Theocratic Right
The theocratic right's ideal is an authoritarian society where Christian
men interpret God's will as law. Women are helpmates, and children are
the property of their parents. Earth must submit to the dominion of those
to whom God has granted power. People are basically sinful, and must
be restrained by harsh punitive laws. Social problems are caused by Satanic
conspiracies aided and abetted by liberals, homosexuals, feminists, and
secular humanists. These forces must be exposed and neutralized.
Newspaper columnist Cal Thomas, a long-standing activist in the theocratic
right, recently suggested that churches and synagogues take over the
welfare system "because these institutions would also deal with the hearts
and souls of men and women." The churches "could reach root causes of
poverty"--a lack of personal responsibility, Thomas wrote, expressing
a hardline Calvinist theology. "If government is always there to bail
out people who have children out of wedlock, if there is no disincentive
(like hunger) for doing for one's self, then large numbers of people
will feel no need to get themselves together and behave responsibly."
RW101
More Details: Regressive Populism -- White
Racial Nationalism -- Far Right
Excerpted from a chapter in the South End Press book
"
Eyes Right!: Challenging the Right Wing Backlash"
Edited by Chip Berlet
[Return to "Different Sectors of the Right."]
[Read or download the entire study]
(very long)
"Theocracy & White Supremacy:
Behind the Culture War to Restore Traditional Values"
by Chip Berlet & Margaret Quigley
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