What is the point of a law if it is never enforced? I ask this question because there is one law in America that is violated so often , that it might as well cease to exist. The law in question was created over half a century ago, as part of the rules enforcing a kind of political neutrality for churches. If they wished to maintain their tax-exempt status, the law says that you cannot endorse or coerce your flock into voting for a particular candidate. Violation of this law is supposed to be the removal of their tax exempt status. So, you might be wondering, how many times has the IRS actually bothered to enforce this law? How about zero?

Since 1996, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has reported 125 churches to the IRS because we believe that they engaged in partisan political activity. Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division (TE/GE) appeared to be working hard to ensure that all houses of worship played by the rules. But it seems that since the IRS lost its case against the Living Word Christian Center in 2008, it has essentially abandoned enforcement of the no-politicking rule. Notwithstanding the “settlement” reached with another organization over this matter in 2014, I am unaware of any enforcement activity in the last eight years.

That’s right. The IRS has essentially abandoned the idea, even when the violations are so ludicrous that it should have been automatic. Take the case of West Texas pastor Scott Beard. Beard decided to run for public office, and it was discovered that not only was he preaching from the pulpit, but he actually embezzled church funds in order to do so. His penalty? A 3,500 dollar fine.

Beard, who was fined $3,500, showed a “lack of good faith” in accepting the donations and in posting campaign signs on church property for his unsuccessful Abilene City Council race despite the commission’s warnings against doing so, it found.

What is the lesson here? Considering that what he did is against the law, you would think that some serious repercussions would result. Instead, the IRS fined the pastor a pathetic 3500 dollars, which is the kind of ticket you get for pouring oil on your lawn. The IRS is within its power to revoke the tax-exempt status of the church, but instead, they issued a fine so small, it might as well have been a slap on the wrist. The message to other pastors wishing to obliterate the separation of church and state is clear: so long as you’re the right religion, no one in government will stop you from violating laws in order to push your political agenda.

Oklahoma Superintendent, and all around douchebag Ryan Walters has demanded that school in Oklahoma teach the Bible for grades 5-12, in a move that’s been condemned by civil rights group as an obvious violation of the separation of church and state. Because Republicans have no idea what this concept means, they are convinced that because many Americans have historically believed in the Bible, that it must mean that this book was vital in the development of the nation. This therefore justifies in their mind that the book must be imposed on people who do not share their pathetic faith.

“The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters said in a statement. “Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction.”

Let’s get real for a moment here. Christians who have never really delved very deeply into this book are always told that it’s full of wisdom and moral lessons. In reality, it bares all the hallmarks of a book written thousands of years ago. It’s filled with superstitious nonsense (like the idea that women on their periods are unclean, or that curses can be put on people), violent and pointless stories of death, and literally hundreds of instances of rape. If it was made into a movie, it would resemble House of a Thousand Corpses.

You may recall that this is just the beginning of a nationwide assault on educational institutions by Christian Nationalists. Louisiana is forcing teachers to display the 10 Commandments, and Texas is also trying to get in on the action. Y’all ready to live under the American Taliban?

It will never stop. Religious morons will always insist that their sectarian messaging has to be in everyone’s faces, in every institution. It isn’t enough that they added their God in the pledge of allegiance, or display it on their currency. If their Christian God isn’t being constantly worshipped, then in their tiny minds, it means that their country is falling apart.

In Arizona, yet another lawmaker is attempting to bring the 10 Commandments into classrooms across the state. Sen Anthony Kern is not a particularly educated man. He has a bachelor in business administration, from one of the lowest ranked university in the country. When he was fired from his job as a certified peace officer for being a liar, he was put on the “Bradey List”, which is a record of misconduct and dishonesty for former officers.

Not content with doing a bad job in the public sector, he doubled down by becoming elected in Arizona’s senate. He’s tried to pass a series of stupid laws, including trying to make it a misdemeanor to travel as a passenger in a car without an ID. Sounds like some Nazi Germany shit.

While on the subject of fascism, Kern has recently tried to pass a bill that would force the 10 commandments to be displayed in schools, and for teachers to be compelled to include it in their curriculum. In his tiny mind, he believes that Christianity is the only reason that religious liberty exists in the first place:

And because America is such a diverse nation, it is because of the Christian religion that we have allowed their religions to come in and be known,’’ Kern said. “Because of the Christian religion and its foundation in this nation is the reason why we have other religions in this nation.’’

