Example of Faith-Based Government

Freedom of speech and religious freedom implies that the errors, hatreds and hypocricy practiced in the name of some religion should be open to public examination. But in the US the pretense is that God finds it "an abomination" to question the self-serving "faiths" that promote themselves through tax-free money while seeking to deny others their personal rights.

It has been mentioned in earlier Monkeywrench notes that aggressive religious factions have risen dramatically in the US since the 1950s, and the commercialism of religion has been in direct ratio to the rise of television as a means of public communication. Televangelists compete with one another to exercise as much power over as many insecure persons as possible, and make themselves wealthy in the process.

That is bad enough, but when religious factions seek to control the seats of government and in that way attempt to instill their theocratic ideology upon the nation, they betray not only the nation that allows them such freedom but insult the higher potential that they pretend to serve.

A prime example of "faith-based" style of governing was the Military Commission Act that was imposed upon American citizens late in 2006 by the self-professed born-againer George Bush, his fundamentalists administration, and the Republican congressional choir that rubber stamped his unconstitutional abuses of power. Under this undemocratic and perverse "law" the rightwing granted themselves these horrendous indulgences---

Denial of the writ of habeas corpus (the right to challenge the legality or conditions of their detention in an independent court) to people being held in detention.

Fashioned an excessively broad category of "unlawful enemy combatant," a status that is not recognized in US law or international law, but which does allow the President to pick and choose who will be detained under that label.

Permits whoever they term "unlawful enemey combatants" to be tried by military commisssion, which would provide no guarantee whatever of fair trial rights: this is clearly in contempt of mandated US and international law.

Permits the President the freedom to interpret the Geneva Conventions as he chooses--meaning that he can disregard their prohibitions of abuse and torture of prisoners.

Grants military commisssions the right to use evidence that is obtained through cruel and degrading treatment (torture) of those being held in detention.

Allows for imprisoned persons to be held indefinitely without charges, and has establshed arbitrary and discriminatory means for prosecuting those detained.

These are the means used by all theocratic forms of "governing" throughout history--always with horrible consequence.