What Is the Political Program of the Creationist Movement?

 

by Lenny Flank

 

(c) 2004

 

In order to fully understand the creation science movement, we must look at the larger movement of which it is a part--the fundamentalist religious crusade in the United States--and how the creationists fit into this.

The creationist movement has numerous ties to the Christian fundamentalist Right. In addition to providing financial support for creationist organizations, Christian Right televangelists advertise and promote creationist books and literature, and "experts" from the ICR and CRS are frequent guests on such fundamentalist religious programs as "The 700 Club".

Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority Inc. have become particularly close to the creationists. Falwell was a guest pastor at Henry Morris's College Baptist Church in the days before Morris founded the CRS and ICR. The Institute for Creation Research itself was founded using money raised by Rev. Tim LaHaye, a fundamentalist preacher who was a co-founder and member of the board of Moral Majority Inc.

In late 1981, Falwell telecast an appeal for money to help defend the anti-evolution laws in Arkansas and Louisiana--using as the backdrop for his appeal the very same Dayton, Tennessee, courthouse in which the original Scopes trial was held. Moral Majority also ran a number of ads in various magazines to publicize the trial and raise money. One of the ads took the form of a "survey", which asked the reader (with all the appropriate catch words emphasized) to mail in a "ballot":

 

 

"Cast your vote for creation or evolution. Where do you stand in this vital debate?

1. Do you agree with 'theories' of evolution that DENY the Biblical account of creation?

2. Do you agree that public school teachers should be permitted our children AS FACT that they are descended from APES?

3. Do you agree with the evolutionists who are attempting to PREVENT the Biblical account of creation from also being taught in public schools?" (TV Guide, June 13, 1981, p. A-105)

 

Those who sent in their "ballot" (with the "proper" answers checked) were put on Moral Majority's mailing list for fundraising and further anti-evolution mailings.

More recently, Falwell has turned the resources of Liberty University, a large Bible college which is wholly funded by Moral Majority, towards the fight against evolution. All students at Liberty University, regardless of major, are required to take a semester-long course in creationist biology. The state-approved teacher training program at Liberty is heavily focused on creationism. As a symbol of the close affinities between the creationists and the Moral Majority, Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell himself awarded an honorary doctorate to ICR founder Henry Morris during commencement exercises in 1989.

As researcher Philip Kitcher points out, both the creationists and the fundamentalists gain benefits from this partnership. "Jerry Falwell's Old Time Gospel Hour offers a forum for broadcasting creationist ideas. On the other hand, Falwell needs concrete issues around which to build his movement." (Kitcher, 1982, p. 2) The televangelists recognize the creation "scientists" as powerful apologetic tools to bring new people into the Christian political movement, while the creationists have come to depend upon the Religious Right as a powerful political and economic ally.

Moral Majority co-founder Tim LaHaye has close ties to the creationists. In his influential fundamentalist manifesto Battle for the Mind, LaHaye puts the fight against evolution squarely in the middle of the evangelical Christian world-view. The basic enemy of the Christian Right is something they refer to as "secular humanism", which seems to be a catch-all term for any outlook or philosophy which they find religiously offensive--everything from pornography to feminism to socialism to evolutionary science. "Most of the evils in the world today," says LaHaye, "can be traced to humanism, which has taken over our government, the UN, education, TV and most of the other influential things in life." (LaHaye, 1980, p. 1)

And a major component of this "secular humanism", LaHaye asserts, is evolutionary theory: "The humanistic doctrine of evolution has naturally led to the destruction of the moral foundation upon which this country was originally built. If you believe that man is an animal, you will naturally expect him to live like one. Consequently, almost every sexual law that is required in order to maintain a morally sane society has been struck down by the humanists, so that man may follow his animal appetites." (LaHaye, 1980, p. 64) LaHaye's book depicts a diagram of "secular humanism", which shows a pyramidical construction in which "evolution" rests on the base of "atheism", in turn supporting "amorality" and, at the top, the "socialist one world view" (LaHaye, 1980, p. 63)

