My Skirmishes with the American Taliban

In all the postmortem lazy, hazy, ill-informed discussions of why Hillary Clinton did not get sworn in as president, the obvious was ignored and replaced with unproven memes. The most central being the incessantly repeated one of how the neglected, forgotten, angry white-worker voters came out in “droves” to elect Trump. Oh, stop it! That election did not differ from any other.

The Republican coalition of gun lovers, racists, xenophobes, and religious nuts combined, as they have for years and years. This coalition is an automatic 45–46% of voters, which is what McCain, Romney, and Trump all received. If you made up a Venn Diagram, there would be much overlap between the basic groups. The one that people are reluctant to talk about is the most obvious of all–mentally ill religious nuts–the American Taliban.

I have had many skirmishes with the American Taliban over the years. Here are two quick examples. I worked at a rural school targeted by the nuts who planned to take over the school board. This is a strategy that has been used for years. Their goal was to take over 6,000 school boards. They demanded all Judy Blume and Miss Piggle-Wiggle books be removed from the elementary library. When this didn’t happen, they simply stole the books off the shelves.

Example two is more troubling. In a nearby town, there is a religious cult that has taken over most of a college community. The leader is one of the national leaders in the Dominion movement that has taken over the Republican party. This cult leader started a high school and one of my young clients, Kenny, age 14, told me about his best buddy at the school. The confused teen shared a secret with the school counselor about his feelings that he might be gay.

The school authorities took the boy into the gym and gave him a public paddling in front of a group of teachers as the first step to “curing” him.

This is basically what Dominionists believe, and why they are determined to destroy democracy. Pence, Cruz, Bachman, Perry are all examples.

Dominionists celebrate Christian nationalism. They believe the United States once was and should again be a Christian nation. In this way, they deny the Enlightenment roots of American democracy.

Dominionists promote religious supremacy, insofar as they generally do not respect the equality of other religions, or even other versions of Christianity. Dominionists endorse theocratic visions, believing that the Ten Commandments, or “biblical law,” should be the foundation of American law, and that the U.S. Constitution should be seen as a vehicle for implementing Biblical principles.

I have chosen as my life’s work to deal with attempting to use my talents and blessings to improve society. I have been on this mission since 1966 as a young man after hearing this part of a Robert Kennedy speech:

“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.“ (Robert Kennedy)

You may read Bobby’s words and see them as inspiring, incredible, and ones that mirror your own beliefs and values. The American Taliban see them as an abomination. They see these as the problem, all problems, and mock them as an example of “Secular Humanism”.

And there, my friends, is the ten-cent version of everything that has happened since Lyndon Johnson swamped Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. This is the basic divide that grows larger as the cultural wars carry on and on each decade. And those who believe in RFK’s words are losing. I can sum it up by sharing a quote from one of these nut jobs:

“Man can not solve the sins of society. Only God can. Strict adherence to the Word of God is the one and only way the world will be saved.”

When the Republican Conservatives got the extremists of Christianity to become political, they used and encouraged their zealousness. The American Taliban walked onto the public stage and started screaming. They were at first a small voice, but as their ministries expanded with Christian television shows, radio programs, and print publications, their movement took off. It has progressed from an arm of the Reagan Coalition to the entire body of the Republican Party.

There is no reason to call them the Right Wing anymore. The Right is the correct term. There are no Nelson Rockefellers, no Ike Eisenhowers, no moderates are allowed and need not apply. Richard Nixon would not be allowed in, nor would Goldwater himself. Reagan would be shouted down, mocked, and scorned by this crowd.

Oh, so this is just a rant about how you hate Christians, huh? No, I find the words of Jesus in the New Testament amazing. The Salvation Army and Catholic Hospitals are Christian efforts that I admire. I am not anti-Christian. I am opposed to and frightened by the extremists.

These American Taliban people are in charge now. Like Pence, who would gladly make women who have been raped to bear their rapist’s babies. The American Taliban is who we are fighting, and they are determined to overturn Roe, ban gay marriages again, and turn this society into a Theocratic Nightmare.

Forget the ego-driven ramblings of some old coot — Sanders — who thinks everything is economics and wants us to reach our hands out to these nut cases who can hardly wait for the world to end. The American Taliban is all over the TV. One of their biggest stars — John Hagee, an evil motherfucker all the way, has 100 million viewers and listeners each week!

There is no strategy available to reach these brainwashed people. They will gladly imprison or execute those who do not conform to their belief system and warped worldview. These people are the enemies and until we fight them with all we have, they will continue to soil our dream of creating a more just society.