Scorched Earth

What sort of America do you want to live in? Well the people who attended the Confronting the Judicial War on Faith conference have a vision for the sort of America they'd like to see. Michelle Goldberg of Salon visited this conference and reported on it.

One version of this future was expressed by former Nixon staffer Howard Phillips.

Christian Reconstructionism calls for a system that is both radically decentralized, with most government functions devolved to the county level, and socially totalitarian. It calls for the death penalty for homosexuals, abortion doctors and women guilty of "unchastity before marriage," among other moral crimes. To be fair, Phillips told me that "just because a crime is capital doesn't mean you must impose the death penalty. It means it's an option." Public humiliation, he said, could sometimes be used instead.

One has to wonder how non-Christians and Atheists would fit into such a scenario. One might also wonder how Christians who do not fight into this hard right belief system might fare. Christians like, say, Judge Greer who ruled against the Schindlers in the recent Schiavo case. Well, the closing prayer of the event might give a hint.

"Father, we echo the words of the apostle Paul, because we know Judge Greer claims to be a Christian. So as the Apostle Paul said in First Corinthians 5, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus."

As Goldberg notes, "It sounded like a prayer for death."

I just have to say, I'm not sure I want these guys in charge. But as the article points out, given his recent troubles, Tom Delay needs their support and will have to pay the piper to get it. And I don't the impression they are going to be shy about asking for President Bush's support either.