The weekly Bible study arranged by Capitol Ministries for members of Congress and President Trump’s cabinet, illustrates how entwined Christianity is with our government.  Attendees include the vice president, secretaries of state for education, housing and urban development, agriculture, and health; the head of NASA; Trump’s chief of staff; former labor and energy secretaries; and over fifty senators and members of the House (all Republicans).  If you want a taste of power and get ahead you just have to attend.

The organizer of the weekly study is Ralph Drollinger, who, up until a decade or so ago, was called a fringe zealot, avoided by the powerful in Washington. He is now a key figure, not just in attempting to push a conservative theology but in using religion for political purposes.

We think we have a secular democracy that would be approved of by Epicurus.  No!  What it is becoming, (or largely become) is an evangelical-dominated movement that denies science, bashes government and prioritized loyalty over professional expertise, and denies climate change.  

This is not just politics; it is about the basics of living in America. In the past the country stood for fairness, reasonable equality of opportunity, and giving a leg- up to the poor and dispossessed, or, at least not making their lives and their jobs more miserable.

In the current crisis, we are all reaping what these evangelical power-zealots have sown. Epicurus did not believe in the gods (or, at least, he thought they were uninterested in mankind and spent their time chasing goddesses).  He was a believer in Greek democracy, equity, fairness and expertise.  If you are reading this you probably are, too.