Oh, For Fnork's Sake...

Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet report in the latest Mother Jones that Hillary Clinton is a member of The Family (the Christian political organization also known as The Fellowship).

[...]After a glancing shot at Republican "pharisees," Clinton explained that, of course, her "very serious" grounding in faith had helped her weather the affair. But she had also relied on the "extended faith family" that came to her aid, "people whom I knew who were literally praying for me in prayer chains, who were prayer warriors for me."

Such references to spiritual warfare—prayer as battle against Satan, evil, and sin—might seem like heavy evangelical rhetoric for the senator from New York, but they went over well with the Sojourners audience, as did her call to "inject faith into policy." [...]

Really, senator... "prayer warriors?" And you expect me to swallow that and still vote for you to be President?

[...]
Through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the Fellowship. Her collaborations with right-wingers such as Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) grow in part from that connection. "A lot of evangelicals would see that as just cynical exploitation," says the Reverend Rob Schenck, a former leader of the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue who now ministers to decision makers in Washington. "I don't....there is a real good that is infected in people when they are around Jesus talk, and open Bibles, and prayer."
[...]

And anybody who disagrees with that naked assertion can just Suck On It, right?

Look, I don't really have a problem with candidates for public office adhering to systems of religious belief. What I have is a problem with cryptofascist dominionist Christians who think their personal relationship with Jeebus gives them a special authority to govern over the rest of us.

The Fellowship are a gang of straight-up dominionists, bent on destroying the secularity of U.S. government. Worse, they have an almost sexual fetish about keeping their activity and doctrines a secret from their members' constituents. Hillary is a member, and she's the Democratic front runner.

At least Sam Brownback openly brags about being a god-bothering theocrat. With a guy like him, at least you know where you stand as an atheist. He thinks you're in league with Satan, and therefore anything the government does to persecute you is all right with Le Grand Fromage in the sky. It really pisses me off that I have to find a way to get excited about Hillary Clinton as the LesserEvil™ next year, even though it's clear she really hates me just as much as Sam Brownback does.

This is it. I've snapped.

We should just repeal the First Amendment and establish a goddamn church. I don't care which one. Let's just pick one, and move on to the inevitable religious warring over religious tests and the whole shooting match. Let's get it the fnork over with. I'm done. All this skulking around and pretending we don't really have religious tests or an established church is really goddamn tiresome. Let's get it out in the open where we can all talk about it in public without sounding like cranks.

Is that so goddamn much to ask?