Cut a pie in half. Take one of the halves and cut 1/4th from it to eat. Now study the remaining 3/4ths of the half you cut. It is less than half of the pie, but it still looks like a lot of pie. 3/4ths of a half is not insignificant.
With that in mind, it might not be insignificant that more than 3/4 of Republicans want to live in a Christian nation. To be more precise, they want their Christian faith made the official state religion. The same poll showed that most respondents knew this would be unconstitutional. That didn't bother them.
Sixty-one percent of Republicans said they favor “the United States officially declaring the United States to be a Christian nation.”
What are we supposed to do with this information? We aren't talking about the common claim that the United States is a Christian nation because there are a lot of Christians here. We are talking about something more official. We are talking about a state religion.
I'm not sure how to see this as being about anything besides power. The Christian majority has long imposed their religious beliefs on the rest of us. Their religious beliefs already shape our rights in some startling ways. It sounds like this isn't good enough. They want something they aren't getting or they wouldn't be pushing this so hard. I hate to think about what that might be.
Those of us who are not part of the majority faith are already outsiders. We face a barrage of messaging that indicates we aren't wanted here. I suppose that isn't good enough. Bigotry directed at us remains acceptable enough that it takes place in the open. Prominent politicians and celebrities do it without consequence. That's not good enough either.
What would be good enough? Is the goal to round us up and stick us in Jesus camps until we come around? Or is this about returning to the days of burning heretics? How afraid should we be? What does this Christian nation have in store for us?