Some of the statements made by creationists reveal the underlying connection between creation "science" and LaHaye's religious crusade against "secular humanism". Many times, statements made by creationists are indistinguishable from those made by Moral Majority and others of their fundamentalist ilk. "Since animals are indiscriminate with regards to partners in mating," says Henry Morris, "and since men and women are believed to have evolved from animals, then why shouldn't we live like animals?" (Morris, Troubled Waters of Evolution, 1974, p. 167) Morris has declared that evolutionary theory is literally the work of the Devil--given to Nimrod at the Tower of Babel-- and that most scientists refuse to accept creationism solely because they are atheists. Ken Ham, formerly of the ICR and now leader of the Action in Genesis organization, says, "As the creation foundation is removed, we see the Godly institutions also start to collapse. On the other hand, as the evolution foundation remains firm, the structures built on that foundation--lawlessness, homosexuality, abortion, etc--logically increase. We must understand this connection." (cited in Eve and Harrold, 1991, pp 58-59)

The Creation Science Research Center blames the scientific model of evolution for "the moral decay of spiritual values, which contributes to the destruction of mental health", as well as "a widespread breakdown in law and order" (Creation Science Report, April 1976, cited in Numbers, 1992, p. 285). Evolutionary theory, the CSRC pontificates, is directly responsible for "divorce, abortion, and rampant venereal diseases." (Segraves, The Creation Report, 1977, cited in Numbers, 1992, p. 285)

The creationists and the Religious Right thus share a world- view, a world-view that revolves around the supposed evils of evolutionary theory. Both groups see evolution as a major pillar which supports Satanic "secular humanism", and both are determined to do away with that pillar and substitute a "Godly" outlook instead--creationism. "Although they make every effort to be diplomatic about the subject," notes writer Perry Dean Young, "the religious-right leaders are not speaking of teaching the story of the creation in Genesis alongside Darwin's theory; they want it taught instead of evolution. A headline in Religious Roundtable's newsletter that read 'Get Evolution Out of Our Schools' let that fact slip." (Young, 1982, p. 73) The creationists also occasionally let their ultimate goal slip in print too; while pushing the Arkansas "Balanced Treatment Act" through, creationist Paul Ellwanger, who drafted the original bill, wrote to a supporter, "Perhaps this is old hat to you, Tom, and if so, I'd appreciate it your telling me so and perhaps where you've heard it before--the idea of killing evolution instead of playing these debating games that we've been playing for nigh over a decade already." (Attachment to Ellwanger Deposition, McLean v Arkansas, 1981, cited in Overton Opinion)

But "killing evolution" is not their only goal. The Christian Right is defiantly open about its ultimate aims. As Bob Werner, a leader of the "Christian shepherding" movement, bluntly puts it, "The Bible says we are to . . . rule. If you don't rule and I don't rule, the atheists and the humanists and the agnostics are going to rule. We should be the head of our school board. We should be the head of our nation. We should be the Senators and Congressmen. We should be the editors of our newspapers. We should be taking over every area of life." (cited in Diamond, 1989, p. 45) Paul Weyrich, a co-founder of Moral Majority and director of the fundamentalist Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, declares, "We are no longer working to preserve the status quo. We are radicals, working to overturn the present power structures of this country." (cited in Young, 1982, p. 321 and Kater 1982, p. 7) Weyrich adds, "We are talking about the Christianizing of America." (cited in Vetter 1982, p. 5) Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry puts it, "Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a Biblical duty; we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism." (cited in Blaker, 2003, p 25).

Presidential candidate Pat Robertson echoed, "We have enough votes to run the country. And when the people say 'We've had enough', we are going to take over (cited in Boston, 1996, p. 29) Robertson told his supporters that his presidential bid was a direct command from God: "I heard the Lord saying, 'I have something else for you to do. I want you to run for President of the United States'". (Washington Post, Feb 15, 1988, cited in Boston, 1996, p. 39)

In a fundraising letter for the Christian Coalition in July 1991 (Robertson founded the Coalition and serves--along with his son--as one of the four members of the Board of Directors), Robertson asserts: "We at the Christian Coalition are raising an army who cares. We are training people to be effective--to be elected to school boards, to city councils, to state legislatures and to key positions in political parties. . . . By the end of this decade, if we work and give and organize and train, the Christian Coalition will be the most powerful political organization in America." (cited in Boston, 1996, p. 85) Ralph Reed, who serves as Robertson's front man in the Christian Coalition, says: "What Christians have got to do is take back this country, one precinct at a time, one neighborhood at a time and one state at a time . . . I honestly believe that in my lifetime we will see a country once again governed by Christians." (cited in Boston, 1996, p. 90)

