Angle From Another Angle
by digby
I’m a little bit surprised to see Sharron Angle’s comments about Sharia law in America getting so much play, since they were revealed last week. (I wrote about it.)
Of course, nobody is talking about the amazing gall of someone who holds Christian Reconstructionist views attacking American Muslims for instituting Sharia law (which didn’t even happen.) That would be terribly rude. But it’s worth looking into. She’s a full blown theocratic nutcase:
The Las Vegas Sun reported this a couple of months ago:
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle describes her motivation for seeking elected office as a religious calling.Politics, including her bid to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is God’s purpose for her life — one he has long been preparing her for, she says.“When God calls you, he also equips you and he doesn’t just say ‘Well, today you’re going to run against Harry Reid.’ There is a preparation,” she said during a recent interview on the Christian Broadcasting Network. “Moses had his preparatory time. Paul had his preparatory time. Even Jesus had his preparatory time, and so my preparation began on a school board.”Although those remarks triggered surprise and even outrage last week, people familiar with Angle’s career in public life understood.A Southern Baptist active in her church, Angle’s religious convictions have informed many of her positions throughout her years in politics. She believes abortion is a violation of God’s will and should be banned in all cases. She argued for the religious freedom of private and home schools. And she has said that public policy should support the “traditional” family structure as described in the Bible, in which one parent stays home with the children while the other works.Indeed, although many Americans view the separation of church and state as one of the keys to the nation’s success as a multicultural society, Angle believes that religion has an expansive role to play in government. And, she has repeatedly said anyone who opposes that based on the claim of separation of church and state misunderstands the Constitution’s ban on “establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”In this regard, Angle’s view of religion’s role in government parallels that of a religious political movement — Christian Reconstructionism — seeking to return American civil society to biblical law.[…]
To accomplish that, Reconstructionists interpret the separation of church and state doctrine as a constitutional wall protecting the church from the state. But unlike most interpretations of that doctrine, the Reconstructionists’ envisions a gaping one-way hole in the wall that allows Christian doctrine to infuse government. In other words, government must not interfere with Christians’ efforts to enact God’s law at home or at church and government itself should be run according to biblical law.
But hey, no need to mention that. We should leave it to the right wingers to define what theocracy is — Muslim.
Sharron will be getting some help from Gloenn Beck’s Black Robed Regiment chief pastor soon:
Nevada Renewal Project Oct. 21-22 in Las Vegas:
“Will you please put a little effort in helping us get Nevada pastors to the Rediscovering God in America event? We want to do everything we can to make sure Nevada does not stand alone in the fight to restore its Judeo Christian heritage!”
The Texas Restoration Project organizers — including David Barton of WallBuilders and the Rev. Laurence White of Houston — have used their Texas contact list to promote similar groups across the country since 2005, mostly in election years. Over time, in fact, Restoration and Renewal projects have popped up in many political battleground states, from Nevada to Florida and Iowa to Colorado. The obvious goal has been to mobilize conservative pastors in support of selected Republican candidates (who often speak at the events). Pastors are then encouraged essentially to turn drag their own churches into partisan politics.
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