We are a country of many faiths, and we should not be legislating with just one of those religions as our guide. We should be relying on our founding documents for our laws, not religious texts.

In a previous posting, I mentioned the letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to William Stephen Smith, John Adams's son-in-law, in 1787. At the time, I made reference to a quotation in the letter about the Tree of Liberty. However, in this instance, I would like to point out a very important part at the very beginning:

I do not know whether it is to yourself or Mr. Adams I am to give my thanks for the copy of the new constitution. I beg leave through you to place them where due. It will be yet three weeks before I shall receive them from America. There are very good articles in it: and very bad. I do not know which preponderate.

Jefferson flat-out said there were good and bad articles in the Constitution. Modern historians and pundits like to argue that we will never know how the Founding Fathers felt about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights or individual amendments, but if you look a little further than the Bill of Rights or the Constitution and look at copies of the ratification debates, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers, or correspondence such as Jefferson's letter to Smith, you will see exactly how they felt and what they thought. 

The Republican party has historically cherished and respected the Constitution, but as time goes on, I don't see the love for it that they claim to have. I am a registered Republican, but I'm not proud of it. I'm registered as one because, as of this writing, there is no other political party that has viability that has the conservative values I hold. I like to refer to myself first as a Constitutional Conservative and second as a Republican. I say that because, more and more, I see Republican politicians and pundits alike acting like either Democrats or Authoritarians. 

Former Vice President and current Republican presidential candidate Mike Pence doesn't shy away from talking about his Christian faith and his desire to have this country "renew" their faith in God. In his closing statement during the GOP presidential debates, Pence expanded on the prompt from Fox News' Bret Baier, saying:

“God is not done with America yet,” Pence said, “and if we will renew our faith in him who has ever guided this nation since we arrived on these wilderness shores, I know the best days for the greatest nation on earth are yet to come.”

Pence's words were par for the course for many Republican candidates, politicians, and pundits. They speak of faith quite often, but where I get concerned is when they advance legislation or policy decisions based on the Christian faith. Politico covered the rise in this rhetoric with Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Doug Mastriano. 

Prominent Republican politicians have made the themes critical to their message to voters in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, has argued that America is a Christian nation and that the separation of church and state is a “myth.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia hard-liner, declared: “We need to be the party of nationalism and I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian Nationalists.” Amid a backlash, she doubled down and announced she would start selling “Christian Nationalist” shirts.

Furthermore, the Republican Party quietly, but not quietly enough, uses Christianity or adherence to it as a litmus test of sorts to prove one's loyalty or value as a Republican. Back in January of 2023, when Republican Harmeet Dhillon was making her run for chair of the Republican National Committee, she faced serious and, quite frankly, disgusting criticism of her Sikh Faith. Dhillon was and continues to be a reputable and loyal Republican even after going through what she did. 

Conservative pundit Matt Walsh took another self-admitted authoritarian stance when he advocated banning pornography. Now, Walsh does make valid arguments for the desire to at least strongly regulate pornography, such as protecting children and other vulnerable communities from access to it. I strongly agree that we need to tighten regulations regarding access to porn. That is common sense, and as a parent myself, I can appreciate that.

But these examples are what I believe is the problem with Republican politics. We have stopped fighting for the Constitution and have now started fighting to diminish it. Republicans claim to be the party that supports family values, religion, personal freedoms, and small government. But what it really seems like, at least to me, is supporting family values (as long as its a husband and wife), religions (as long as it's Christianity and certainly not the Church of Satan), personal freedoms (unless you're watching porn) and small government (but we'll need to form a government agency to monitor the porn and Satan's Church church part too). More and more, I see Republicans advocate for the usage of government to force ideology on the nation. I strongly oppose this, and so should you. 

RedState's very own Ward Clark wrote a very good piece regarding some of these topics. I like to refer to myself as a recovering Catholic, as I was born and raised in that Church and now see myself as an agnostic. My Bible is the Constitution, my disciples are Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, and Lieutenant General Lewis "Chesty" Puller. I would love to see a government so small that people would wonder if it was there at all. Is that a pipe dream? Probably, but one can dream, can't they? 

If the Republican Party wanted to win, they'd adjust their way of thinking on some hot topic issues. For starters, the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a victory for the Constitution and for the 10th Amendment. Abortion is a states' rights issue, not one for the federal government. States should be able to decide for themselves if they want to allow it or not. Republicans, for the most part, said this after it was struck down shortly before the 2022 midterm elections. At the time, Republicans were slated to gain an almost supermajority in the House and full control of the Senate. Then, Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced his anti-abortion bill to the Senate two months before the elections. He obviously didn't care about the Constitution when he did that, and numerous polls showed that the abortion issue, highlighted by Graham's bill, played a large part in Republicans losing the Senate and barely scraping together a slim majority in the House.

Next, Republicans should really take a long, hard look at the Constitution and see where it mentions gay or lesbian couples. What they do in their bedroom and household is none of our business, and neither is their marriage. If we look to history as our guide, we are reminded that Democrats passed several laws banning interracial marriages, and they were eventually struck down by the Supreme Court in the Loving v. Virginia decision. Why can't the Republican party just come out and say they support gay marriage? Better yet, how about Republicans advocate removing government from marriage entirely? Our voter base would be solidified if we welcomed that community with open arms. 

Republicans need to stop trying to push Christianity on the nation. Yes, it was inspired by Judeo/Christian values, and there is nothing wrong with that. Human hands and minds drafted the Constitution, and it is imperfect; yes, that is true. But there is nothing wrong with that. The Bible is God's word, but it was drafted by man. This nation is comprised of several religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islamism among them. Some citizens have no religion or God at all. This nation will never be folded into one religion or the other; the sooner we stop trying to legislate by religious authority, the better off we will be. Remember, liberty is something we must cherish and fight to the death, if need be, to protect and defend. I took an oath several times in my life. I swore that "I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same..." I will live my life and die, if need be, by that oath.

Unfortunately, the concept of liberty is being forgotten, and it's in danger of slipping away under the rolling waves of government power. It's time to wake up and look around, take note of all that's changing, and do something about it. We could start by holding our politicians accountable for not upholding their oath and recognizing that the only document worth fighting for is the United States Constitution.