To carry out their goal of "overturning the power structures" and "taking over every area of life" and becoming "the most powerful political organization in America", the Christian Right has formed an alliance with conservative political forces, particularly within the Republican Party, which has openly proclaimed the Christian Right agenda in its much-vaunted "Contract for the Family". Fundamentalists openly declare that they intend to impose a "Christian government" that will make America "godly" again. Jerry Falwell pontificates, "I have a Divine Mandate to go into the halls of Congress and fight for laws that will save America." (cited in Vetter 1982, p. 119) Falwell also declares, "We must, from the highest office in the land right down to the shoeshine boy in the airport, have a return to Biblical basics." (cited in Conway and Siegelman, 1984, p. 88) Falwell makes his idea of the role of government very clear: "A politician, as a minister of God, is a revenger to execute wrath upon those who do evil . . . The role of government is to minister justice and to protect the rights of its citizens by being a terror to evildoers within and without the nation." (cited in Conway and Siegelman, 1984, p. 89)

 

Pat Robertson echoes: "There was no concept of separation between God and government in the New Testament or the Old Testament . . . The concept that was before us in the Bible is that rulers are ministers of God, that the sword they weild is not in vain, but they've been placed in authority by God . . ." (700 Club, Aug 1, 1995, cited in Boston, 1996, p. 72)

Robertson is just one of the several Religious Right leaders who adamantly oppose the separation of church and state. At one point, Robertson flatly asserted that only Christians are fit to hold public office in the United States:

 

"ROBERTSON: Individual Christians are the only ones really--and Jewish people, those who trust the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--are the only ones that are qualified to have the reign, because, hopefully, they will be governed by God and submit to him.

 

BEN KINCHLOW: Obviously you're not saying that there are no other people qualified to be in government or whatever if they aren't Christians or Jews.

 

ROBERTSON: Yeah, I'm saying that. I just said it. I think anybody whose mind and body is not controlled by God Almighty is not qualified in the ultimate sense to be the judge of someone else . . . No one is fit to govern other people unless first of all something governs him. And there is only one governor I know of that is suitable to be judge of all the universe, that's God Almighty. Yes, I did say that. You can quote me. I believe it." (700 Club, January 11, 1985, cited in Boston, 1996, p. 50)

 

Robertson has also remarked on several occasions that the principle of separation of church and state is illegal and communistic. "There is nothing in the US Constitution that sanctifies the separation of church and state." (700 Club, October 2, 1984, cited in Boston, 1996, p. 70) "We often hear of the constitutionally-mandated 'separation of church and state'. Of course, as you know, that phrase appears nowhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. . . We do find this phrase in the constitution of another nation, however: 'The state shall be separate from the church, and the church from the school.' These words are not in the constitution of the United States, but that of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics--an atheistic nation sworn to the destruction of the United States of America." (Testimony before Senate Judiciary Committee, Aug 18, 1982, cited in Boston, 1996, p. 70) "They have kept us in submission because they have talked about separation of church and state. There is no such thing in the constitution. It is a lie of the left, and we're not going to take it anymore." (cited in Boston, 1996, p. 71)

 

The Christian Roundtable, an umbrella group of Religious Right figures, flatly states, "The Constitution was designed to perpetuate a Christian order." (cited in Vetter 1982, p. 5) "It is time," declares the Moral Majority Report, "to reject the godless, communistic definition of separation of church and state that says there is no place for Biblical moral law in public policy." (cited in Hill and Owen 1982, p. 45) The Colorado chapter of the Christian Coalition echoes: "There should be absolutely no 'separation of church and state' in America. (cited in Boston, 1996, p. 76)

As the fundamentalists point out, one of the most important areas in which they must impose "Biblical moral law" are the local school districts--and they make it clear that creationism is the issue which provides them with the opportunity to do this. As Tim LaHaye bluntly puts it, "The elite-evolutionist-humanist is not going to be able to control education in America forever." (LaHaye 1980, p. 3) Pat Robertson says, "Humanist values are being taught in the schools through such methods as 'values clarification'. All of these things constitute an attempt to wean children away from biblical Christianity". (cited in Boston, 1996, p. 168)

Other fundamentalist apologists are just as clear about their ultimate goals for public education:

"Our purpose must be to spread the gospel on the new mission field that the Lord has opened--public high schools". (Jay Alan Sekulow, American Center for Law and Justice, CASE Bulletin, July 1990)

