Watched Jesus Camp on Easter, which is a documentary about an Evangelical children’s camp in North Dakota-something I could really relate to! A few of the comments made by the pastors really stood out, and reminded me of why I parted from their radical beliefs (quoted are my paraphrases):

‘Our message is what draws children-that somebody loves them, that they have a purpose in life and were created to be special, while the secular world is telling them they are just like the animals and don’t have a profound purpose.’

43 percent of Evangelicals accepted Jesus by age 13

‘Democracy is the best system man has made on this earth, but God’s plan is supreme. The problem with democracy is that everyone has equal freedom.’

The thing that scares me about Evangelicals is the fundamental belief that the ultimate goal is a Christian world where everyone worships the one true God. There can be no separation of church and state with that belief, hence Evangelical Christianity is at odds with the core belief our fragile nation was founded upon. Right-wing Christian politicians know that it is fashionable right now to tell the voters that they can’t separate their religious beliefs from their political decisions. Just the other day the Arkansas governor running for presidential nomination said just that. On one side, I admired his honesty, but on the other side, it worried me because I know it means that this person is committed to changing this country into a church-state where the bible, at least the new testament, reigns supreme. And anyone with an offbeat sexual orientation or desire to limit the human ‘right’ or should I say ‘duty’ to reproduce will be silenced and trampled on by the hordes of brainwashed Fundamentalists who are drawn like a child to the promise of being more special than they really are. Religion is vanity. And pride cometh before a you-know-what.