It's no surprise the New Gingrich thinks that secularism is a nightmare -- this is surely the opinion of every other Republican presidential candidate as well as most conservative, Republican politicians across America. What's surprising is that New Gingrich was willing to say this so explicitly.
Opposition to secularism is inherent to American conservatism today, but politicians don't often say that in public. There is still just enough respect for secularism in America that such an admission will cause a politician problems. There's just one area where it's beneficial: Republican primaries where the most extremist and least rational conservative Republican voters hold sway.
The quote came from Newt Gingrich, who condemned the very idea of a secular state. "A country that has been now since 1963 relentlessly in the courts driving God out of public life shouldn't be surprised at all the problems we have," the thrice-married, serial adulterer said. "Because we've in fact attempted to create a secular country, which I think is frankly a nightmare."
The disgraced former House Speaker's reference to 1963 was apparently a reference to the Abington Sch. Dist. v. Schempp Supreme Court case. It was an interesting dispute: the justices considered whether public officials could promote Bible passages and the Lord's Prayer over public school intercoms. Eight of the nine justices backed the separation of church and state -- it wasn't the job of the state or state schools to push religion onto children.
The underlying legal principle was simple: religious instruction should be left to families, religious leaders, houses of worship, and the conscience of the individual -- not the government. In Newt Gingrich's mind, the court was not only wrong to rule this way, but the very idea of taking children's religious lessons out of the government's hands represents an example of "driving God out of public life."
Source: Washington Monthly
One of the most fundamental, driving principles of the Christian Right is an opposition to secularism. This premise is what lies behind their positions on so many specific issues that you really can't understand the politics of those issues without understanding this premise and dealing with it directly.
It's also critical to understanding just how dangerous both the Christian Right and the Republican Party can be. There's always room for debate on particular policies, but question of whether or not we have a secular government cuts to the heart of what sort of country American can and will be.
A secular government is vital for securing liberty in general and religious liberty in particular for everyone -- including Christians. Without a secular government, though, you necessarily have some sort of theocratic system where laws are defined by one group's interpretation of one religion's traditions and scriptures. In that context, everyone's liberty suffers, including those who belong to that religion.
Newt Gingrich is basically saying that it's a "nightmare" that government is not allowed to favor any form of Christianity over all other forms and over other religions. He's saying that it's a "nightmare" that the government cannot tell students in public schools what to pray, how to pray, and when to pray. It's a "nightmare" that the government doesn't take sides in religious debates or disputes, using the force of law to promote one side over others.
No one who values secularism and secular government can support conservative or Republican politicians like Newt Gingrich.
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