Rulers? Who knew?

Katherine Harris (of the Florida election brouhaha) is running for Congress. She is unsupported by her own party, getting criticism from left and right, and yet she seems to be ignoring it and doing/saying whatever she wants to. Either she's stupid, or she knows something we don't about her chances of being elected. Given her role in getting Bush elected, perhaps she is convinced that she will get 'special' treatment. Or maybe she's going to write a tell-all book, who knows?

She apparently is trying to woo the religious right. While speaking to a Baptist convention, she sounded a fervent evangelical tone, saying that "God chooses our rulers," that voters needed to send Christians to political office and that God did not intend for the United States to be a "nation of secular laws." Hey, since when does the United States have "rulers"? Not quite understanding that concept of representative government, are you, Ms. Harris?

She claims that the separation of church and state is a "lie", and when called on her obviously bigoted remarks that only Christians should be catered to, she said that it was only because she was talking to a christian group. Others in the Republican party have said that Harris doesn't represent mainstream party politics. Perhaps this is true, but I have to admit it's fun to watch her melt down in public. She just keeps opening her mouth and saying the damnest things.

Last week, she claimed that not electing "Christian" politicians will "legislate sin" and, obviously, the failure of American society will closely follow. In the furor that followed that statement, she stuck her foot in her mouth again by claiming:

"I think that our laws, I mean, I look at how the law originated, even from Moses, the 10 Commandments. And I don't believe, that uh . . . That's how all of our laws originated in the United States, period. I think that's the basis of our rule of law."

Well, this might be why she had so many problems with election law and balloting initiatives.

Sorry to break it to you, honey, but no, our rule of law is NOT based solely on religious doctrine. As a matter of fact, "pagan" rulers and cultures have far more influence on our laws and legal processes. Read a little history, for pete's sake, before spouting off to gain some sort of support from the religious right. All good scholars of history know that Moses took his laws from those already in the region, most notably the laws of Hammurabi. So what Harris is arguing that we go back to pagan law-givers and honor their rules. Perhaps things would improve.

I'd like someone to ask her on camera to actually enumerate the 10 commandments. If she's going to don the mantle of the uber-religious, she should be able to talk the talk, too, don't you think?