"To abandon public education to Satan is to compormise our calling. The attitude and approach of Christians should be that they never expose their children to public education, but that they should work increasingly to expose public education to the claims of Christ. Certain specially suited Christians, in fact, should pray and work tirelessly to obtain teaching and school board and even administrative positions within public education. The penultimate goal of these Christians should be the privatization of these larcenous institutions, and the ultimate aim the bringing of them under the authority of Christ and His word." (Rev. Andrew Sandlin, Chalcedon Report, March 1994)

"One day, I hope in the next ten years, I trust that we will have more Christian day schools than there are public schools. I hope I will live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them." (Jerry Falwell, America Can Be Saved, 1979)

"There are 15,700 school districts in America. When we get an active Christian parents' committee in operation in all districts, we can take complete control of all local school boards. This would allow us to determine all local policy; select good textbooks; good curriculum programs; superintendants and principals." (Robert Simonds, Citizens for Excellence in Education, undated letter, 1984)

"The Christian community has a golden opportunity to train an army of dedicated teachers who can invade the public school classrooms and use them to influence the nation for Christ." (D. James Kennedy, Education; Public Problems and Private Solutions, Coral Ridge Ministries, 1993

A fundraising letter sent from the Creation Science Research Center echoes these sentiments: "We already have a state- mandated religion of atheism--of Godlessness--of Satanism--and no church training of one hour a week will overcome this onslaught of anti-God teachings in the classroom. The Church must get involved." (Letter from CSRC, cited in LaFollette 1983, p. 126) Christian Reconstructionist writer Gary North frankly points out, "Until the vast majority of Christians pull their children out of the public schools, there will be no possibility of creating a theocratic republic." (cited in Blaker, 2003, p 187)

Although the creationists like to speak about "academic freedom" and about allowing students to make a "choice", statements by creationists and their fundamentalist supporters make it clear that this is just rhetoric. The fundamentalists have a deep and barely-concealed contempt for democracy and free choice--an attitude which is not surprising given their world-view, which is based upon unquestioned obedience to an inerrant Bible and the infallible authority of those who interpret it. Jerry Falwell, in a moment of remarkable candor, once remarked that "Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions." (cited in Vetter 1982, p. 17) Democracy, then, with its messy guarantees of freedom of thought and popular control over authority, is dangerous to the fundamentalists and their world-view. Pat Robertson bluntly says, "I think 'one man, one vote', just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise". (700 Club, March 18, 1992, cited in Boston, 1996, p. 166) "Our Founding Fathers," Falwell declares, "would not accept the tyranny of a democracy because they recognized that the only sovereign over men and nations was Almighty God." (cited in Young, 1982, p. 184) Charles Stanly of Moral Majority made this anti- democratic attitude even more plain: "We do not want a democracy in this land because if we have a democracy a majority rules," (cited in Young 1982, p. 65) while Rich Anguin of the Minnesota Moral Majority adds, "Freedom of speech has never been right. We've never had freedom of speech in this country and we never should have." (cited in Young, 1982, p. 65)

Gary Potter, a Weyrich partner and head of Catholics for Political Action, states his theocratic goals with chilling clarity: "When the Christian majority takes over the country, there will be no Satanic churches, no more free distribution of pornography, no more abortion on demand, and no more talk of rights for homosexuals. After the Christian majority takes control, pluralism will be seen as immoral and evil and the state will not permit anybody the right to practice evil." (cited in Conway and Siegelman, 1984, p. 115-116) Gary North, of the Institute for Christian Economics, echos that true Christians should "get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God." (cited in Bill Moyers, "God and Politics, PBS, 1987)

And this contempt for political democracy is reflected by the creationists as well. Kelly Segraves, the co-founder of the Creation Science Research Society, declares, "Humanism is a far-reaching social program that aims for the establishment throughout the world of democracy (lowest common denominator mob rule), peace and a high standard of living." (Segraves, Creation-Science Report, January 1980, cited in LaFollette, 1983, p. 182) Apparently, Segraves views democracy, peace and a high standard of living as the work of the Devil, and is determined to use creation "science" to help stamp these evils out.

In essence, the fundamentalists and their creationist allies want to do for the United States what the fundamentalist Taliban did for Afghanistan and the Ayatollahs have done for Iran--they want to run the country in accordance with their interpretation of "God's will". As they make clear, they are perfectly willing to dismantle most of American democracy in order to save us all from Satan. Rev. James Robison puts it like this, "Let me tell you something else about the character of God. If necessary, God would raise up a tyrant--a man who might not have the best ethics--to protect the freedom and the interests of the ethical and the godly." (cited in Vetter 1982, p. 6) And there seem to be no dearth of fundamentalists willing to volunteer to become that "tyrant".

