[ NOTE : I'm using the term "slavery" very loosely because it fits in the title. A more technically correct descriptive term for the position of the Chinese garment sweatshop migrant workers in the Marianas that Tom Delay and friends made piles of $ off would be "indentured servitude with mandatory abortions and job insecurity resulting in the financial necessity, for many, of turning to prostitution for survival" But, that wouldn't fit. ]
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SUMMARY : When money is at stake - the profits of friends and allies specifically - leaders of the GOP and the Christian right chuck opposition to abortion out the window, turn a bind eye to prostitution, and even festoon those who profit from forced abortion with awards, accolades, and the mantle of "martyrdom".In pseudo-moral universe of Tom Delay, his friends and cronies, and his supporters among leaders of the Christian right, money rules : you may be disgusted but are you surprised ?
Now, the stoking of opposition to abortion rights has been an indispensible and definitional framing cause for the GOP and the Christian right :
In opposition to abortion rights the GOP and the American religious right have wrapped themselves in the propagandistic cover of being "pro life" regardless of how the policies of the two impact living humans or how much they clamor for war and bloodshed.
"Pro life" works for them like a protective coating of Teflon, but there's one sort thing that eats through that covering like acid :
HYPOCRISY
First, a bit of recent history :
The abortion issue was in fact conceived of by a key strategist of the Christian right movement, Francis Schaeffer. Writes Max Blumenthal, in Storming the Gates of Hell, From Louisiana to Mississippi :
The violent anti-abortion protests of the 1990's were more than mere outbursts of fundamentalist rage; they marked the deliberate execution of a strategy outlined in theologian Francis Schaeffer's bestselling 1981 book, A Christian Manifesto, in which Schaeffer urged Christians to employ anti-abortion civil disobedience as a means of challenging the legitimacy of secular government. [ emphasis mine ]
But for the GOP there is one itsy bitsy and rather secular ( not to mention amoral ) thing that trumps abortion, or the advocacy of sexual abstinence outside of marriage - one priority for which the leaders of the Grand Old Party will toss "the sanctity of life" out the window :
MONEY !
Surprise, surprise - where profit is at stake certain GOP leaders find abortion and prostitution very convenient practices indeed
In The Religious Right's 800-Pound Abortion Gorilla Talk To Action writer moiv [ link to list of moiv's stories ] - whose voice is one of the strongest of moral clarity and moral outrage from the ranks of those working to defend reproductive rights - shines a spotlight on the rank hypocrisy of the GOP and its supporters in conveniently ignoring abortion in the Marianas Islands :
In his farewell speech, Tom DeLay told the House of Representatives, "We have opposed abortion, cloning and euthanasia, because such procedures fundamentally deny the unique dignity of the human person."
But as a well-compensated favor to one of his "dearest friends," Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay has actively promoted "such procedures" in the Marianas Islands for years, where thousands of garment workers -- most of them young Chinese women -- labor in indentured servitude, live in labor camps run by members of the Chinese Communist Party, and submit to forced abortions if they become pregnant.
Human rights worker Eric Gregoire told ABC News, "With 11,000 Chinese workers here, I have never seen a Chinese garment factory worker have a baby."
And even though this horrific abuse of human rights is common knowledge, DeLay's supporters on the Religious Right - the same hallelujah chorus promoting the lie that U.S. aid would be used to support China's "one child" policy as they cheer George W. Bush's annual denial of international family planning funds - see nothing, hear nothing, and say nothing. [ emphasis mine ]
[ image, left - D. James Kennedy gives award to Tom Delay ] Did D. James Kennedy, the well spoken and tailored but quite ideologically extreme Christian nationalist potentate, know about Tom Delay's "abortion and prostitution "R" us" operation in the Marianas Islands when Kennedy presented [ along with the following words of praise ] Delay with the "Distinguished Christian Statestman" award ?
"Congressman Tom DeLay is a man who is very obviously, to those that know him, a Christian. He doesn't hide his faith under a barrel. He is not ashamed of Whom he serves, and those in Congress know where he stands. He is very definitely an ambassador for Christ, rather than a secret agent, as so many are today." - D. James Kennedy
Who or what does Delay serve ? Need I even say it ?
Moiv goes on to highlight the very public support of other prominent religious right leaders for the embattled Delay - notably James Dobson and Tony Perkins - and also the veritable who's who of the Christian nationalist movement who lined uprecedently to honor Delay and his accomplishments :
In March of this year, an all-star lineup of the Religious Right convened in Washington, DC, to gird themselves for battle at a Vision America conference dedicated to "The War on Christians and the Values Voter." Vision America is headed by DeLay's longtime brother in Christ, Rick Scarborough, whose organization boasts an official stamp of approval from James Kennedy, James Dobson, and Tim LaHaye, to name only a few.
The "Christian leaders" who convened in Washington to circle their political wagons for Jesus included Senator John Cornyn, Gary Bauer, Alan Keyes, Paul Weyrich (Free Congress Foundation), William Greene (RightMarch.com), Phyllis Schlafly (Eagle Forum), Mat Staver (Liberty Counsel), Janice Crouse (Concerned Women For America), Bill Donohue (Catholic League), Mike Johnson (Alliance Defense Fund), broadcaster Janet Parshall, Janet Folger (Faith2Action), Ron Luce (Teen Mania), Lou Sheldon (Traditional Values Coalition), Peter Sprigg (Family Research Council), Bob Knight (Concerned Women for America), Rebecca Hagelin (Heritage Foundation), Laurence White (Texas Restoration Project) and Rod Parsley (Ohio Restoration Project).
[Tom Delay] was, of course, an honored speaker:
"We are after all a society that abides abortion on demand, that has killed millions of innocent children, that degrades the institution of marriage and often treats Christianity like some second-rate superstition. Seen from this perspective, of course there is a war on Christianity."
The crowd roared.
How charming. "War on Christianity" ? Well, "war on morals and integrity" maybe, but who's waging it ?
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Thanks, moiv
]