In another country, or in another time in our country, we would have run screaming from George W. “Godsend” Bush, once he professed his fealty to X-jeebus.

So how did we get here? The answer is simple (Goldwater’s defeat pissed off some people) and complex (a pantheon of zealots began to work undercover to take over governments–from the precinct level, all the way up to the Congress, Presidency and Supreme Court). It may have started as an “I wish…”, but in the hands of brilliant Macchiavellian-wannabes, it gained momentum. It appears one man made the first snowball, and thus began the roll that became an avalanche…

From TheocracyWatch: What happened between 1964 and 1994?

A group of Republican strategists who had worked on Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign were worried. Goldwater had been soundly defeated, and the strategists feared that the base of the Republican Party — primarily southern segregationists and the very wealthy — was too narrow. So they set out to expand the base calling themselves the New Right. Goldwater was not part of the New Right.

One member of the New Right, Republican Strategist Paul Weyrich**, founded the Heritage Foundation in 1973 — a think tank to promote the ideas of the New Right. Weyrich also founded ALEC, The American Legislative Exchange Council in 1973 to coordinate the work of Religious Right state legislators. ALEC initially positioned itself as a counterweight to liberal foundations and think tanks, focusing on social issues like abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment, but became a magnet for corporate lobbyists.

ALEC gives business a direct hand in writing bills that are considered in state assemblies nationwide. Funded primarily by large corporations, industry groups, and conservative foundations — including R.J. Reynolds, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute — the group takes a chain-restaurant approach to public policy, supplying precooked McBills to state lawmakers. Since most legislators are in session only part of the year and often have no staff to do independent research, they’re quick to swallow what ALEC serves up. In 2000, according to the council, members introduced more than 3,100 bills based on its models, passing 450 into law. Ghostwriting the Law, Karen Olson, Mother Jones, Sept.Oct. 2002

In 1979 Weyrich coined the term “Moral Majority.” Their goal was to politicize members of fundamentalist, Pentecostal and charismatic churches – a constituency that had been basically apolitical.

Not all members of fundamentalist, Pentecostal and charismatic churches support the Religious Right, but those were the groups targeted by the New Right. And some members of churches outside of those mentioned support the Religious Right, while many other Christian leaders strongly oppose them.

**Paul Weyrich’s Training Manual is critical to the TheocraticRight’s agenda. It is shocking in its scope and methodology! This is a must-read; it is a primer for understanding what the TheocraticRight wanted to do and how they’ve accomplished the near-impossible: almost take over our government!

Conquering by Stealth and Deception: How the Dominionists Are Succeeding in Their Quest for National Control and World Power

“This essay is based on the belief that the truth of an idea is not the primary reason for its acceptance. Far more important is the energy and dedication of the idea’s promoters-in other words, the individuals composing a social or political movement.

…”Our movement will be entirely destructive, and entirely constructive. We will not try to reform the existing institutions. We only intend to weaken them, and eventually destroy them. We will endeavor to knock our opponents off-balance and unsettle them at every opportunity. All of our constructive energies will be dedicated to the creation of our own institutions.

…”We will use guerrilla tactics to undermine the legitimacy of the dominant regime.

…”We will be results-oriented rather than good intentions-oriented. Making a good-faith effort and being ideologically sound will be less important than advancing the goals of the movement.

Eric Heubeck, author of Weyrich’s Training Manual.

There is more, I promise you. Coming soon: When Religion Becomes Treason: Part Two–And so it came to pass…

UPDATE: It has occured to me that we frequently complain that xians want to turn America into a theocracy BUT I suspect that none of them know what we’re talking about. And that even many atheists are unaware of the many paths that the many, many power-brokers have taken, of the many acts they have committed, to further their mission. It’s not enough to blame Bush/Cheney, both puppets and co-conspirators. It’s not enough to examine the Karl Rove/Grover Norquist/Frank Luntz “king-making” machinations. So I am providing the texture and “color play-by-play”, and just pointing us all, xians and atheists alike, toward some answers and resources to find out more. I’ll leave you with this:

“Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?”
(Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner on the Ten Commandments ruling, June 27, 2005)