Edward Dolan said:blah blah...
The Christian Taliban
By Stephen Pizzo, AlterNet
March 28, 2004
During the Taliban rule of Afghanistan the world got a good look at what
happens when religious zealots gain control of a government. Television
images of women being beaten forced to wear burkas and banned from
schools and the workplace helped build strong public support for the
President's decision to invade Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11.
But even as President George W. Bush denounced the brutal Islamic
fundamentalist regime in Kabul, he was quietly laying the foundations
for his own fundamentalist regime at home. For the first time far right
Christian fundamentalists had one of their own in the White House and
the opportunity to begin rolling back decades of health and family
planning programs they saw as un-Christian, if not downright sinful.
Since 2001 dozens of far-right Christian fundamentalists have been
quietly installed in key positions within the Department of Health and
Human Services, the Federal Drug Administration and on commissions and
advisory committees where they have made serious progress. Three years
later this administration has established one of the most rigid sexual
health agendas in the Western world.
It began immediately. One of George W. Bush's first acts as president
was to issue an executive memorandum reinstating a global abortion "gag
rule." The rule was first implemented under Ronald Reagan but revoked
during the two Clinton administrations. The rule prohibited federally
funded family planning providers from even discussing abortion with
their clients.
Bush's order reflected the views of those at farthest reaches of the
Christian right, zealots who saw any means by which women controlled
reproduction as unbiblical:
"I would like to outlaw contraception...contraception is disgusting -
people using each other for pleasure." -Joseph Scheidler, Pro-Life
Action League
"I don't think Christians should use birth control. You consummate your
marriage as often as you like - and if you have babies, you have
babies." Randall Terry, Operation Rescue
Over the next twelve months the administration moved quickly to install
similarly-minded Christian fundamentalists to positions of authority and
influence over all matters relating to reproductive and sexual health.
Dr. Alma Golden: appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Population
Affairs. A Texas pediatrician, she is a longtime proponent of abstinence
as the only acceptable means of birth control. Dr. Golden declared that
henceforth the department would stress "abstinence-only" as the solution
to unwanted pregnancies, not just for teens, but unmarried adults as well.
Tom Coburn: Former Republican congressman and anti-condom crusader.
Appointed co-chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS.
While in congress Coburn tried to force condom manufacturers to label
condoms as "ineffective" against the spread of sexually transmitted
infections. "I will challenge the national focus on condom use to
prevent the spread of HIV," Coburn said upon his appointment.
Dr. Joseph McIlhaney, Jr.: Appointed to Coburn on the HIV and AIDS
advisory council. McIlhaney has a long and well-documented history of
disseminating misleading data on condom failure rates. He was appointed
in spite of the fact that in 1995 Governor George W. Bush's own Texas
Commissioner of Health openly denounced McIhaney's anti-condom
propaganda and his professional credibility.
Dr. W. David Hager: Appointed to the FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs
Advisory Committee. Dr. Hager served as spokesperson for the Christian
Medical Association. He authored the book, As Jesus Cared for Women:
Restoring Women Then and Now, and co-authored a book that recommended
scripture readings and prayers to relieve the symptoms of PMS. Dr. Hager
opposes prescribing contraceptives to unmarried women and spearheaded a
petition drive by the Christian Medical Association to revoke the FDA's
approval of mifepristone, the so-called "morning after pill."
Dr. Joseph B. Stanford: Also appointed to the Reproductive Health Drugs
Advisory Committee. Dr. Stanford is on record for his belief that the
only acceptable form of contraception, besides abstinence, is the
all-natural "rhythm method." Dr. Stanford refuses to prescribe
contraceptives, stating that "(modern) medicine is permeated with
attitudes toward sexuality and fertility that are incompatible with
Christian values of the sanctity of life, marriage, and procreation,
attitudes that both reflect and perpetuate the recreational approach to
sexuality found in our secular culture."
Susan A. Crockett: The third Christian fundamentalist appointed to the
same FDA committee. Crockett served as a board member of the American
Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She
co-authored, "Using Hormone Contraceptives is a Decision Involving
Science, Scripture, and Conscience" in the book, The Reproductive
Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality, Reproductive
Technologies and the Family. The book was edited by Dr. Hager.
