Values Choices for the Parties
Eugene Robinson writes today about the quandry the Republicans are in over the Foley scandal and how it is revealing the pressence of "gasp" gays and lesbians in their membership and on their staffs. He wonders if the Republicans can explain the reality of the situation to their conservative voters or abandon what could be a teaching moment in favor of a gay purge.
One could get the impression that all Christians are conservatives. That is not the case. There is a Christian Left, some of whom are politically liberal and others who are doctrinally so and who might even be politically moderate, since they are definitely to the right of the secular left.
As much at fault has been the Democratic Party's recent predeliction for secularism (even though in reality the Reagans were secularists and the Clintons weekly attenders at services). Even looking at conventions, one must note that gospel choirs and singers are as apt to entertain at the Democratic Convention as the Republican. Of course, beyond the facade, the noisiest of activists in the Democratic Party are secularists. Perhaps it is time for the secular left to share the microphone with the rest of us.
posted by Michael Bindner at 1:02 PM
4 Comments:
I couldn't agree more; in fact, I've been frustrated with arguments with secular leftists because they somehow believe that, as a professing Christian, I am a closet right-winger. Part of the problem are what I call secular fundamentalists, people whose minds are closed to the possibility that religion can actually be a freeing, vivifying source giving people strength and purpose. I have grown tired of these arguments, however, and no longer rise to the bait. I think rather than insist on mike time, we should buy our own microphones, as it were.
1:32 PM
Thank you Geoffrey.
As for Mr. Page's comments, while Bush and the Vatican agree on abortion, birth control and stem cell research, I don't think they agree on foreign policy. This whole Pope as anti-Christ thing is old and frankly unacceptable. The Pope is a hierarchist who needs to be educated about the true nature of natural law (how it cannot exist in the same breath as authoritative pronouncement). The purpose of a Christian Left is to underscore that point to the leaders of the various Christian sects as it is to move the world of politics.
Bush is no Christian Emperor, just the American one. Europe and Christendom are hardly united behind his cause. There may one day be a Christian emperor, but it is not George W. Bush. The legend of the Christian emperor is that he is Catholic, not a Methodist.
4:39 PM
Geoff,
If you could provide some response to Mr. Page's comments, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Mike
4:43 PM
OK, Mike, I will do my best.
Unconnected ramblings, with left-wing fearmongering and anti-Catholic bias (USA as Holy Roman Empire; new Vatican etc.). I agree that the hypocrisy of the Republicans is pretty huge; I do not believe it betrays some deeper streak of evil. When power becomes more important than people our leaders are now nihilists, and the results of nihilism are destruction. Our leaders need to be replaced, not because they are the anti-Christ, but because they no longer serve the public interest. It isn't the Republican Party that's failed, it is the leadership of the Republican Party that has made a decision that style is more important than substance, that politics is more important than policy, and that power is an end in itself. Removing them from power in COngress is the first step to reducing the damage they can cause.
I despise breathlessness and the idea that our counttry's fate hangs on the brink - although it may. This is a propitious moment, even with the North Korean bomb test; this just shows the abject failure of the current Administration (their current attempt to blame Clinton misses the point; where have they been for five years?).
The Foley-Hastert-Boehner scandal is small potatoes; it is just an object lesson in the dangers of too much power concentrated in too few hands.
7:29 AM
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