As a coda to the previous post, consider this article, from yesterday's The New York Times. It's headline is the title of this entry.
Some of President Bush's most influential conservative Christian allies are becoming openly critical of the White House and Republicans in Congress, warning that they will withhold their support in the midterm elections unless Congress does more to oppose same-sex marriage, obscenity and abortion.
“There is a growing feeling among conservatives that the only way to cure the problem is for Republicans to lose the Congressional elections this fall,” said Richard Viguerie, a conservative direct-mail pioneer.
And how do the Repbulicans respond to this criticism:
Republican officials, who were granted anonymity to speak publicly because of the sensitivity of the situation, acknowledged the difficult political climate but said they planned to rally conservatives by underscoring the contrast with Democrats and emphasizing the recent confirmations of two conservatives to the Supreme Court.
And:
Republicans say they are taking steps to revive their support among Christian conservatives. On Thursday night, Mr. Rove made the case for the party at a private meeting of the Council for National Policy, participants said.
In addition to reminding conservatives of the confirmations of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, party strategists say the White House and Senate Republicans are escalating their fights against the Democrats over conservative nominees to lower federal courts, and the Senate is set to revive the same-sex marriage debate next month with a vote on the proposed amendment.
Pandering to religious conservatives is absolutely vital to any Republican hopes of maintaining their power in Washington. Meanwhile, I see no evidence of the Republicans quaking before the awesome might of the secularists within their party.
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I am one person who can literally say that Democratic policy directly threatened my life!
It never ceases to amaze me the kind of political power that is wielded by the "Christian" right. I put the word "Christian" in quotes because they are anything but. What is the point of opposing same-sex marriage? Why should gay marriage bother the straight community? And, oh yeah, we'd better have Congress censor obscenity. That's really a priority problem. And what the religious right doesn't seem to understand (to my bewilderment) is that the "liberals" that they hate so much are not actually pro-abortion, but pro-choice, and there's a big difference. "Pandering to religious conservatives" is exactly what the Republicans are doing. They depend on the segment of the population with the least developed critical thinking skills. It's absolutely shameful.
The religous right does not care about the real problems facng your nation and the world (especially since religon is one of the real problems). How can you expect them to have a rational view of the world when their defining charateristic (religous right) means they have (and truly beleive in) an irrational view of reality. They focus on the silly little "problems" that they themselves create (same sex marriage, women's rights etc)because thay cannot reconcile the actual world out there with their beiliefs so they blame the problem on other people rather than taking a critical look at thier superstitions.
The fact that some politicians (as well as the religous leaders) take advantage of these peoples gullibilty and well washed brains is shameful but hardly unexpected. It is up to the rest of the citizenry and in particular the moderate religous peoople and groups to denounce and marginalize these loonies and those that would use their delusions for personal gain.
This comes to show that Republicans are a bunch of liars. First of all, they say that they are going to do something about the situations that are taking place in this nation, but are doing nothing to help. I used to trust George W. Bush with the job he was doing in the 1st term with the War on Terror, but I don't this term because of the War in Iraq. Plus, on the 1st term, in 2003, he invaded Iraq because he claimed that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, but we found none. He also said that he was going to do something about banning homosexuality, but he didn't do anything to ban it. Bush stated that he will put an end to abortions that are being held in this country, but did he do it? NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!
What else he should have done was to get more involved with the Terri Schiavo case to save Teeri Schiavo from losing her feeding tube. But, did he do that? NO WAY! He has allowed the Reprobate Florida Judge to rule in Micheal Schiavo's (Terri's husband) favor to remove her feeding tube from her body. That was just sick because just because she has brain damage and couldn't swallow on her own due to a heart attack she had in 1990 doesn't give the judge nor her husband the right to vote to take out her feeding tube on March 31, 2005. I mean, if Teri Schiavo wanted to die, she would have signed a DO NOT RESESITATE form. But did she sign a DNR form? NO! If a person is ready to die, then that's between that person and God, not between a judge and the patient. However, Jeb Bush has gotten involved with the fight to keep the feeding tube inserted inside of Terri Schiavo. He also attempted to have an appeal to have her feeding tube to be re-inserted inside of her but the judge rejected his appeal.
It's sickning! Do you know how many people who tolerate this? A lot! And that's sad!
Let's hope we get the better polititians in office that are committed to what they are doing and stick with their committment.
I would consider myself a conservative Christian. I am opposed to the legalization of abortion (except to save a mother's life) and supportive of the government defining marraige between a man and a woman. I just wanted to give you some insight into how I view these issues with a common sense position. First of all, I support the marraige amendment but I am open-minded on civil unions. I think that homosexual partners should be able to make medical decisions for each other. I have closely examined my views on this issue at times and I support the Federal Marraige Amendment for two basic reasons: (1) I oppose gays being allowed to adopt children and (2) I see an attempt to broaden the definition of marraige to include same-sex marraige does affect everyone. I actually don't have any problem with two people of the same sex making a private commitment to each other and calling it marraige. They can even have the bridal gown, the decorations, the ring and everything! Just as long as the marraige is not recognized by the state. For the government to do that would be the government imposing on the American people that THEY must accept same-sex marraige as equally valid as heterosexual marraige. This would move towards the government teaching our children in schools that same-sex marraige is equally valid, even if that teaching contradicts the teachings of the children's parents. I have a moral problem with gays making commitments to each other, but I do not have a legal problem. I only have a legal problem with the government imposing the acceptance of same-sex marraige on the general population. The Federal Marraige Amendment would prevent this from happening and insure that our kids are taught the correct definition of marraige. It is important to remember that even if all the governments in the world define a same-sex commitment as a marraige, it will never be a valid marraige in God's eyes. I want my children to understand that. And as far as abortion goes, this issue is deep in my heart. Before I was born the doctors looked at my sonogram and saw a hump on the back of my kneck. They told my mom that she ought to abort me but my mom refused! With these unborn children who have the sword to their throats and are waiting to hear the word on whether they will be killed or not, I can definitely relate to them because I have been one of them. I am one person who can literally say that Democratic policy directly threatened my life! I understand that Democrats are opposed to abortion but supportive of choice. To that I say that if you don't believe the government should give people the legal right to hunt their neighbors down and kill them, (even if you disagree with their personal decision) then you have no justification for saying that people have the right to choose whether they have an abortion or not. For abortion is murder. I just hope these comments help you understand that we who are conservative Christians are not just a bunch of uneducated farmers with pitchforks. We are a people who have brains, and have come to our opinions through careful thought. I think it is important for Democrats to understand this if they will ever win our vote.
Jake,
While appreciating your sentiments I find your arguments weak.
Why there are 1000's if not millions being raised in such homes now and doing just fine. Having certain body parts doesn't make one a good parent.
Then what is your problem. If you'll be ok with that then the only thing left is bigotry.
And? How would that bother you 1 iota? What freedom would it remove from you?
Which God? Which version? And how can you possibly know what God thinks? How arrogant? And don't say some 'holy' book of which no one can agree on anything.
No that would have been your mother if she chose to abort you. The government allows her to make that choice. It's not the Democrats who would have made her do it.
Maybe not farmers with pitchforks or careful thought but the rest seems accurate enough.