Founder of Domino's Pizza now fighting against religious liberty

Domino's founder Tom Monaghan went from pizza delivery to funding the Thomas More Law Center, which is now funded by 50,000 donors. The center, according to its director, Richard Thompson, is "Christianity's answer to the ACLU."

A statement that provocative deserves a little deconstruction. Since the American Civil Liberties Union exists to defend the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to everyone in the U.S. Constitition, Thompson's statement implies that Christianity exists to deny people those rights and liberties. That is a little confusing, given that Christians are always (incorrectly) screaming that the founding fathers shared their religion. Using their logic, one can only assume that Christianity stood for something much different in the 18th Century than it does today.

According to the New Testament and Christian scholars, Jesus taught that everyone matters, regardless of social rank or religious importance. Though America has a very long way to go in treating everyone as though she matters, some of the basic tenets of the Constitution provide us with a good guide for doing so.

The separation of church and state has been interpreted to mean different things by different people, and there is always room for argument among reasonable individual. But one thing that is clear is that the writers of the Constitution did want America to have a "state" religion. Literalists are quick to point out that since America has no "official" religion, the church/state boundary is intact. It is true that our country has no official religion, but it certainly has an unofficial one, and that would be Christianity. From the people who consult regularly with George W. Bush, to the people who want to retain the McCarthy red scare-era pledge to the flag, to the former Mayor of New York City who used Catholicism as a measure for what art could be shown in galleries, Christians are running the nation's culture.

Listen to any call-in show and hear people talk about "our Christian nation" and "our Christian president." If you are a woman, you are attacked by Christians because you want control over your own body or you want to be an equal partner with your husband. If you are gay, Christians condemn you, then offer to help you "become heterosexual." If you are a liberal, Christians tell you that crime, moral collapse and terrorism are your fault.

If you are Jewish, Christians want to convert you. If you are Muslim, you are the enemy. If you are Wiccan, you have to stay away from Christians' children, and if you are atheist, you certainly can't run for public office, no matter what anyone says. This is what famous Christian George H.W. Bush had to say about you in 2004: "I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

The above quotation is important for a couple of reaons: It was uttered by a former president of the United States, and he is a member of the Episcopal Church, which is a mainstream Christian denomination.

But I digress. The Thomas More Law Center claims to be in direct conflict with the ACLU, which has gone to court on multiple occasions to protect the rights of Christians, Jews, and Muslims to express their religious beliefs free of discrimination. The Thomas More Law Center, in contrast, goes to court to protect the desires--not rights--of Christians who say they feel marginalized, but who are, in fact, the biggest oppressors in the country. I have actually heard Christians say "The Constitution exists to protect the majority." They obviously slept through their American history classes, but they are also making a gigantic leap in logic: The majority does not need protection.

The TMLC represents the new American Christian bully-as-victim act. The White House, for its own very dark reasons, supports this charade, which has become a national disease. The Democratic Party will not save you from this cancer. Mainstream Christianity (if there is really such a thing anymore) will not save you from it. You had better do what you can to save yourself and your family.