Once upon a time, I was a nominal Oklahoma Republican.
I registered as a Republican so that I could vote in Oklahoma’s primaries, which were all closed primaries at the time. Being that Oklahoma is the reddest of the red states, I figured that Republicans were much more likely to win general elections within the state than Democrats. So, I wanted to have a say in which Republicans made it into the general elections.
Yet, being a registered Republican wasn’t something that I was proud about. I knew that the GOP promoted ideas that didn’t sit well with me.
Then came the 2012 presidential primaries. That is when a group of preachers declared that Michele Bachmann was biblically qualified to be the POTUS.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
In my 10/05/15 post The Benefit of Having Different Political Parties, I write, “Today, the Democratic Party acts as a hindrance to efforts to turn America into a Protestant fundamentalist theocracy.”
One of the freedoms that makes the USA great is freedom of religion, which includes the freedom to not conform to anyone’s religious beliefs.
Indeed, the U.S. Constitution explicitly bans any requirement that a public official pass a religious litmus test.
So, when a bunch of preachers decided to defy the U.S. Constitution on behalf of Bachmann, I decided to re-register to vote as an Independent.
Why? Because the USA has voters who want to turn the USA into a Protestant theocracy of their liking, and the GOP is their political home. I would go so far as to say that such voters dominate the GOP in some states, with my state being one of them.
Just how far the Protestant theocrats are willing to go in Oklahoma has made itself clear in a state question that Oklahoma voters will be voting on this coming November.
As explained by BallotPedia, “Question 790 would repeal Section 5 of Article 2 of the Oklahoma Constitution, which prohibits public money from being spent for religious purposes. Passage of the measure would allow the Ten Commandments monument to be returned to the State Capitol.”
The GOP members of the Oklahoma legislature put that question on the November ballot because they want a giant phylactery to be located on the grounds of the Oklahoma state capitol.
It’s the same phylactery that got Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore removed from office in 2003 for violating judicial ethics by refusing to remove his version of the phylactery from a court house.
For a reason that I don’t fully understand, the Decalogue of Exodus chapter 20 has become a religious icon among the USA’s Protestant theocrats. That is odd, because the Decalogue pertains to the formation of the original nation of Israel right after the Israelites were freed from Egyptian slavery. Nothing about the Decalogue is specific to the Christian faith. Yet, it is Protestant theocrats, not Jews, who insist that the Decalogue be displayed on government property.
No, the Decalogue isn’t the basis of U.S. law, as Christian attorney Marci Hamilton explains in her 2003 commentary on the subject. Protestant theocrats have been using that hoax as an excuse to have the Decalogue displayed on government property.
Now, the Oklahoma GOP wants the Oklahoma Constitution to be amended so that the Protestant theocrats in the state can get what they want. That is something that I will not tolerate. If I can get to my polling place this coming Election Day, then not only will I be voting against Question 790, but I will also be voting against every Republican running for state, county or local office.
No, I don’t favor the Democratic Party. Indeed, I don’t trust the Democratic Party to run the nation’s government.
Yet, at this particular time in history, I don’t trust the GOP to run my state’s government. I have other reasons for not trusting the state’s GOP, but the theocratic one is at the top of my list.
Side Note: Another oddity about religion keeps showing up in the USA. The Decalogue of Exodus 20 doesn’t contain all of the commandments in the Torah. Indeed, the Torah contains 613 commandments. So, it is biblically incorrect to speak of the ten commandments.
The “Wanted” posters say the following about David: “Wanted: A refugee from planet Melmac masquerading as a human. Loves cats. If seen, contact the Alien Task Force.”