We have a number of people in the United States who feel that not only is this country a Christian country, but that it should be governed as a Christian Theocracy as envisioned by some Protestant fundamentalists. Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has released the biblical qualifications for political office which points out that, under a Christian Theocracy, only Christian men are eligible to be elects as leaders. According to Cass:
“The first qualification is they must be a Christian ... What a candidate professes about God is absolutely critical, it will profoundly shape his leadership. Genuine reverence for the Lord is the foundation of knowledge ... so we need a leader who is alive spiritually and who will lead in the fear of God."
He also states:
"The biblical biological requirement for office is you must be male. Civil leadership should be conceived of as an extension of the family and God's created order. God established man as the head of the woman and the woman as his helpmate ... In society, the same roles apply as is ordained in the family and in the church."
In a fundamentalist Protestant Christian Theocracy, “crimes” such as masturbation and sexting would be capital offenses, punishable by death (see comments on the Christian worldview by Larry Tomczak).
Richard Trigg, who is running for President for the Christian Party, promises to amend the U.S. Constitution to end the “separation of church and state” and recognize Christianity as the official religion. According to one report:
“He also vowed that schools would begin each day with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, and he also promised to end the legal recognition of homosexuality and to ban nudity, profanity, blasphemy and LGBT people from television.”
There are, of course, two fundamental questions which theocrats need to address in their advocacy of an exclusive Christian man eligibility requirement. First, and perhaps least important, is: Who is a man? In the American South, at one point in time and among a minority today, a Black male was a “boy” not a “man.” Thus for some conservatives, a Black male would not be considered eligible.
Second, is the question of who is a Christian? It is obvious that being a Christian, in the minds of theocrats, is not just a matter of belief and self-declaration. For much of American history, for example, Catholics were not considered Christians. And then we have people whose beliefs, writings, speeches, and education would seem to categorize them as evangelical Protestant Christians, who are not considered Christian by many, perhaps most politically conservative Christians. Martin Luther King is probably the most prominent example, though some might also use Barack Obama as an example as well.
Another political candidate whose Christianity has been questions is Republican Ted Cruz. The political group Americans United for Values issued radio ads questioning his evangelical Christian faith.
Welcome to Street Prophets Saturday, an open thread conveniently located at the intersection of Politics and Religion.