Jamie Raskin, who made us proud earlier this year by standing up to a Christian Rightist in the Maryland state legislature -- upset an entrenched incumbent Maryland state senator in the Democratic primary yesterday:

MD Senate Dist. 20
Ida Ruben ((D))        3,589    33%    
Jamie Raskin ((D))    7,412    67%

During a hearing in March on a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban same sex marriage, Raskin responded to an assertion by State Sen. Nancy Jacobs' that marriage is a biblical principle and that it is soley between a man and a woman:

"People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution. They don't put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

Raskin, a professor of constitutional law at American University in Washington, DC, showed that being a Democrat can mean standing-up to the religious right; standing firm in support of marriage equality; and running an authentic grassroots campaign that engages the citizens instead of merely talking at them via expensive television ads.

The religious right has gained substantial political power in the U.S. primarily through old fashioned political organizing and electoral politics. During this period, Democrats whose values support religious freedom and separation of church and state, have careened between sputtering denunciations of "religious political extremists" and pandering to conservative "values voters."

Jamie Raskin demonstrated that you can stand up for the values of the Constitution of the United States and the rights of fellow citizens  -- and win elections -- not despite your stands, but because of them.

The religious right you shall always have with you.  At least for the rest of the lives of anyone reading this -- the latest of my more-or-less weekly round-ups of interesting and significant posts about the religious right, from the Greater Blogosphere.  

There are those who run around predicting the imminent demise of the religious right, citing this or that reading of the tea leaves. For a quarter century, such people have been wrong, wrong, wrong (and not necessarily in that order.) So umm, don't listen to such people. They epitomize the culture of ignorance and politial expediency that has enabled the rise of the religious right for a generation. If people who profess to be concerned about the religious right, and any of the attendant issues, were more like Terrence (see on the flip) at The Republic of T, our country and by extension, the world, would be a better place.

A lot of stuff goes around out here in cyberspace. Some of it is true, some of it is not. There have been a lot of hoaxes. And of course, the things that seem too good to be true -- often are. Fortunately there is an excellent web site called Snopes, that checks the veracity of such things. One of the things they checked up on was this:

On Wednesday, March 1, 2006, at a hearing on the proposed Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin, professor of law at AU, [American University] was requested to testify.

At the end of his testimony, Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs said: "Mr. Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?"

Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

The room erupted into applause.

That folks, is a true story.  

Last week I reported on how Jamie Raskin, a candidate for State Senator in Maryland rebutted a Christian Rightist so thoroughly and succinctly, we have to wonder why no one ever thought of it before.

He said:

"People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution. They don't put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

This week, he has been honored, along with 14 others, with an endorsement by 21st Century Democrats, an organziation that singles out promising progressive candidates for national recognition and support.

An upstart candidate running in the Democratic primary for Maryland State Senate may be poised to stage a remarkable upset. The candidate, Jamie Raskin is becoming nationally known as an advocate for marriage equality -- and for coining a phrase so important and so memorable that it deserves not only be to be widely quoted -- but considered part of an essential lesson that should be deeply learned by everyone concerned about the rise of the religious right, especially those who hold or aspire to public office at all levels.