Nationalism co-opts religion, insanity takes hold: Missouri’s state religion, ‘Religious virgins’ in South Dakota, Kentucky’s religious test for public office, faith-based national security

Washington, March 10 – This Sunday on “State of Belief,” best-selling author Chris Hedges talks with the Rev. Welton Gaddy about the dangerous intersection of religion and nationalism in America. In his weekly review of religion in the news, Welton declares that insanity has taken hold across the nation.

 

Also on the show:

–          Patty and Terry Laban, creators of the nationally syndicated comic strip Edge City, say that incorporating their faith into the comic strip broadened their audience;

–          The Rev. Tim Carson, Senior Minister of Webster Groves Christian Church in St Louis expresses alarm at Missouri’s attempt to establish Christianity as the official state religion; and

–          Commentary from the Rev. Dr. Joseph C. Hough, Jr., president of Union Theological Seminary.

 

“There’s no other way to put it: insanity takes hold across the nation,” Welton says. “Missouri’s trying to establish a state religion; Kentucky’s attempting a religious test for public office; and South Dakota is banning abortion — except for ‘religious virgins,’ of course.”

 

Hedges tells Welton that the religious right is similar to “the intolerant and totalitarian movements I’ve covered in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe….The religious right in this country is really about the destruction of reality-based media….The hard right wants the destruction of institutions that can engage in self-criticism.”

 

A religion scholar, war correspondent, and Harvard Divinity School graduate, Hedges is the author of “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning” and “Losing Moses on the Freeway.”

Welton also comments on:

–          Jerry Falwell and Gary Bauer now allowing Jews to enter Heaven;

–          President Bush taking another whack at the wall separating religion and government;

–          California’s Cardinal Mahony vowing to defy the law if Congress requires houses of worship to deny help to anyone lacking government documentation.