The most militant of the Ayatollah-wanna-be's are the members of the "Reconstructionist" movement. The Reconstructionists were founded by Rouas J. Rushdoony, a militant fundamentalist who was instrumental in getting Henry Morris's book The Genesis Flood published in 1961. According to Rushdoony's view, the United States should be directly transformed into a theocracy in which the fundamentalists would rule directly according to the will of God. "There can be no separation of Church and State," Rushdoony declares. (cited in Marty and Appleby 1991, p. 51) "Christians," a Reconstructionist pamphlet declares, "are called upon by God to exercise dominion." (cited in Marty and Appleby 1991, p. 50) The Reconstructionists propose doing away with the US Constitution and laws, and instead ruling directly according to the laws of God as set out in the Bible---they advocate a return to judicial punishment for religious crimes such as blasphemy or violating the Sabbath, as well as a return to such Biblically-approved punishments as stoning.

According to Rushdoony, the Second Coming of Christ can only happen after the "Godly" have taken over the earth and constructed the Kingdom of Heaven here: "The dominion that Adam first received and then lost by his Fall will be restored to redeemed Man. God's People will then have a long reign over the entire earth, after which, when all enemies have been put under Christ's feet, the end shall come." (cited in Diamond, 1989, p. 139) "Christian Reconstructionism," another pamphlet says, "is a call to the Church to awaken to its Biblical responsibility to subdue the earth for the glory of God . . . Christian Reconstructionism therefore looks for and works for the rebuilding of the institutions of society according to a Biblical blueprint." (cited in Diamond 1989, p. 136) In the Reconstructionist view, evolution is one of the "enemies" which must be "put under Christ's feet" if the godly are to subdue the earth for the glory of God.

In effect, the Reconstructionists are the "Christian" equivilent of the Taliban.

While some members of both the fundamentalist and creationist movements view the Reconstructionists as somewhat kooky, many of them have had nice things to say about Rushdoony and his followers. ICR has had close ties with Reconstructionists. Rushdoony was one of the financial backers for Henry Morris's first book, "The Genesis Flood", and Morris's son John was a co-signer of several documents produced by the Coalition On Revival, a reconstructionist coalition founded in 1984. ICR star debater Duane Gish was a member of COR's Steering Committee, as was Richard Bliss, who served as ICR's "curriculum director" until his death. Gish and Bliss were both co-signers of the COR documents "A Manifesto for the Christian Church" (COR, July 1986), and the "Forty-Two Articles of the Essentials of a Christian Worldview" (COR,1989), which declares, "We affirm that the laws of man must be based upon the laws of God. We deny that the laws of man have any inherent authority of their own or that their ultimate authority is rightly derived from or created by man." ("Forty-Two Essentials, 1989, p. 8). P>The Discovery Institute, the chief cheerleader for "intelligent design theory", is particularly cozy with the Reconstructionists. The single biggest source of money for the Discovery Institute is Howard Ahmanson, a California savings-and-loan bigwig. Ahmanson's gift of $1.5 million was the original seed money to organize the Center for Renewal of Science and Culture, the arm of the Discovery Institute which focuses on promoting "intelligent design theory" (other branches of Discovery Institute are focused on areas like urban transportation, Social Security "reform", and (anti) environmentalist organizing).

Ahmanson is a Christian Reconstructionist who was long associated with Rushdooney, and who sat with him on the board of directors of the Chalcedon Foundation -- a major Reconstructionist think-tank -- for over 20 years. Just as Rushdooney was a prime moving force behind Morris's first book, "The Genesis Flood", intelligent design "theorist" Phillip Johnson dedicated his book "Defeating Darwinism" to "Howard and Roberta" -- Ahmanson and his wife.

Ahmanson has given several million dollars over the past few years to anti-evolution groups (including Discovery Institute), as well as anti-gay groups, "Christian" political candidates, and funding efforts to split the Episcopalian Church over its willingness to ordain gay ministers and to other groups which oppose the minimum wage. He was also a major funder of the recent "recall" effort in California which led to the election of Terminator Arnie. Ahmanson is also a major funder of the effort for computerized voting, and he and several other prominent Reconstructionists have close ties with Diebold, the company that would manufacture the computerized voting machines if they were used. There has been some criticism of Diebold because it refuses to make the source code of its voting machine software available for scrutiny, and its software does not allow anyone to track voting after it is done (no way to confirm accuracy of the machine). This ease of possible "vote-fixing" may or may not be connected to the belief of Diebold's Reconstructionist backers that only "Christians" should be allowed to vote.

