Greetings, this is podcast number 65 of Blast the Right.

I'm Jack Clark from TheRationalRadical.com.

Today we're going to examine the right wing claim that there's a war on religion in this country.

You'll see that, as with most everything right wingers say, the exact opposite is true.

We'll also present a quick blast for you to use when conversing with your friendly alcohol right winger

and we'll hear an informative listener comment on last week's podcast.

Let's get right into it.

We recently received an interesting fundraising letter from the ACLU.

Apparently right wing Christians are making false claims that the ACLU wants to fire all military chaplains.

And that federal legislation is needed to prevent religious markings from being removed from the grave markers at military cemeteries.

The holiday season gets closer.

You might recall that way back in podcast 19, I dismantled the phony War on Christmas claim championed by Bill O'Reilly and others.

All these right wing lies illustrate a favorite right wing tactic, stirring up their base by breathlessly warning that there is a war on religion in this country.

That war supposedly subjects religious organizations to hostility and discrimination and threatens the religious freedom of God fearing Americans.

Here's Speaker of the House, Dennis Hasterd.

Quote, radical courts have attempted to gut our religious freedom and redefine the value system on which America was built.

Tom Delay said that society, quote, treats Christianity like a second class superstition.

Seen from that perspective, of course there is a war on religion.

Close quote.

This past spring there was a conference in Washington DC that attracted hundreds of people and not a few pandering members of Congress.

The conference's name was The War on Christians and the Values Voter in 2006.

As with most things right wingers claim, the exact opposite is true.

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