Comments on The 7-10: Palmer on Politics: How the Religious Right is Politically Wrong

SWA,Because the Democrats have not been particular...

2009-01-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

SWA,

Because the Democrats have not been particularly successful at winning presidential elections over the past 40 years, I'm not sure if I can think of any particular liberal constituency that has as much sway as the religious right does for conservatives. The gay left is quite vocal, but I don't think it's a large enough part of the base to have that sway. Could it be Black voters? Obama has shown that he is willing to stand up to them (especially when it comes to Black fathers), so perhaps that's not the group either (Illinois politics aside).

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Dr. King,

That is a very powerful, succinct comment. Thanks for using two sentences to say what I tried to say using a bunch of paragraphs.

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DB,

Do you remember Reagan talking about how life in the 1950s was really good and that we should return to that way of life? I think that was when he launched his 1980 campaign in Mississippi. America is changing. That genie is out of the bottle. People are going to have to accept that you'll never get rid of all the gays, atheists, immigrants, non-English speakers, feminists, nonvirgins, or people of ethnic group X. So rather than continue a tribalistic war against them, why not just find areas of common ground? It seems that this inability to put the toothpaste back in the tube will continue to dog the religious right and further marginalize them.

Happy New Year everyone.

Happy New Year guys

2009-01-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year guys

My of my, you have illustrated this point so well....

2008-12-30T19:58:00.000-05:00

My of my, you have illustrated this point so well. Though this all implies they understand that this country is a country of diverse views, backgrounds, beliefs and traditions. Not to mention you also assume they want minority support as the racist stereotype persists and is being reenforced everyday (RNC CD thing). The religious right is not concerned with that diversity, rather themselves, and they feel minorities only threaten their beliefs and traditions. They want to preserve what they think were the traditions of this country in the past, but fail to realize the truth of these traditions. Yes, a return to a time where people stay married is ideal (not for everyone, but I digress that point for the broader point), but to forget that at that time women were considered second class and had no rights. This is just one example of an entire platform plagued with such fallacies.

And King: "so unyielding in their beliefs that they'd rather lose than compromise. Hard to sustain a majority with supporters like this." That is a brilliant thought and will ultimately be their downfall (well, at least until they yield as they always do).

Anthony and S.W. are right. The bigger problem for...

2008-12-30T18:12:00.000-05:00

Anthony and S.W. are right. The bigger problem for Republicans is that the electoral system is designed to have just two political parties. Someone has to take the evangelicals, but they're so unyielding in their beliefs that they'd rather lose than compromise. Hard to sustain a majority with supporters like this.

The religious right and Republicans entered into a...

2008-12-30T03:50:00.000-05:00

The religious right and Republicans entered into a marriage of convenience on the occasion of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. (That, BTW, kicked off in Philadelphia, Miss., where a few years earlier three "freedom riders" from the Chicago area had been slain.) Like most marriages of convenience, it's fraught with perils for both partners.

In one respect, though, it's a good fit. Religious fundamentalists are absolutists, and not just in matters of faith. They are about dogma and harvesting and wielding power, in society, using political power whenever they can get it.

As I've mentioned before, Republicans behave more like a political pressure group than a big-tent (or omnibus) political party. In their way, they too are absolutists, dogmatic and thoroughly devoted to gaining, wielding and retaining political power. When in power, Republicans rule, as opposed to governing in the traditional sense of American politics, always with emphasis on rewarding their friend$, punishing their enemies — as opposed to the opposition — and keeping the levers of power in their own hands.

So, there's a same-wavelength quality to the relationship.

Re: those license plates. I would dearly love to debate Lt. Gov. Bauer about those, not only on the basis of church-state separation, but also on religious grounds. If, as I suspect, he's a Protestant Christian, it would be interesting to know if he ever heard the one about going into a room, quietly and alone, to pray, unlike those who beat their chest, wail and pray loudly in the streets. Humility and sincerity in faith, as opposed to shallowness and being ostentatious.

It doesn't take a doctorate in theology to figure out which take on religion those license plates appeal to.