By Bob Topper
Biden was too old for the job; he was slow and feeble. But he was typically coherent, and he surrounded himself with competent people. Under his leadership, the country recovered from the Covid crisis, developed the world’s strongest economy and government focused on the needs of the people.
With the exception of die-hard Trumpers, it has become obvious to all that we elected another old man, this one actually incoherent and incompetent. Trump’s abuse of the law that prohibits using his office for personal gain, his absurd inflationary tariff trade war, his chaotic foreign policy, the DOGE war on government institutions, and the selection of a loyal but incompetent cabinet, especially the inexperienced and inept Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense and an unhinged Robert Kennedy Jr., as Secretary of Health and Human Services, all expose a weak and confused mind with authoritarian ambitions. Fortunately, the courts have tempered his rampage, and the country may survive.
But appreciate how we came to this sad state. The decline began 50 years ago, when the Grand Old Party welcomed the support of Christian extremists. Gradually, they came to dominate, and today 61 percent of Republicans favor declaring the United States a Christian nation even though that would violate our constitution. The Republican theocrat’s goal is now God-fearing Christian Nationalism. To that end they supported and elected Donald Trump.
But our Constitution defines America as a secular nation and citizenship requires that all abide by the Constitution as it is written. It can be changed only by amendment. To establish America a Christian Nation by any means other than amendment violates the Constitution. The Christian right has made no effort to amend the Constitution, so the patriotism of those who support Christian Nationalism must be questioned and checked. They should appreciate that while the majority of the Founding Fathers were Christian, they wrote and approved a secular Constitution. It is irrational to think that our nation can be officially Christian and at the same time guarantee religious freedom.
Maybe elephants really are afraid of mice, for the Grand Old Party is obsessed with groundless fears such as… “they are taking our guns away;” “they want our girls and boys to transition;” “they want to kill infants.” All are misrepresentations of the liberal positions, which are fundamentally a defense of civil liberties.
An extremely small percentage of boys and girls exhibit gender dysphoria, “According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, gender dysphoria prevalence accounts for 0.005–0.014% of the population for biological males and 0.002–0.003% for biological females.”
No one promotes it, but it is a fact that a small number of children identify with the opposite gender. To deny that is foolish, and a free society must accommodate everyone. Even 0.004 percent have a right to live life as they choose. The Trump administration is wrong to deny that freedom.
And Roe v. Wade did not permit killing infants. It guaranteed a woman’s right, until viability, to abort pregnancy. The Roberts court did not question the logic of Roe, and it erred in leaving the matter to the states. They obviously knew that in states where Christians held a majority, they would impose their religious beliefs on the minority, which violates the First Amendment.
Republican Theocrats
These problems began when the Republican Party became theocratic. Democracy requires rational debate guided by facts, and it achieves progress through compromise. But the religious right eschews rational debate for they are guided by belief, the acceptance that things are true when they are not supported by fact. They reject for instance the fact of global warming and accept, without evidence, that Trump won the 2020 election. So, unlike the Republican Party of Eisenhower, Goldwater, Reagan, or George H.W. Bush, today’s theocratic party is unable to find common ground and is thus unable to govern–instead they attempt to rule.
And fundamentalists are motivated by the misconception that America’s problems stem from the secularization of society. They think that if everyone believed their bible and followed Christian teaching, all would be well. There is no evidence to support that notion. There is, however, evidence that the opposite is true. Nations like Finland, Norway, Costa Rica, Denmark, and Sweden (and 18 other nations) are far more secular than the US, yet have significantly lower crime rates, and their people are happier.
Nonetheless, the Christian fundamentalists are convinced they must “save” America from Liberalism by making America a Christian nation. This is a real cause for concern. The belief that they can save the world is a symptom of delusions of grandeur, a type of psychosis: “Delusions of grandeur are false beliefs in one’s superiority or identity that contradict reality. People who experience delusions of grandeur do not just have high self-esteem but instead believe in their own exaggerated greatness and importance.”
Fundamentalists suffer from the delusions that they are God’s chosen people, and the light of the world.
Seventy percent of the world’s population do not want or need their “saving.” But they could help make a better world if they concentrated their energy and resources on the real problems that confront humankind, like building a just society, addressing global warming, and eliminating the threat of nuclear war. The Christian right should be part of the solution…that is a thought that Christ would certainly approve.
Bob Topper, syndicated by PeaceVoice,is a retired engineer.
This article was sent to peacevoiceeditors on June 27, 2025 by Tom Hastings on behalf of Bob Topper.