Some of Ahmanson's donations are channeled through the Fieldstead Foundation, which is a subspecies of the Ahmanson foundation "Fieldstead" is Ahmanson's middle name). The Fieldstead Foundation funds many of the travelling and speaking expenses of the DI's shining stars.

But the Reconstructionists are not the only kooks who find support among fundies. Pat Robertson has also had some nice things to say about some of the right-wing "militias", and invited a guest from the Militia of Montana to serve as an "expert" for a piece on the BATF and FBI that ran after the Oklahoma bombing. "A lot of it goes right back to what happened with the Branch Davidians, Randy Weaver and these other people," Robertson said (in a statement that could have come from any of a dozen different militia nuts). "It's reminiscient of the Nazis, and something's got to be done". (700 Club, July 11, 1995, cited in Boston, 1996, p. 141) In his book "The New World Order", Robertson manages to parrot virtually every one of the canards tossed around by the paranoid Right. According to Robertson, a secret cabal of "international (read: "Jewish") bankers and financiers", along with the Illuminati, the Trilateral Commission and various other groups, is trying to destroy Christianity, take over the world and impose a satanic "one world government". Among other things, says Robertson, these conspirators killed Lincoln, started the First World War, have taken over the world monetary system, and are using the education system to destroy morality so the US can be taken over by UN troops.

In the book, Robertson cites as "authorities" Nesta Webster, an early 20th century anti-Semite who wrote Secret Societies and Subversive Movements. Robertson also lists as a resource Secrets of the Federal Reserve, by Eustace Mullins. Mullins, an anti-Semite and racist who argued that the Jews were using the Federal Reserve to control the country, was also the author of Proof of Negro Inferiority and The Hitler We Loved and Why. Robertson's paranoid ravings are extremely popular among the militia and neo-Nazi movements, and the book is available from many far-Right sources. Another evangelist with ties to neo-Nazi and right-wing militia movements is Jack van Impe. On several occasions, van Impe has presented "news stories" about foreign troops in the US which are training to take over the country at the behest of the UN--a standard canard of the loony Right. He has further stated that the armed militias are one way to counter the evils of the "one world government". Van Impe's sources for his "news stories" include The Spotlight, the publication of the anti-Semitic and racist Liberty Lobby and the Patriot Report. Finally, there is Chuck Missler, founder of Koinonia House in Idaho and a minister with the Cavalry Chapels in california. Missler publishes the newsletter "Personal Update", which uses at its sources The Spotlight and the American Patriot Fax Network, run by various militias, "Christian Identity" racist groups, and neo-Nazis. Among other things, Missler has suggested that the Federal government blew up the Alfred Murrah Building in Oklahoma City in an attempt to blame it on the militia movement and discredit it.

Creationists also parrot a lot of standard militia and "Christian Patriot" baloney. In a "Back to Genesis" article that discusses the Pope's recent announcement concerning evolution, Morris presents a picture that could could have come from any of a number of far-right loons and militia types. After informing readers that His Holiness the Pope has announced that it's not ungodly to believe the theory of evolution, Morris makes this VERY curious statement: "One cannot help suspecting that the recent spate of events and media articles 'puffing' evolution is being orchestrated somewhere to combat the modern resurgance of creationism around the world." (ICR, Back to Genesis, "Evolution and the Pope", December 1996, p. 1)

Veteran right-wing watchers will immediately recognize this schtick----the old "worldwide conspiracy to destroy god, mother and country". "They" are "orchestrating" everywhere, according to Morris---and evolution is their weapon. The Pope's pronouncement comes as no surprise to Morris, since after all he already KNEW that the Whore of Babylon was doing the work of Satan on earth. After all, Morris points out, Teilhard de Chardin, a CATHOLIC PRIEST, was a supporter of evolutionary theory. "Evolution was, to all intents and purposes," says Morris, "Teilhard's 'god', and his goal was globalism, a unified world government, culture and religion, with all religions merged into one." (Back to Genesis, December 1996)