When the hot issue of stem-cell research came up, President Bush
dismissed two members of his Council on Bioethics who had each strongly
supported the use of embryonic stem cells in research. They were
replaced by three new members who, as the pro-life Family Research
Council reported, "fall more in line with the President's pro-life views."
Information became a prime target of the Christian Taliban. President
Bush says he respects "good science," when making public policy. But,
the crux of the matter apparently hinges on the definition of "good,"
especially when it comes to family-planning issues. When good science
clashes with Biblical fundamentalist beliefs in this administration,
science loses every time.
Early in 2001 Bush's Christian Taliban began scrubbing federal
information sources of offending materials. The censorship campaign
prompted Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) to send a letter to o HHS
Secretary Thompson demanding an explanation for the removal of
information from HHS Web of scientific findings by the National Cancer
Institute that, contrary to anti-choice propaganda, abortions do not
increase the risk of breast cancer. Thompson never responded but the
"cleansing" continued.
-Scientific data on condom use, long available on government health Web
sites, was removed and replaced by sermons on abstinence and alarmist
propaganda that exaggerated the risks of condom use.
-The phrase "reproductive health" was expunged and replaced with the
vague terms "related clinical preventive health services" and "related
preventive health services."
-Links to non-governmental family planning resources were deleted.
-Web sites at the Centers of Disease Control and National Institute of
Health were cleared of scientific studies and materials relating to
abortion and condom use.
-At the CDC results from a peer-reviewed study showing that education
about condom use did not result in increased sexual activity or sex at
younger age, were deleted from the Web site.
-The NIH's Web site was cleaned of FAQ's on condom effectiveness and a
sexuality education curriculum called "Programs that Work."
Good science was disappearing from government publications and Web sites
at such a pace that the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a report in
early 2004 documenting and condemning the Bush administration.
There is significant evidence that the scope and scale of the
manipulation, suppression and misrepresentation of science by the Bush
administration is unprecedented... There is a well-established pattern
of suppression and distortion of scientific findings by high-ranking
Bush administration political appointees across numerous federal
agencies. These actions have consequences for human health, public
safety, and community well-being." (Union of Concerned Scientists,
report, Scientific Integrity in Policymaking. 2004.)
So, even as the Bush administration denounced and battled Islamic
religious zealotry abroad it was and is nurturing a fundamentalist
Christian version here at home, much to the delight of radical
right-wing Christians.
"Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible is not neutral about what kind
of government we should have," states Dr. Mark Allen Ludwig, author of
True Christian Government.
"God gave governments responsibility only for infrastructure and
defense," according to an article by Rev. Bob Enyart, pastor of Denver
Bible Church. "If government limited itself to its two just functions,
thereby getting out of education, health care, farming, etc., it could
better defend America. ... Christians who carefully study the Bible are
best qualified to teach the world how it should be governed."
One of the oldest and best-established forces in the Christian Taliban
attack on secular government has been the Christian Coalition. Recently
the group threw its full weight behind the President's push for a
constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The Christian Coalition
has been conducting a "Let's Take America Back" national petition drive
over the last several months, which now also includes support for the
so-called Federal Marriage Amendment. The Christian Coalition mission
statement states:
We are driven by the belief that people of faith have a right and a
responsibility to be involved in the world around them. That involvement
includes community, social and political action. Whether on a stump, in
print, over the airways the Christian Coalition is dedicated to
equipping and educating God's people with the resources and information
to battle against anti-family legislation.
What is remarkable is that this was accomplished without significant
public outcry. The reason is that America's Christian Taliban are more
public relations savvy than their Islamic counterparts. No American
women are being forced to cover up, beaten for appearing in public
wearing make up, or barred from the workplace. The changes being made
are more subtle and less visibly shocking. They are incremental,
technical, administrative - but far-reaching.
They have also gotten away with it because we Americans like to consider
ourselves tolerant and respectful of religious beliefs. Openly