Today a court in Washington D.C. returned, what I believe to be, a misguided verdict and allowed Pat Robertson's "Christian Coalition" to distribute their political voter guides from under the tax-free umbrella of churches while still serving to advance their political candidates.
Our foreign readers may not be familiar with the concept of "separation of church and state" but this country was founded because the pilgrims fled the oppressive nations where the government not only ruled earthly matters but also claimed dominion over heaven and hell. Our founding "fathers" knew that no government of men should be allowed to set themselves up as gods. This is a lesson that most of our modern day fundamentalists have yet to learn.
We extend special privileges to churches here but we also try to prevent kooks from co-opting churches into tax-exempt political machines, operating above the laws that govern the rest of our lives. Folks like Pat Robertson don't see any problem with the government and the church being one and the same. In fact, as long as he gets to be in charge of both, it looks like he's strongly in favor of it.
Today's ruling may be appealed or rendered mute by the stricter guidelines that the ruling establishes but either way, it's being seen as a victory for the extremist right. This group has already seen it's heyday come and go and they lust for a return to the power they once held over the mainstream Republicans. Now drifting slightly back toward the beliefs of average Americans, the GOP has angered the fundamentalists by not pursuing their goals zealously enough. One Senator, Bob Smith even abandoned the Republican party to become an independent because the people who worked so hard and spent so much for his elections weren't radical enough for his tastes!
Is this the beginning of the end of our great republic? Not hardly. I don't care how badly the right-wing wants to destroy this nation. We have come too far and sacrificed too much to quit now just because a rich group of misguided religionists want to destroy our liberty.
My dad had the Nazi's to fight. My generation has the religious extremists and the militiamen. Our evil isn't as charismatic and doesn't have the single, identifiable face (evil learned from the last ass-whooping) but good can still prevail, it we want it badly enough.