Religion can threaten democracy, minister says before speech in Orangeburg

Sigh. Another Foolable voice sees the sky falling again. When Fools insist that government actually respect natural law, watch the Reasonable folk's water-carriers shudder and look for the coming Theocracy.

Exibit A:

Religion can threaten democracy, minister says before speech in Orangeburg:

"A Long Island minister says religion can be dangerous to democracy when the line between church and state is blurred.

The Rev. Mark J. Lukens, pastor of United Church of Christ in East Rockaway, N.Y., will speak this week about the dangers of religion influencing government.

The Rockland Coalition for Democracy and Freedom, a group that for the past decade has discussed topical issues relating to the Bill of Rights and First Amendment, will host the discussion at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Orangetown Town Hall.

'These days, we're witnessing a breakdown of the wall between church and state,' he said. 'When those lines get blurred, we tend to move toward a more theocratic state.'

Lukens said if this trend continued, it could spawn intolerance and threaten civil liberties.

'That's the kind of thing we want to guard against in this country,' Lukens said. 'We want to act as counter-voices of the religious right.'"

I respect the Lukens family. Camp Venture has done terrific things for my family. I can't be grateful enough for the incredible service that Venture has rendered. However, Reverend Luken's hysteria serves no one's interest.

Exactly where is the breakdown between "the wall between church and state" happening? Has the Judiciarium suddenly ended abortion-on-demand by citing leviticus? Has Congress established a national Church, in violation of the first ammendment? Has the President issued Deuteronomically inspired executive orders that criminalize homosexual relations?

I didn't think so.

What evidence does the good reverend cite?

The minister, whose family founded Camp Venture, said intolerance has become more evident in this country with federal funding for faith-based initiatives and preferential provisions in Head Start programs.

Lukens also said proposed laws that would allow religious leaders to endorse elected officials or donate church funds to candidates were problematic.

"Right now, we have a number of things happening," he said. "Those kinds of trends are very dangerous and undermine our democracy."

Ah, yes. I get it now. Federal support of religious institutions' charitable works leads to intolerance. Promotion of religious leaders' freedom of speech undermine our democracy.

For over thirty years, Reasonable elites have drowned public discourse with the marxist-inspired privatization of religion. Now that Fools have begun to demand that religious people have their rightful place on the public square, the elites cry "Anathema!"

Foolable Ministers like the Reverend Lukens enable the mouth-foamers to continue their secular jihad. The sooner these Foolables stop providing cover for their Reasonable masters, the better off our society will be.