Again, right-wing watchers will immediately recognize Morris's description of "the enemy"---it is "the new world order", that international conglomeration of dark forces who are conspiring to force the world into socialism, atheism, free sex, anarchy and humanism. As Morris puts it, "All cults and movements associated with the "new world order" of the so-called New Age Movement have two things in common--evolutionism as their base and globalism as their goal." (Back to Genesis, December 1996)

And who is beind this "globalist conspiracy"? Well, of course the Pope must be a member in good standing: "Since his election, he has increasingly been promoting a syncrestic agenda." (Back to Genesis, December 1996). And, says Morris, just look at who the Pope has met with during his tenure:

"There are more and more signs that such globalism is also the aim of Pope John Paul II and other modern liberal Catholics. If so, this publicized commitment to evolutionism would contribute substantially to such a goal. All world religions--including most of mainline Protestantism, as well as Hinduism, Buddhism and the rest--except for Biblical Christianity, Orthodox Judaism and Fundamentalist Islam, have embraced some form of evolutionism (either theistic, deistic or pantheistic) and rejected or allegorized the true record of origins in Genesis. The Pope has participated in important meetings with leaders of Communism, Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Lamaism and others, as well as the World Council of Churches, the Trilateral Commission, the B'nai B'rith of liberal Judaism, and a wide assortment of still others."

So there you have it, folks. The Pope, in concert with the Communists and the Trilateral Commission (an "enemies list" that will be very familiar to right-wing militia-watchers) is part of a vast international conspiracy to destroy Christianity and impose a secular humanist one-world-government upon us all.

Indeed, the Reconstructionists, militia "Christian Patriots" and the creation "scientists" differ from each other only in degree, not in kind. All of these factions agree that the US should be run according to "Christian" values and beliefs; all of these factions agree that THEY are the final arbiters of what "God's will" really is. And all of these factions view creationism as a weapon with which to bring about this "Christian order".

And what would this fundamentalist utopia look like? Some of the statements and actions of the fundamentalists are illustrative. The Christian Right has spent enormous time and effort in pushing for legislation to protect the "traditional family", as they define it according to Biblical terms. In Indiana and Washington, fundamentalists have sued in an attempt to have all state child-abuse and wife-beating laws repealed, on the grounds that such laws violated their religious freedom by interfering with the Biblical right of a father to "have dominion" over his wife and children and by abridging the father's "divine right to discipline" (cited in Vetter, 1982 pp. 6-7)

Another area which attracts a lot of fundamentalist attention is homosexuality; fundamentalists have made massive efforts to oppose and roll back civil rights for gays and lesbians, in an effort to marginalize them and eventually ghettoize them. And some fundamentalists make no secret of the fact that they would go much further in their treatment of homosexuals if given the chance. Chuck Spingola, a supporter of the fundamentalist "Army of God" group, says, "These people are vile folks. . . If you deal with these people long enough, you understand the wisdom of God when he says that they should be put to death". (cited in Blaker, 2003, p 10). Dean Wycoff of the California Moral Majority frankly admits, "I agree with capital punishment and I believe that homosexuality . . . could be coupled with murder and other sins. It would be the government that sits upon this land who will be executing the homosexuals." (cited in Young, 1982, p. 77)

The fundamentalists' rabid homophobia has even led some of them to reject the one document that has long served as their one and only "true source" -- the King James Bible. When historians were able to confim that King James was, in fact, himself a homosexual, some fundamentalists released their hellfire: fundamentalist presidential candidate Gary Bauer thundered, "I feel uncomfortable that good Christians All over America, and indeed the world, are using a document commissioned by a homosexual. Anything that has been commissioned by a homosexual has obviously been tainted in some way." (cited in Blaker, 2003, p 26). In response, some fundamentalists have been urging Christians to reject the King James Bible in favor of other translations, and a few fundamentalists have even produced their own "translations" and "paraphrases" which, they declare, tell us all "what the Bible really meant to say".

This, then, is the picture that emerges of the ultimate aims of the fundamentalists and their creationist allies: a "theocratic republic" in which a "Christian order" will "take over every area of life"; in which democracy is contemptuously referred to as "mob rule" and a "tyranny", and where we "never should have" freedom of speech; in which "pluralism will be seen as immoral and evil" and "the state will not permit anybody the right to sin"; a nation in which people, "like slaves and soldiers", ask no questions; where the separation of church and state is "communistic" and Christians rule by "Divine mandate"; where laws are ordained by God and the "sinful" are executed by the state. In short, the fundamentalists want a theocratic police state. After all, a police state is great--if you happen to be the police.

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