The danger is that the religious right does not work that openly in most
cases. Their avowed purpose is to change the constitution and the
statutes of our nation so that the bible will be the basis for all of
our laws. To this end, they run "stealth" candidates in local
elections--candidates who purposely hide their beliefs and their
intentions until after they have been elected. This tactic has resulted
in some recall elections when the candidates' true agenda was
discovered, but most of the deceivers continue in office. On the
national level, legislation is hamstrung by the attachment of riders,
such as the one that prohibits financial aid to countries that might use
the money for birth control--even though that religious agenda is in
defiance of our own legal rights. Their strategy is not to present
their ideas to the democratic process; their strategy is to sneak up
behind us.
>
> My final point is we seem to be reaching a point of near hysteria on this
> list.
There is an old joke that says, "It isn't paranoia if they are really
after you." It wasn't hysteria to warn Californians that El Nino was
coming and they had better buy some sandbags. It isn't hysteria to warn
people of a danger such as this. We need to start putting sandbags
around the constitution.
-- Dennis M. Southwood dms1@home.com