As the daily grind of news reports about attempts by legislative bodies controlled by the Republican Party to repress the gay community under the heel of fascist domination continues, one must wonder if and how this trend will cease. The very freedoms and ideals that have always signified what America represents are being tossed aside like so many out-of-date quaint old ideas. This trend will only pick up in the foreseeable future.
South Dakota has already passed an anti-abortion law so that it will become a test case for the Supreme Court under Roberts, in the hope of reversing Roe v. Wade. The hope is that the new Court will invalidate the right of women to control their bodies and return that control to the State. Soon to follow no doubt, will be cases on the right to die, gay rights, Miranda, and any other law that protects an individuals rights over the state.
But this is to be expected under the reign of a President who thinks that the Constitution is just “a Goddamned piece of paper,” or with Justices of the Supreme Court like Scalia who believe this same document to be dead rather than living. The utter contempt that these scions of government and justice show to the founding documents of this great nation is outrageous but pales in comparison to the utter indifference to which the vast majority of the American public show by allowing this to occur.
Ultimately, we the people are responsible for our own freedoms and for the continuation of democracy within these United States. It is by the will of the people that elected government serves in the best interests of the people. But in order for this ideal to continue with the result of preserving our union as it has been handed down to us from our ancestors, we must take the responsibility to become involved to insure the integrity of our nation.
Whenever and wherever dark forces threaten our freedom, be they foreign or domestic, we must rise to the challenge. The call must go out for all citizens who value and cherish freedom to vote this year in the mid-term elections. It is only through this process as a civilized society that we may defeat those who seek to enslave us in a system where only the corporations and their lackeys benefit from the national government. Never has the stench of corruption been more malodorous as it is now with the current administration. This corruption has been aided and abetted by the Christian right in this country, which closely resembles radical fundamentalist movements from around the world. United, this unholy alliance has turned back the clocks of progress and returned the United States to a time when police dogs tore at the very flesh of those persecuted by society and the state. If we do not fight back against these forces of repression, and regain that which is most precious in our national heritage, than we deserve what we get. We deserve a government whereby the same conservative party controls all three branches, insuring that no checks and balances exist.
It is time now for the religious left and center to join with the political left and center to confront the downward spiral of radical right-wing fundamentalism that is relegating our country to the status of a second rate banana republic.
“It is time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.”
Author of The Gay Face of God and If He’s Queer He Musta Done It, Archbishop Bruce J. Simpson, OSJB studied at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and Catholic University of America and was ordained a priest in 1996 by the Reformed Catholic Church and consecrated bishop in 1999. He went on to serve as the Archbishop Protector of the Benedictine Order of St. John the Beloved, the oldest Old Catholic Benedictine order in the United States.