Every year around this time conservatives twist themselves in knots trying to argue against freedom of religion. One flashpoint this time around is the erection of a monument to satanism in the Iowa state capitol. It’s shiny and pretty.
I have noticed that every news story about it drags in this same weird religious wackaloon, Shellie Flockheart, who organized a prayer meeting to protest the display (about 4 people showed up), so in a sense it’s actually been effective in getting the conservative Christian perspective on air. In any other circumstance Flockheart would be getting no attention at all.
If you must witness true conservative hypocrisy, though, Michael Knowles has a ten minute rant about how religious freedom does not include those other religions. His argument is that a religion worthy of display must be leavened with “tradition”, and that the founding fathers weren’t thinking of Satanism when they wrote up the Constitution. That’s curious: so 17th century colonists did not actually believe in the evil being that they burned people to death over? I think it’s easy to argue that Americans have a long tradition of believing in Satan that’s still thriving today — just ask Shellie Flockheart. On the other hand, Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventism, and Scientology didn’t exist when the Constitution was written, can we deny them their right to worship?
Heck, Christian Fundamentalism in the US is a post-civil war invention. Many of the founding fathers would have been appalled by biblical literalism, for instance, and they never heard of the Niagara Bible Conference, and they hadn’t read the twelve volumes of The Fundamentals. Religion evolves. The form it has taken in the 21st century, including the radical conservative Catholicism of Knowles, would have disgusted educated 18th century leaders.
But, you know, despite the contemporary existence of religions they did not care for (including Catholicism, by the Protestants, or atheism, which is a very old idea and also has a long tradition), those 18th century politicians declared freedom of religion with no qualifiers. They could have said that American was a Christian nation, or at least a nation that opposed Satan, but they didn’t, despite having full knowledge of the diversity of religious thought. They said:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Period. They qualified the second amendment by prefacing it with the words “a well-regulated militia,” a phrase the conservatives have pretended doesn’t exist ever since, but on the matter of religion they didn’t even insist on a formal priesthood. You can believe what you want. That’s our tradition that demented Christian traditionalist Knowles wants to abandon.
THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS CANNOT END UNTIL CHRISTMAS ENDS ITS ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF NOVEMBER!
TO SAY NOTHING OF ITS RECENT INCURSIONS INTO OCTOBER!
The real war on Christmas is being waged by Israel and there is probably no doubt that the likes of Flockhart and Knowles are ardent supporters of Israel’s right to commit genocide.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-christmas-cancelled-gaza-devastation-leaves-sombre-feeling
I’m too busy to dig for details at the moment, but one of the leading Christian fundamentalists only recently discovered that a lot of classic Christmas songs were written by Jewish people, so has declared it as proof that the Jewish are committing a war on Jesus in the hopes of removing Christ from Christmas. It’s the same delusion that Starbucks faced for their “war on Christmas” for “removing” god and Jesus (which was never there) from their Christmas time cups.
Knowles and his type need to remember the admonitions of actual Founders about the role of the government in religion. They should review things like Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia
This and many other of the Founder’s writings make it pretty clear that the whole notion of this being a “Christian nation” or that disfavored or dissenting religious views can be suppressed is completely against what was intended in the 1st Amendment. So the War on Christmas (i.e, the fact that a lot of people choose not to honor their holiday they way they want them to) will continue unabated until they either give it up or finally fade into the woodwork with the rest of the failed religions of the past.
What tradition?
It was traditional for xians to burn heretics, witches, Pagans, and atheists to death on stacks of firewood.
I’m sure Knowles would be OK with that.
Nothing says jesus loves you and hates everyone else like murdering people on TV for no good reason.
At least that leaves the Pagans free to decorate the Iowa Capital. Pagans predate xianity by thousands of years.
And, Xmas is a Pagan holiday anyway.
The xians just stole it and put a cross on top of it.
The date at the Winter Solstice, the decorated conifer tree, the name Yule, etc.. are all Pagan traditions.
The xians stole Yule and renamed it Christmas.
The Pagans are stealing it back.
At least the War on the War on Xmas is flickering enough in out of the way places like Iowa to make the news.
The War on Halloween was a big disappointment.
It is almost like no one cares what the fundie xian extremists say any more.
Don’t forget the War on Easter!!!
It will be here before you know it.
There actually is one, waged by fundie xians who hate the word Easter and the Easter bunny.
@4 stwriley
“They should review things like Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia”
I wouldn’t be surprised that they’d argue that saying there are 20 (or no) gods hurts their religious feelings, and those feelings are more important than breaking a leg.
Don’t forget the only reference to religion in the original Constitution:
Article VI, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
I unfortunately clicked through to the Michael Knowles video, not realizing it was a Daily Wire link. Now I need another shower. I can’t WAIT to see the kind of crap that winds up in my ads and suggested videos now…
Followup to some stuff PZ covered last February.
Queer Satanic – Why You Haven’t Left The Satanic Temple
^ Particularly co-owner Lucien Greaves, of whom there are audio recordings and screenshots at the link.
Queer Satanic – About Page
Queer Satanic – Wait, why is The Satanic Temple (still) suing you?
Raging Bee @ 1, whatever are you thinking of? That war’s long been lost, Christmas has a solid beachhead in September now.
@CompulsoryAccount
Yiiiiikes. It’s so much worse than I thought.
That’s curious: so 17th century colonists did not actually believe in the evil being that they burned people to death over?
Colonists in this country did not burn anyone to be factual. They hung them, and one guy Gilles Corey, was pressed to death.
“More Weight!”
As a long time veteran of the War on Christmas, I have to say: Happy Holidays, comrade!
I shall play my part in the War on Christmas by spending my Christmas Day afternoon slumped in front of the telly with a stomach full of turkey, a beer in one hand and the remote control in the other as I flick through the channels trying to find a film worth watching. It’ll probably end up being a James Bond film, or maybe Chitty Chitty Bang Bang again, which just shows that the true spirit of Xmas lies not in Jesus but in revenue for the estate of Ian Fleming.
Breaking news – well, kinda not really coz 6 hours ago now but still Satanic Temple’s display at Iowa Capitol vandalized a very breif 31 seconds long.
At about the 45 second mark Shellie Flockhart says (from transcript there which is nice to have!):
Which is really poor journalism in my view that the journo there doesn’t challenge that and say, something like, “Hang on a sec, really where’s your evidence for that?” and just allows that to go unchallenged rather than pushed back on and called out for the nonsense it is.
Or even just a follow up question of “well how do you battle supposedly evil satanic forces.then?” Plus a maybe how do you know that and what experience in it have you got and a few other relevant words and .. hmm.. can this Ms Flockhart be done for incitement maybe?
I expected this.
The probability of a nonxian Holiday display being vandalized is around 100%.
Fundie xians never, ever miss a chance to display the moral bankruptcy of their religion.
The Iowa authorities are taking this seriously.
Fourth degree criminal mischief and he has already been released.
For what is obviously a hate crime.
Cheer up! Chester in Cheshire is currently celebrating Saturnalia, albeit in a milk and water version.
Howdy Ho! Its that time of the year again. Time to load up South Park’s Mr. Hanky The Christmas Poo from Youtube. A heart warming Christmas special.