Pence’s Dangerous Words

Everyone knows Mike Pence did nothing for four years but polish Trump’s apples. If he disagreed with anything the most dangerous man in America and the worst president in history said or did, he kept it to himself. He is a slippery snake whose facile ability to lie may surpass that of his ex-boss. Though he portrays himself as a hero for simply doing his job and not interfering with the vote count on Jan 6, he was considering doing just that until he was talked out of it, by, of all people, Dan Quail.

During the primary debate, a statement of Pence’s made it clear he is not only unfit to serve as president, but would be a danger to the nation were he elected. He did this with a concise summing up of his priorities.

“I am a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.”

What do those words tell us?

They say that he regards a particular brand of personal religious belief the most important guiding principle in his public decision making and actions. Let’s put aside the fact that his statement is self contradictory since what modern-day conservative Republicans stand for is, in itself, most un-Christian. Or even that it may be disingenuous red meat for the ultra-right Christian voting bloc.

Let’s take it at face value and focus instead on the chilling ramifications of his prioritization of religion over all else.

In a recent interview a prominent member of “Moms for Liberty” (a far right wing group who define liberty as their freedom to impose their version of morality on everyone else) put the danger of politicizing religion on display. When asked why she opposes teaching school kids about gender issues and the like, she summed it up thus: “Because I’m a Christian and it’s God’s law.”

No, lady. It is your particular extreme Christian version of God’s law. Rules that people made up. If you read the Bible, you will see that God gave us only ten laws in writing. Then a lot of people claimed He gave them more laws verbally. Well, as Samuel Goldwyn said, “A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” Those “laws” are hearsay. The Ten Commandments do not contain any reference to abortion, sexual orientation or censorship of literature. Those are your laws, lady, not God’s. And by the way, you have some nerve presuming to speak for the Almighty.

That’s why we have secular laws and are not (yet) a theocracy like Iran. Read the First Amendment. Ideally, in our pluralistic country the laws contrived by various religions do not infringe on the laws that affect us all. That’s why Pence saying his religion comes before all else is so dangerous. He would gladly impose the laws that are unique to his superstition of choice on the whole country.

News flash to Moms for Liberty and Mike Pence: Not all Americans are Christians and those who are not are horrified at the thought of your personal version of “law” being codified into the laws of the land.

What Pence should have said is “I am an American and a conservative Republican who happens to be a Christian.”

A president owes their primary fealty in matters that affect the public as a whole to the American people and to the Constitution, not to Jesus Christ. Imagine, if you will, if such presumptuous fanatics as Pence were faced with a Jewish politician who tried to make the consumption of pork a crime. Surely it would be seen as offensive, insulting, dictatorial, unconstitutional and inimical to the democratic principles on which the nation was founded.

If Mike Pence puts being a Christian ahead of being an American, let him become a minister and preach his brand of religion from the mountaintops. Fortunately he is unlikely to become president, but if he were to and he preached it from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue he would be a menace to the nation.