Imagine if a US official said this.

Imagine the outrage on the kooky Right if a top US government official said: “This is a country which is founded on a democracy. According to our Constitution, we have a secular state, Our laws are made by the Congress,. If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Biblical law or a theocratic state, then America is not for you. This is not the kind of the country where you would feel comfortable....”

Of course it is unlikely that the current administration would ever say any such thing. After all what’s a little theocracy between friends. Now in fact something quite similar to the above was said, in Australia. And conservatives actually applauded and praised the official. American conservatives actually liked it!

Hard to believe. Not really. You see the speaker didn’t mention Biblical law but Sharia law and instead of Congress he said parliament and he said Australia not America. But the principle would apply equally in both places. The double standards of the nutty Right are almost comical. If you demand a secular state, keeping religious values from being mandated by law, etc. you are 1) a hero if you are referring to Islam and 2) a vile monster if you mean fundamentalist Christianity.

I actually applaud the sentiments expressed by this Australian official. I wish the US took a similar position as well. It should apply whether it is Sharia law or Biblical law that the person proposes. Of course if the US took that position the Republicans wouldn’t have any campaign issues left. Of course I remember the old days when they stood for small government, balanced budgets, less regulation, respect for the Constitution, etc. But I'm getting nostalgic again. None of that sort of rot in George Bush's America.