Theocratic America

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Sometimes I wonder if I would have been happier raised as a Catholic? Their charities do a lot for people and I like the idea of confession.

Although if I was molested by a pedophile priest and the church covered it up im sure I would hate them...

But I'm positive they can't all be that bad.

One of the reasons I like your posts is because (this sounds nuts but...) the ideas you raise sound very Catholic. The rage against God, the belief in the supernatural, the love of beauty in nature...it all sounds Catholic. (If you're worried about the gay thing, Oscar Wilde converted to Catholicism on his deathbed after a life of being fairly unsatisfied with his flamboyant, word-slinging lifestyle, and we all enjoy reading his biting snarky words to this day.)

As far as covering up of the abuse scandal--I was raised around Catholic priests from the time I was born and you would be surprised at the amount of rage and hatred those guys harbor for their weak and/or depraved colleagues. The bishop of the diocese I was in used to out them publicly in the newspaper, strip them of their authority, and humiliate them. They would then be turned over to the State.

Regarding the original question, I'm less worried about Mr. Pence than about Mr. Trump. I'd like to see Trump impeached and Pence take over--at least for the civility of it. He might at least listen to reason.

I kind of feel sorry for the Catholics who are subjected to mockery and hatred because of that scandel. I mean, growing up around Southern Protestants I've heard about some pastors who did the same sort of thing to kids and nobody condemns the entire Protestant Church for those crimes.

But I guess that's because America is a dominantly protestant country?

The Islamic Republic of Iran is actually quite democratic for a middle eastern country, at least in theory.

They have elections, and a congress, and a president, much like the US. But "the church" (ie the Islamic clerics) over see and over ride everything that the secular government does making the country a theocracy, and effectively a dictatorship.

A hypothetical theocratic America would operate much the same way. Some kind of American "Protestant papacy" would over ride what Congress and the POTUS do. Something like the Church England, but with more teeth than the Church of England.

Islam is divided between Shiite and Sunni (like Christianity is subdivided between Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox). Shiitims rules the Iranian state because thats the brand of Islam that prevails in that Country. Similarly a theocratic America would definitely be run along Protestant lines.

At its core America is a Protestant culture, and Protestantism has been, and is still the majority religion in America, though Catholics are a large minority. There were no significant numbers of non Protestants in the US until the influx of Irish immigrants in the 1840s, and then came the Poles and Italians, and later still came the Hispanics from within the Hemisphere. So Catholics are a bigger force in America than they were in the days of the founding fathers, but they are still a minority. We have had only one Catholic POTUS- JFK.

Most religious right pols are Evangelical Protestants, though Rick Sanctorum is Catholic.

So I would assume that a gang of "American ayatollahs" who would run the US would be Evangelical Protestants, but there maybe some infighting between Catholics and Protestants , and even between brands of Protestantism as to the exact theology to use to run the country. They might settle upon Episcopalianism (the Protestant sect that retains the most DNA of Roman Catholicism) as a compromise "default setting" to use. The Church of England happens to be Anglican/Episcopalian so that would also provide precedent for an official religion to use in an English speaking country.

Ahem...we’re talking about CHRISTIANS here.

Yeah, they're a cult I say! Just like the Moonies or the elderly or the homeless!

(Karen Walker reference from Will & Grace)

I may not “go out much”.....but I truly don’t see or hear much vitriol between Catholics and Protestants these days.

Certainly not to the point where there might be a civil war between those factions.

Me on trial for 'crimes of sodomy' (and witchcraft) in a Theocrartic America.

There's lots of "worst case scenarios."

The nature of "worst case scenarios" is that they are very likely not to come true.

Tw1zty, maybe you won't have to be shot, burned, etc for sodomy or witchcraft. Maybe they will simply punish you in the same way you committed the "crimes" for examples, shoving a fencepost in orifices related to the sodomy, then treat you like a voodoo doll as punishment for the witchcraft.

He's just kidding, Twizty…..

Thanks for pointing out that I was joking. I didn't think I needed to explain I was being sarcastic, but I guess I was wrong there.

Twizty might know that you're kidding, say----but then he might think "you never know," and that you're possibly being serious. That would get him upset.

Yes, I admit that sometimes my Aspie brain has a hard time picking up on sarcasm and I take things too literally...

I will try to remember to include a smiley face from now on when I am joking. I am very sarcastic sometimes. I forget how it can be easily misunderstood in some places.

Well...the KKK itself announced a couple of years ago that for the first time in their 150 year history they will now allow Catholics to join.

Heartwarming!