The "Religious Right" Tries Out A New Name, But. Christofascist Isn't It!

Headline in yesterday's Think Progress:

Religious Right rebrands itself as 'socially conservative evangelicals.'

Christianity Today reports that some “politically conservative evangelicals” no longer want to be referred to as the “religious right.” According to social conservative leaders like American Values President Gary Bauer, the term “religious right” and others like it have "become synonymous with extremism":

“There is an ongoing battle for the vocabulary of our debate. It amazes me how often in public discourse really pejorative phrases are used, like the ‘American Taliban,’ ‘fundamentalists,’ ‘Christian fascists,’ and ‘extreme Religious Right.’”

Maybe that's because those terms are accurate and descriptive of what the groups are. And, as I use it quite often, the term is NOT Christian fascists, but Christofascists. The two are different: the first maintains that some Christians happen to be fascist, the second implies a more homogeneous group whereas the tenets of each group are similar. "American Taliban" is a creative terminology but flimsy because America is not familiar with Taliban tenets. "Fundamentalists" is a terminology that has grown out of a small group of people into a much large, hence broader sect. It usually means people who are biblical literalists or inerrantists. "Extreme Religious Right" is rather confusing: is the group extremely religious or extremely right-wing? Or both?

No, Christofascism incorporates all the tenets of fascism under the guise of Christianity. I'll be defining Christofascism in another post. Meanwhile, some of the chief Christofascists in America are: Gary Bauer, Ralph Reed, Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Richard Land, Rod Parsley, Rick Warren, Mike Huckabee, Franklin Graham and all televangelists (with the exception of maybe Joyce Meyer)

Of course, sometimes it's difficult to tell whether they're Elmer Gantrys or Elmer Fudds:

Gary Bauer:

As long as there's land available, single-family homes will be built, and Colorado residents will always go for a single-family over a condo.

As President, I will end once and for all the use of taxpayer funds to promote the National Endowment for the Arts and other programs that subsidize amoral and degrading activities.

O.K., since Christofascists want to be called by another name, here are suggestions for new names:

People of the Trailer Park Christian Corleones Bible-Hurlers
Politically Conservative Anti-Everythings Religious Retrogrades

The Not So Pollyanna Crackers Curmudgeons R Us NeoReconstructionsists

But when you really come down to a name adequately describing somebody like Gary Bauer, Christofascist says it best.

What do you think?