As you may recall, the people who left Europe to settle into what is now America had done so precisely because the ruling faith of their respective countries would not allow other forms of Christianity from existing. These were called “The European Wars of Religion”, and the whole affair lasted a few hundred years and cost millions of lives. Kern doesn’t know this because the only book he’s ever read is the Bible.

The thing about these kinds of idiot laws is that they are always shot down at some point by the fact that the highest law of the land, The Constitution, makes it very clear that government cannot be in the business of promoting any religion. It’s the fucking first sentence of the thing, and still American lawmakers act like it’s just a minor inconvenience.

So far, the only thing this waste of a human is capable of doing is spreading false information, and turning his country ever so slowly towards a fascist hellhole. Don’t you just love religion?

They say that a cornered animal is at its most dangerous. When desperation sets in, and the stakes are raised to the point of a fight for existence, then there is no telling what a creature can do to ensure its own survival. One thing is for certain: extreme caution is advised.

I say this, not to be hyperbolic (though I am already guilty of this), but as a warning to those of us that have become complacent, and convinced that religion is on it’s dying breath. It’s true that the steady decline of faith overall has been progressing well among the population. It’s been so rapid that a recent Pew poll found that 81% of Americans think that religion is losing influence in public life.

It’s important to note here that a full 69% of those respondents considered that a BAD thing, and believe that religion should have more influence. What they don’t realize is that influence has actually increased in public life. For instance, thanks to gerrymandering efforts in many states, courts are now packed with religiously minded judges. The same is true for school boards, where Dominionists have been busy sneaking religious education back into schools. This is only going to get worse.

72% of religiously unaffiliated adults – those who identify, religiously, as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” – say conservative Christians have gone too far in trying to control religion in the government and public schools; 63% of Christians say the same about secular liberals.

The people I want to address in this study are the 47% of non religious liberals adults who don’t think that religious conservatives have gone too far. What the hell are you smoking? Did the recent events in Alabama not convince you that this is only the beginning? I wonder what other kinds of religious encroachment it’ll take for nearly HALF of the non-religious community being totally fine with that Christian nationalists are doing to their country.

This is how you lose: by keeping your head in the sand while your opponents, convinced that your side has gone too far, is busy taking away every progressive thing your ancestors fought tooth and nail for. I know it’s cliché to say this now, but we are officially the worst generation now: a bunch of feckless idiots that gave up at the finish line and let the world slip into a theocratic nightmare. Enjoy your distopia, morons.

If you want to be terrified, than look no further than this report by the Public Religion Research Institute, also known as PRRI, that demonstrates that roughly 1/3 of American voters identify or support the agenda of Christian Nationalists.

The findings of just who these people are should surprise no one. They are populated by a significant portion of old, white, evangelical Christians, although there seems to also be quite a few black and hispanic religious groups in the mix as well. In total, when you add up people who identify as Christian Nationalists, or who have sympathy for their cause, it amounts to over 30% of the voting population.

The reason that this should terrify people is that this number is an almost perfect parallel to what occurred in Weimar Germany before it was taken over by the Nazi party:

[T]he July 1932 elections brought the Nazi party 37.3 percent of the popular vote, making it the largest political party in Germany… In the ensuing elections in November 1932, the Nazis lost ground, winning 33.1 percent of the vote. The Communists, however gained votes, winning 16.9 percent. As a result, the small circle around President Hindenburg came to believe, by the end of 1932, that the Nazi party was Germany’s only hope to forestall political chaos ending in a Communist takeover.

The fragile democracy of Germany was broken by the time the Nazi party had a significant share of government power. It didn’t take a majority for them to simply take over. All they needed to do was ensure that everyone was more scared of their opponents, and when the moment was right, they literally executed their rivals, and declared themselves the only power. The destruction of Germany, and the deaths of hundreds of millions of people, was the result.

Now, the only main difference between 1930’s Germany and America in 2024, is that the economy has not (yet) collapse, or have a crisis. If it did, no doubt the number of people identifying as this frightening new minority would surely grow. The growing instability around the globe, and the renewed conflict of old enemies can be a catalyst for these religious psychos to try and grab more power.

The only solution to this disaster is for the “None”, the religiously unaffiliated, to take the mantel of power, and to act like a cohesive political group. Instead of just sitting by the sidelines and watching their country dissolve into a theocracy, the Nones will need to create political alliances with other groups that are fearful of this new development.

The alternative is to allow the most powerful military in the world to be controlled by people who pray every night for their God to destroy the world so that only their little pathetic religion can dominate.