Letters to the Editor
-
Btw
It wasn't any evangelicals that flipped that allowed the Democrats take Congress, it was the overwhelming percentage of Independents that did it.
Please do not give credit where credit is NOT due. The far religious right has no business expecting any "bipartisanship" out of Democrats, not after helping to ruin the country for 6 years while we yelled "WTF!!!".
-
So Evangelicals are the tip vote
All the more reason to institute a system of proportional representation in this country. Moderate Americans are sick and tired of how our ridiculous winner-take-all electoral system gives so much leverage to lunatic-fringe groups like fundamentalist evangelicals and Miami's Cuban exiles.
Personally, I'm sick and tired of how the media always conflates evangelicals with "Christianity". Sorry to say it, but evangelicals are a minority Protestant sect who have nothing to do with the millions more Catholic, Orthodox and mainstream Protestant citizens who constitute the true moral majority--"moral" in that they care more about social justice, international peace and the environment than about non-issues like abortion and gay marriage.
-
Bring the Big Guy into the discussion-
"It remains to be seen whether these races foreshadow a 2008 election in which candidates increasingly attempt to out-pray each other for political gain."
I sure hope not. If there was substance to the debate however- well then I'm all for it. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the separation of Church and State, but I also think that trying to avoid the topics of faith and religion is like Bush trying to ignore the facts in Iraq: You can do it, but you'll suffer for it in the end.
Part of the problem is that in trying to establish a government to tolerate all religions, we have seperated our beliefs so far from our governing that we have created an entirely new battle.
In war between two or more small nations there will almost always be two or more large nations standing behind them. A proxy war(see Palestine, Israel:Arab League, USA) In America, the 'small nations' are Christians- most prominently Catholics and Evangelicals- Jews, and Athiests. Standing behind these are the Republicans, repectively, and the Democrats. Of course- as in all wars, regions, and religious conflicts- these divisions do not come close to representing the intricate tapestry of American theology and politics. This is a problem.
Being a nation tolerant of all faiths and religions is all well and good, but it does not mean that we cannot discuss religion and faith. Part of the disconnect between what should be and what is, is the notion that there can be a discussion of morals and how they should apply to governance without talking about religion- that is what it was created for. To ignore religion and faith is to ignore the history of human self-governance, it is as simple as that. The connection between religion and control is as well known to true theologians as it is to cultural anthropologists; it is those who do not truly understand either discipline that insist on denying the importance of this link.
And so what, by so completely excising spirituality and moral beleifs from the political debate, what have we wrought? For starters, take a look at campaign ads or the posters that pro-lifers carry- this is not rational, open debate. It is filth. It is dirty. It is to be ashamed of. Anyone who likes Bill Maher should recognize the pattern here: when you take some primal urge and repress it, it only festers and grows stronger. And that is a large part of religion- guilt and banishment for any subject or act the church deems innapropriate. Unfortunately, this doesn't work. How do we know? Well there are priests who molest little boys, Congressmen who molest, or try to molest, little boys, prominent Evangelical Pastors who use crystal meth with gay hookers. You cannot simply ignore an issue and hope that it goes away. In fact, the more you try to ignore it, the more damage it ends up doign you.
SO, I think that a reasoned and open debate about religion is healthy. It prevents the cancerous growth of bad-religion, bad-theology, wrong-headed groups. By ignoring faith completely we abandon morality to whosoever will take it up. Unfortunately, that person is often in it for their own good, not for the promotion and focus of morality. Whether the motive is money or power, intentional or subconscious, eventually these self-appointed stewards of morality will be corrupted completely. How similar the two are, religion and politics.
So if they are serious about having a real discussion about faith, theology, and religion, then I say Huzzah! Shine that light down, Brother, and open their eyes. By publicly debating religion we will begin to move closer to an understanding, if not a consensus. We must relive the chaos and threat to personal faith of the reformation to regain our perspective on the notion of plurality. We have lost our compassion and comradery. We have gone from holding on to each other in a desperate embrace to holding each other by the throat at arms length. We must step back, recognize the striking similarities and important differences and re-engage with a handshake. We cannot abandon morality and faith to those less scrupulous than us- if we do than we have deserved what we have gotten. We can make this a true turning point in history only if we hold one another close, to reconcile our common path, to survive, to grow and to define the truths of our world.
-
Big Tent? Yes, but...
I am an atheist, but I welcome anyone to the effort to eliminate the neo-Stalinists from power in this country. And, yes, we should do whatever we can to stress common ground with a wide range of people. BUT, in the process, we will not give up or turn our backs on our core values.
The Democratic Party is offically pro-choice - we believe that women have the right to control their own bodies and reproductive decisions. This will NOT change or tens of miilions of us will find a new home.
Without campaigning for gay marriage, we will insist that anti-homosexual bigotry not be part of the Democratic Party. We believe in equal rights for all Americans regardless of status.
We oppose imposed religion of any kind - that means no prayer in schools, no teaching of religion masquerading as science, no subsidies to religion, no special rights for Christians, etc.
These are just a few examples. So, big tent, yes, if possible, but we do not give up our core values to accommodate some latecomers to the dance.