By now, the social security debate has covered almost every angle, except for one. How will the extreme religious right, respond to the President's privatization plan? In particular, how will Tony Perkins'
Family Research Council (FRC) and James Dobson's
Focus on the Family (FotF) work to further their agenda?
The extreme religious right will use social security to push a "pro family" agenda that will punish same-sex unions, working women, and single adults.
FRC supports a plan that will punish non-traditional families. The plan, spelled out in this article by an FRC fellow, would give tax breaks to married heterosexuals with children. They plan to use Social Security to push their view that women belong in the kitchen and that homosexuals have no rights.
FotF gives much more lip-service to Bush's plan. In fact, FotF shows off their un-Christian values by posting the White House
Social Security Talking Points on its website and by writing numerous articles about Bush's Social Security Plan. (See the Google search
here)
There is still reason for concern. FotF claims that same-sex marriage will hurt the health of Social Security. This fits in the extreme religious right's plan to use existing federal programs to force the Government to support their un-Christian view of a "traditional" family.
We cannot let the extreme religious right speak in the name of people of faith. When they start pushing their Social Security agenda we must be ready to respond to the media and say loudly that their plan is not in keeping with our faith traditions.
For more information check out the Building the Beloved Community.