Francesca Rheannon discusses Obama’s decision to perpetuate pandering to religious leaders in order to shore up his church-based support. Bolstering bigotry through federal handouts to churches, while unconstitutional, is nevertheless attractive to unscrupulous politicians like Bush and Obama, precisely because this pork-barrel patronage buys votes. Unfortunately, it also fortifies fascism, restocking the reserves of religious fundamentalists which they in turn use to undermine civil and human rights.
The wedding of church and state, initiated under Reagan, promises to be an obstacle to democracy for the foreseeable future. Obama’s embracing of The Family means the fascist foundation laid by Reagan-Bush will now undergird discriminatory aspects of the anti-democratic movement in America.
While this scourge is no change from the past, neither does it warrant hope for the future.
The library is dedicated to the memory of Secwepemc Chief George Manuel (1921-1989), to the nations of the Fourth World and to the elders and generations to come.
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