And my reaction was: Crap! Is this the next phase of turning America into a Rightwing Christian Fortress?

It'd be pretty clever. The Republicans are pretty much 0wn3d by the UberRight. The Government is nearly 0wn3d by the Republicans, nearly except for a few final gasps of life from Democrats. What can the Republicans do? They can either "fight" the Democrats, marginalze them, or absorb them. "Fighting" is ugly and may end up scaring some of your own followers away, plus it legitimizes the opponent. Marginalizing the Democrats is also dangerous as they may roar back to life. No, the best way to remove the Democrats is to absorb them, to have the Democrats become the party for "Mainstream" Christian which would, of course, kowtow to the UberRight.

It would force the minorities - Gays, Atheists, Jews, etc. - to the fringe where matters can be neatly watched by those in Power.

You know, this country used to be about protecting the Minority from the Majority. It used to be about Fairplay and intelligent debate, about giving everyone a shot. Now, it's about business and profits, and business about prophets.

Here's a question someone should ask Bush: Would his country allow Atheists to live? That is, if the UberRight Republicans got everything their way, what would happen to the Atheists and the Gays and the Jews and the Hindus and other minorities?