Saturday, April 23, 2005

Gimme that old time Republicanism

Do we have any Republican these days that would or could express these thoughts? Do we have any Republican that could even speak this well?

However, on religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.'
To put it more succinctly:

When you say 'radical right' today, I think of these moneymaking ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others who are trying to take the Republican Party away from the Republican Party, and make a religious organization out of it. If that ever happens, kiss politics goodbye.
I'm not saying Barry Goldwater was a saint, but his kind of conservative is in stark contrast to Delay, Frist, Bush and the whole lot of them today. Mores the pity.

1 comment:

John said...

Amen, brother!

And, from a different perspective, the church is prostituted whenever it is used to serve politics.* Twenty minutes of sermon time wasted on a political speech is twenty minutes that the Gospel wasn't preached.

*There are unusual exceptions, such as the Abolitionist and Civil Rights movements.