The religious conservatives are fighting with the traditional conservatives over the Schiavo case, and it’s getting nasty.

Republican Rep. Christopher Shays calls the “Save Schiavo” movement in the Congress THEOCRACY.

In the NY Times article below, the reporter frames the debate as being between two strong factions: “Social Conservatives” on the one hand, and then on the other hand “Process Conservatives” and libertarians, advocates of states’ rights and supporters of individual rights.

The “Theocracy” word rolls easily off the tongues of those of us who are more libertarian, or are simply uncomfortable with the Republican Party’s overt intertwining of church and state. When we wish to make an insult, we like to say “American Taliban” and “Ayatolloh Falwell”, that kind of thing, in reference to the Republicans and church vs. state issues.

It’s a refreshing and hopeful sign, I think, that a prominent Republican Congressman (Shays) has now referred to his own party as taking a “theocracy” action.

It’s inevitable that we will have theocratic actions, when our Congressional leaders are 100% rated by the major activist Christian political groups, like the Christian Coalition. Power corrupts, as the old saying goes. And the Christian Coalition is in power at the Federal level, completely. So we will see them interject their agenda whenever possible.

[As an aside, I’d like to point out that I disagree with starving people to death - there has to be a better way to deal with Schiavo type situations - perhaps federally funded lifetime care as part of Social Security, as an option for the family to consider]

For much more about the movement toward theocracy in the US Congress, see Theocracy Watch. Did you know that your Republican political leaders who run the Congress are nearly perfect in the eyes of the Christian Coalition? The Christian Coalition approves of those leaders because they are “Social Conservatives”. The more mainstream Republicans and “Process Conservatives” in Congress have little power.

For more debate about Rep. Shays’ remarks, On DailyKOS - Schiavo Debate Splinters the GOP.

The New York Times > Washington > Conservatives: G.O.P. Right Is Splintered on Schiavo Intervention: “‘My party is demonstrating that they are for states’ rights unless they don’t like what states are doing,’ said Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, one of five House Republicans who voted against the bill. ‘This couldn’t be a more classic case of a state responsibility.’

‘This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy,’ Mr. Shays said. ‘There are going to be repercussions from this vote. There are a number of people who feel that the government is getting involved in their personal lives in a way that scares them.’

While the intensity of the dissent appears to be rising - Mr. Warner made a point Tuesday of calling attention to his little-noticed opposition in a nearly empty Senate chamber over the weekend - support for the measure among Republican and conservative leaders still appears strong. In interviews, some conservatives either dismissed the argument that the vote was a federal intrusion on states’ rights or argued that their opposition to euthanasia as part of their support of the right-to-life movement trumped any aversion they might have to a dominant federal government.”

[emphasis in the above added by your friendly blogger]