Attack of the Theocrats!: How the Religious Right Harms Us All—and What We Can Do About It by Sean Faircloth

exist. Take, for example, the original
Star Trek
(yep, I’m a nerd), which captures Kennedy-era idealism well—that desire to boldly go where no man has gone before. Shakespeare it’s not, but
Star Trek
is iconic TV that resonates today. As another example, take
Twilight Zone
, which offers Kennedy-era morality plays—classic “what you can do for your country” ideals wearing the mask of sci-fi and hocus-pocus good fun.
    Star Trek
and
Twilight Zone
were produced in the 1960s, but let’s consider (and I’m sneaking up on sex here) another show set in the 1960s, a show that raises the immortal question: what would Don Draper do? Well, he does a lot of alcohol—and cigarettes for that matter—and there was that episode with the stewardess.
    The Don Draper character is expressly Republican and not someone whose values I personally admire overall. That said, he is a Republican of a libertarian (some would say libertine) bent. Republicans today say they’relibertarians . . . all while they try to regulate your bedroom for Jesus. (I’ll beat up a bit on liberals later.)
    As a lobbyist and advocate for secularism in the halls of Congress, I am familiar with the many religiously motivated policies that focus on sex. The previous chapter touched on three examples: (1) abstinence-only sex education, which often peddles biblical subservience to women and leads to higher rates of HIV and unplanned pregnancies; (2) laws that allow fundamentalist pharmacists to violate their professional responsibility and refuse to fill prescriptions; and (3) the “gag rule,” which prevents women around the world from receiving health-care services and accurate information they rightfully need and deserve. But the list of biblically justified sexual and sexist suppression goes on.
    A fourth example: You may know about Title IX because of its relevance to equity in school sports for young women. However, a less well-known aspect of the law is the requirement that girls and young women be treated equitably not just in sports but in education overall. It’s less well known because, even in 1972, when the law was enacted, equity in academics was less controversial than equity in sports. However, a little-known provision in Title IX states that religious schools can treat males and females unequally—if it is a tenet of their religion. That’s right, if, and only if, sexism is a religious tenet, then the United States government is willing to permit it. Why should even one child be taught that women should be subservient? Children make no adult choice to attend a sexist school. It violates their human rights to impose such views on them.
    A fifth example: Although the horrific term “female genital mutilation” calls to mind girls in Middle Eastern and North African lands, numerous American girls have been transported out of the United States to be subjected to this hideous procedure. Our laws and policies must do more to protect these vulnerable girls.
    A sixth example: Fundamentalists notoriously call for separate and unequal treatment for gay people, particularly those straight-as-an-arrow male fundamentalist preacher types—like George Rekers, the guy who “treats” gay men to “cure” them of their gayness. Oh, wait. That’s right. My mistake. Rekers is the minister who was caught with his “rent boy” at the airport in Miami. To be fair, maybe he’s the rare exception—just look at that other theocratic preacher against gay sex, Ted Haggard. Oh, that’s right . . . well, never mind, you get the idea.Some of these fundamentalist ministers must only be homophobic, not brazen hypocrites, too.
    Nosy-minded busybodies like Rekers and Haggard call to mind an old saying we have back in Maine. You may have heard it: mind your ownbusiness! Whatever happened to this bit of reasonable common sense? Gossips and Peeping Toms, whether secular or religious, are some of the most disgusting slimeballs you can possibly meet, but gossipy