I think one rather amusing thing about the evangelical phenomenon in the US, is how, in a rather ironic turn of events, it has become one of the most aggressive forces against theocracy. People always say that evangelicals use theocratic law and that it is unconstitutional and contradicts organic legal documents etc. But this ignores precisely the argument that evangelicals make, namely, that they have the religious right to discriminate, hate others, abuse people, be greedy, take advantage and whatever else.
And that is not actually theocracy. Theocracy would be to say that you have a duty to these things. More often than not, secularism is the best friend of evangelicals, they use secular appeals of individual choice. It just so happens that it is individual choices where the consequences affect more than just the individual making said choice. They actually very much enjoy secularism and secular rights, the only time they object to it is when someone else wants to exercise theirs.
But that has always been the appeal of individualism. It is the individual’s right to own slaves for instance, obviously it can only work under individualism to have slavery, because the moment you extend such a choice to the purview of more than one person, slavery stops existing. No one ever said “Okay, fair enough, I do the work, you sit at home, and if I need motivation you can just beat me or torture my family. No problem, sounds good.”
Individualism has always been the source of the most brutal tyranny, because it means power over others. Whenever something affects several people, you pick one individual to be in charge, and then call despotism a freedom. It’s an amazing invention by slave owning English philosophers from the 1700s.
And it just comes to show how there is in fact neither any freedoms, nor Christianity for that matter, in the US. The vapid mockery of religion that they have, with their televangelists and megachurches and gay rehabilitation camps where they sexually abuse teenagers for money and what have you is only found in the bible if you read the cautionary tale of Gomorrah.
Because when you study more historic sources of the bible, and less idiotic pamphlets written by wealthy heretics, then it becomes clear that a lot of that homophobia and hostility to sexual divergence is a very new notion. More often than not, the original Greek bible especially, denounced predatory and nonconsensual sexual interactions.
I believe the work that began to revise this was the King James bible, which on the face of it is an atrocious strike against Christianity. Imagine the audacity to title a bible with King. Christ is the only king. The bible makes this clear. Christianity was formed just some decades after the abolition of the Roman Republic, and it was a movement that was created by Romans who had, since the overthrow of the monarchy, been proud republicans.
To think that a presiding King can be a Christian, and let alone actually have the audacity to write gospel, is blasphemy of the highest order. Not only does he claim the title of Christ, he even imitates the work of Christ. It’s obscene.
What’s even more obscene is how these evangelicals across the Atlantic then proceed to profane the good name of republicanism, whilst following the traditions and politics of an English king who is, in every possible interpretation, the clear example of what a wolf in sheep’s clothing looks like.
So it is quite laughable to me how these evangelicals, with their mutilated bible, their mutilated politics, their mutilated faith, and their mutilated secularism manage so well to avoid critical thinking. Their worldview is possibly the most heretical example of any Abrahamic faith, from their love of money, to their hatred of their neighbors. From their devotion to monarchs even in republics, to their love of war and weapons.
People who spend more time talking about the bible than reading it may imagine that the devil can be found among Satanists, but that is not what Revelations tell us. Revelations warn us that the devil is found in the empire. In those who desire war, who commit lies, and who profess a false faith.
The devil preaches against the poor, and against the sinner. The devil is quick to remember the faults of others, and just as quick to forget his own transgressions. When it is time to help and forgive, he offers excuses, when it is time to atone and repent, he offers justifications.
The devil steps over the homeless, and bends a knee to the landlord. He shuns poverty and pursues wealth. He preaches abstinence, charity, humility and virtue, and then goes home to his own personal mansion.
The devil is the clergyman of the slumlord, the billionaire, the politician, the general and the arms dealer. He sees borders where Christians see brotherhood. He sees profits where Christians see compassion. He sees abominations where Christians see humanity. He leads people astray, and counts his money as he does so.
He has his home in the gilded and ornate halls of the Vatican, and his summer houses in the Megachurches of the US, dwelling among Catholics and Protestants alike. The devil is not a Satanist, the devil is a flag saluting jingoist who lives in wealth, hypocrisy, and idolatry. Because if he was a Satanist, then he would not be the father of all lies.
