Of Prayer and Payback
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6479271/site/newsweek/
Highlights from the article:
“After years of frustrating Democratic rule followed by a gridlocked Congress under Bush, they now hold daily conference calls and meetings to review a long legislative wish list: conservative judicial appointments, a federal amendment banning gay marriage, abortion restrictions, tougher obscenity laws, school vouchers, a ban on all human cloning. And they're counting on Bush to deliver.”
"Bush's legacy can be easily neutralized if he's unable to change the courts," says American Values president Gary Bauer.
"We're not going to be trotted out every four years and then get kicked in the teeth afterwards," says the Free Congress Foundation's Paul Weyrich
“But controlling that kind of hydra could prove tricky even for Bush's vaunted strategist Karl Rove. Some religious supporters might scare off moderates Rove hopes to add to a permanent Republican majority. Bob Jones III, president of Bob Jones University, wasn't exactly conciliatory in his post-election letter to Bush, deeming the president's re-election "a reprieve from the agenda of paganism." Jones wrote: "You owe liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ."
“Since the election, Rove has reiterated Bush's desire for a federal amendment banning gay marriage. Though aides say it's not first on Bush's to-do list, Republicans want to keep the issue alive. After all, it's not too early to think about the congressional elections of 2006.”
Ok, one, Bob Jones III is INSANE. I was brought up as an Episcopalian… Sunday school, confirmation, church choir, the whole nine yards…. and my understanding is that God, Jesus, whoever teaches us to be BETTER people… to love, to forgive, to be sympathetic people and above all is to do good and be a decent human being. To wage war against liberals is completely hypocritical and I am starting to seriously resent the non-thinking religious leaders who just rant and rave about values and damnation. The reason we, as liberals, lose the battle is because they start teaching their beliefs as soon as you can walk into a Sunday school. And then they lecture at you from the pulpit using scare tactics. So you will accept that homosexuality is a sin. Abortion is a sin. The evil-doers are coming for you and you better be ready to fight the Crusade. I was brought up in the church, yet was taught to think for myself, draw my own conclusions. My church has a gay bishop though so maybe its just that I cant even begin to understand “people of God” being discriminatory and hateful.
I think that the important thing after losing the election is not to disappear into the woodwork. They have the advantage of solidarity. Liberals are liberal for thousands of reasons- while the religious right agrees with each other on pretty much everything. I liked Kerry, I thought he could help restore our international reputation which was one of the issues that mattered most to me, but my faith and hope in him didn’t involve thinking that he was doing God’s work. People believe that about Bush and its hard to argue with. You cant fight fire with logic.
So anyway, I just wanted to remind people to stay involved and to support whatever cause matters to you. The Supreme Court could become considerably more conservative in the next 4 years which is scarily a much more important fight than a presidential election. They serve for life. The midterm elections are sure to be riddled with more gay marriage issues so that they can turn out the conservative voters. Be educated and educate others. We lost a big battle, but that doesn’t mean that we can afford to sit around until 2008.
"To have faith in a time of religious fervor is a worry. And, you know, I do have faith, and I'm worried about even the subject because of the sort of fanaticism that is the next-door neighbor of faith. The trick in the next few years will not be to decry the religious instinct, but to accept that this is a hugely important part of people's lives. And at the same time to be very wary of people who believe that theirs is the only way. Unilateralism before God is dangerous." - Bono
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6479271/site/newsweek/
Highlights from the article:
“After years of frustrating Democratic rule followed by a gridlocked Congress under Bush, they now hold daily conference calls and meetings to review a long legislative wish list: conservative judicial appointments, a federal amendment banning gay marriage, abortion restrictions, tougher obscenity laws, school vouchers, a ban on all human cloning. And they're counting on Bush to deliver.”
"Bush's legacy can be easily neutralized if he's unable to change the courts," says American Values president Gary Bauer.
"We're not going to be trotted out every four years and then get kicked in the teeth afterwards," says the Free Congress Foundation's Paul Weyrich
“But controlling that kind of hydra could prove tricky even for Bush's vaunted strategist Karl Rove. Some religious supporters might scare off moderates Rove hopes to add to a permanent Republican majority. Bob Jones III, president of Bob Jones University, wasn't exactly conciliatory in his post-election letter to Bush, deeming the president's re-election "a reprieve from the agenda of paganism." Jones wrote: "You owe liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ."
“Since the election, Rove has reiterated Bush's desire for a federal amendment banning gay marriage. Though aides say it's not first on Bush's to-do list, Republicans want to keep the issue alive. After all, it's not too early to think about the congressional elections of 2006.”
Ok, one, Bob Jones III is INSANE. I was brought up as an Episcopalian… Sunday school, confirmation, church choir, the whole nine yards…. and my understanding is that God, Jesus, whoever teaches us to be BETTER people… to love, to forgive, to be sympathetic people and above all is to do good and be a decent human being. To wage war against liberals is completely hypocritical and I am starting to seriously resent the non-thinking religious leaders who just rant and rave about values and damnation. The reason we, as liberals, lose the battle is because they start teaching their beliefs as soon as you can walk into a Sunday school. And then they lecture at you from the pulpit using scare tactics. So you will accept that homosexuality is a sin. Abortion is a sin. The evil-doers are coming for you and you better be ready to fight the Crusade. I was brought up in the church, yet was taught to think for myself, draw my own conclusions. My church has a gay bishop though so maybe its just that I cant even begin to understand “people of God” being discriminatory and hateful.
I think that the important thing after losing the election is not to disappear into the woodwork. They have the advantage of solidarity. Liberals are liberal for thousands of reasons- while the religious right agrees with each other on pretty much everything. I liked Kerry, I thought he could help restore our international reputation which was one of the issues that mattered most to me, but my faith and hope in him didn’t involve thinking that he was doing God’s work. People believe that about Bush and its hard to argue with. You cant fight fire with logic.
So anyway, I just wanted to remind people to stay involved and to support whatever cause matters to you. The Supreme Court could become considerably more conservative in the next 4 years which is scarily a much more important fight than a presidential election. They serve for life. The midterm elections are sure to be riddled with more gay marriage issues so that they can turn out the conservative voters. Be educated and educate others. We lost a big battle, but that doesn’t mean that we can afford to sit around until 2008.
"To have faith in a time of religious fervor is a worry. And, you know, I do have faith, and I'm worried about even the subject because of the sort of fanaticism that is the next-door neighbor of faith. The trick in the next few years will not be to decry the religious instinct, but to accept that this is a hugely important part of people's lives. And at the same time to be very wary of people who believe that theirs is the only way. Unilateralism before God is dangerous." - Bono
posted by Amanda at 4:01 PM
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