for catching this.

Douglas Wilson on Secularism and the Cult of American Exceptionalism

In "The Machete of Curiousity" the Proprietor metes out his views of Christian Government (Mere Christendom), and eludicates his views of Radical Islam, Secularism, and American Exceptionalism.

The paragraphs on Islam are agreeable, especially when he recognizes that Islam is forceful mainly because it recognizes itself as vehicle for administering and enforcing truth claims, whereas Christians have bought into the myth of religious neutrality. The "Separation of Church and State" crowd will definitely be on defense with this one.

Oh, and the current theo-political pulpit that American exceptionalists preach from are completely recognized as such ("quasi-sacramental" "blasphemous and silly").

My favorite passage from this post is excerpted below:

Secularism refers to the idea, popular for the last few centuries, that it is in fact possible for nations to be religiously neutral. This impressive trick is managed by having everyone pretend that secularism does not bring with it its very own set of ultimate commitments. But it does bring them, and so secularism has presented us with its very own salvation narrative, in which story the Enlightened One arose to deliver us all from that sectarian strife and violence. The horse and rider were thrown into the sea, and this is why you can't put that Christmas tree up in the county courthouse.

American exceptionalism is the idea that America is a more of a creed than a nation. This kind of American exceptionalism makes a certain kind of civic religion possible, a quasi-sacramental approach which all consistent Christians reject as, in equal turns, blasphemous and silly. American exceptionalism in this sense is currently the high church form of secularism.

Looks like Douglas wants nothing less than the fall of the high church of humanism.