There is no doubt, at least in my mind, that the Founding Fathers heavily relied on their faith when drafting the Constitution and Bill of Rights. I will readily admit and agree that this nation was founded on the principles of a Christian/Judeo set of values. However, when the Articles of Confederation were drafted in late 1776 and the Constitution in the summer of 1787, no law or regulation was drafted on the sole basis of any religion supporting or calling for it. 

Fast forward to modern America. In the current political system of essentially two main political parties that have either shared or singularly controlled power, there are two very different sets of ideological beliefs and an even bigger difference in the practice of those political ideologies. The Democrats are a party that claims to be for the working class, with the party supporting a strong and powerful federal government — a government that can offer more than just a helping hand, but one that can actively and/or passively financially support an individual if they are unable to or unwilling to work. The Democrats believe in a system of government that is put in place to be able to regulate and/or control public and private industry alike, with very little control or oversight by the people. 

On the other hand, the Republican Party claims to be not just the party of the working class but all classes. They believe strongly in a small and limited federal government that functions only as a supporting mechanism for the people. Republicans believe that the federal government needs to have stringent checks on its power and influence on the people, along with an ability to control and or regulate it by the people. In addition, Republicans claim to believe in the ability of individual states to hold most of the power, hence the Tenth Amendment.

However, when it comes to today’s political climate, it seems that both sides of the aisle have started to coalesce around a more ideologically radical or, for lack of a better word, extreme element of their parties. The left has become more and more radical in their support of big government and regulations. But the right has begun to split down the middle, with one side leaning towards the Constitution and limited government and the other leaning towards a religious-based policy ideology that uses the power of government to accomplish said policy.

I spoke of what I believe is a growing problem in the Republican Party as far as I see it when I referred to the party having two Constitutions, with one being the greatest legal document ever drafted by man and the other, the Bible. I will also remind the readers that I am not bashing the Bible or Christianity but merely pointing out what I consider to be a conflict in ideological values. You see, you cannot argue on one hand that you want to abolish big government and eliminate government agencies that have no legal right to exist in the first place, then, on the other hand, argue that we must use the power of the federal government to pass and enforce legislation that would control an individual’s life and or private actions because they violate your religious principles. This would go against the very core of the First Amendment.

“They [Republicans] speak of faith quite often, but where I get concerned is when they advance legislation or policy decisions based on the Christian faith. Politico covered the rise in this rhetoric with Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Doug Mastriano. 

Prominent Republican politicians have made the themes critical to their message to voters in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, has argued that America is a Christian nation and that the separation of church and state is a “myth.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia hard-liner, declared: “We need to be the party of nationalism and I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian Nationalists.” Amid a backlash, she doubled down and announced she would start selling “Christian Nationalist” shirts.”

Another perfect example of pushing faith in people through the power of the federal government is calling for an outright ban on gay marriage. All because it violates your religious beliefs.

Every Christian should be able to wholeheartedly support banning:

— No-fault divorce
— Same-sex mirage
— Child sacrifice and IVF
— Abortifacient birth control
— Genital mutilation procedures

— Ben Zeisloft (@BenZeisloft) November 30, 2023

This wish list is chock-full of a religious legislative fantasy. The only thing that nobody should disagree with is banning child sacrifice. But in what state is that even a thing? Banning any of the other things is just an absolute desecration of what our Constitution and Founding Fathers stand for. The party that advocates for limited and small government is now starting to fight for the opposite, and this is why we continue to lose.

The religious right makes it harder for Republicans to win when they push an agenda that is either heavily influenced by or directly supporting their Christian faith. That is NOT what the Constitution was written for, nor was that what ANY of our Founding Fathers stood or advocated for. We were supposed to have had a giant red wave for this past mid-term election, but we barely pulled off a red ripple because we over-reached our views on abortion. When Senator Lindsey Graham introduced his 15-week federal abortion ban in the Senate after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, he effectively killed our chances for the red wave. Because half of the Republicans were rightly calling the overturning of Roe v Wade a win for the Constitution and states' rights under the Tenth Amendment. The other half was celebrating it as a win for the pro-life movement. Both were right, but the pro-life side was also wrong when they pushed for a federal abortion ban, something that is unconstitutional as it violates the Tenth Amendment.

And how many times do Republicans say that they don’t hate gay people and would love to have them be members of our party? Then turn right around and stab them in the back by advocating for a gay marriage ban? There are countless gay Americans who are conservative but won’t join us or even vote for us because we spend so much time fighting against or criticizing them. Furthermore, banning no-fault divorce is both idiotic and the antithesis of freedom and liberty. If you want kids, but the only way to have them is to get IVF, well, too damn bad, that is immoral and wrong, so we’re going to ban it and prevent you from ever having children. Because of freedom, right?

I strongly and vehemently believe in the core principles of limited, small government and not using the power of the Federal government to enforce any religiously ideological laws on its people. I am a constitutional conservative; I believe strongly in the proposal and application of laws that are solely decided on their constitutionality first and foremost. I refuse to accept a government controlled by ANY religious ideology, whether it be Christian, Jewish, Islamic, or anything else. While I sympathize with my Jewish and Christian friends and family, my allegiance is to the Constitution only.  

If the Republican Party wants to win and keep winning in a big way, they have to reconcile the fact that their Christian faith needs to take a backseat when it comes to policy decisions. If the party would just stop advocating for the banning of at least the things mentioned in that X post and accept the fact that people like me, who are agnostic and fiercely conservative, or gay men and women who are just as conservative, would love to proudly vote Republican if they stopped with their religious crusade, Republicans would likely dominate in national elections at the very least.