Fundies Consider Leaving Republican Party

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2.../6/110046.shtml

 

Christian Right Talks of Bolting GOP in 2004

Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com

Tuesday, May 6, 2003

 

Leaders of the Christian right are thinking of bolting the Republican Party in 2004. Such a move would deal a severe blow to President Bush’s re-election effort.

 

Though Christian voters played a pivotal role in electing Bush in his razor-thin victory over Al Gore, NewsMax has learned that major figures in the evangelical movement, including James Dobson, are talking about withholding support from the Republican Party.

 

Conservative religious activists cite the latest insult: the Republican Party’s failure to rally behind Sen. Rick Santorum, whose comments about the upcoming Supreme Court case on consensual homosexual acts triggered a national firestorm.

 

With the left mounting a major battle to redefine marriage, pro-family leaders are worried that the White House and Beltway Republicans care little about this issue and other social issues.

 

"If Republican leaders cannot mount a vigorous defense of marriage, then pro-family voters perhaps should begin to reconsider their loyalty to the party," warned Ken Connors, president of Family Research Council and a close affiliate of Dobson’s Focus on the Family.

 

Along with other leaders of the politically powerful pro-family movement, Connors was appalled at the "muted defense" of Santorum, R-Pa., who has been under attack by the gay rights lobby and its liberal allies in the media and the Democrat party. That failure, Connors said ominously, raises the question whether the GOP is the best vehicle for resisting the Democrats' radical political agenda.

 

Connors recently wrote a scathing memo attacking the Republican leadership to pro-family leaders.

 

"Beyond a few tepid statements of personal support for Santorum, no prominent national GOP leader seems willing or able to mount a spirited, principled defense of marriage and family.

 

“The question naturally arises: have Republicans been so intimidated by the smear tactics of the homosexual lobby and its Democratic attack dogs that they are cowering in silence," he wrote.

 

Dobson: 'Where Are the Republicans?'

 

Dobson echoed these sentiments during a joint broadcast with Connors on his Focus on the Family radio broadcast.

 

"Where are the Republicans on this?" he fumed. "I’ve heard very, very little coming from Mark Racicot, the Republican national chairman, or from the White House or from anybody else."

 

Dobson chastised the Republicans for getting too cozy with the gay lobby. He complained that Racicot met secretly with the homosexual group Human Rights Campaign but failed to disagree with it on the major issues. Connors said that Racicot didn’t utter one word in defense of marriage and failed to make the case that the Republican platform makes – that marriage should be limited to one man and one woman – he simply went with the message of so-called tolerance and inclusion.

 

Tolerance and inclusion aren’t the issues here – the issue is whether or not we’re going to radically redefine marriage, according to Connors.

 

Connors has written that HRC, "which desperately wants to marginalize pro-family Republicans, is exploiting the meeting to suggest the GOP is open to its political agenda. Surely someone as savvy as Mark Racicot, a former governor who was seriously considered as President Bush's running mate, was aware of the propaganda value in his meeting with HRC."

 

The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of Traditional Values Coalition was also angered by Racicot's meeting with HRC. He warned that "this has caused concern among conservatives that Republican leaders are going to sell out on the issue of homosexuality."

 

Dobson worries that the Santorum controversy indicates the Republican Party’s weak commitment to social issues. He said: "And now that one of the most articulate defenders of family values in the Congress is under attack, Republicans are hiding under a bush somewhere. The lack of courage is amazing."

 

Ready to Stay Home in '04

 

How much does the GOP's increasing timidity on family issues threaten the party's future? Mike Farris, chairman and general counsel of Home School Legal Defense Association and one of the leading pro-family activists on Capitol Hill, told NewsMax.com: "Nobody who cares about these issues is going to go the Democrat party … this is a question of enthusiasm versus inactivity. Enthusiasm is going to wane if there’s not solid support for the fundamental principles that this nation was founded on."

 

It is only "smart politics to always remember to take care of your base. You don’t ever want to alienate your base,” said Farris, an ordained minister and father of 10 who is is president and professor of government at Patrick Henry College.

 

Farris, who has close ties to the White House, blamed the problem on GOP stupidity. “We’ve been doing a lot of things smart as Republicans, but ignoring Rick Santorum when he needs public reaffirmation is just stupid politics and it will hurt,” he said.

 

Schlafly Upset

 

Famed and influential activist Phyllis Schlafly, who single-handedly took down the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, told NewsMax.com she was disturbed by the Republicans' failure to rally around Santorum. She called the administration’s defense of the Pennsylvania Republican "pretty limp" and "most cowardly.”

 

"There’s no reason for Santorum to apologize or back off. What he said was almost word for word what Justice Byron White said in his Supreme Court opinion in the previous gay rights case a number of years ago,” Schlafly said.

 

“I think the party and the administration’s statements are pretty generally recognized as weak-kneed and that they’re not backing up the constituency that elected George Bush. I think they’ll pay a price for that."

 

Yes, that's a blatantly right-wing website. Yes, I still think it'd be a good thing if it happened...as I said over in the thread about Santorum, the religious nutballs are probably holding the Republicans back. If they could kick out Jeebus and go back to being the Gun Nut Party™, they could get even more votes.

 

Plus, a religious fundie party isn't likely to garner much votes and we don't have to worry about them taking the country over whenever the GOP has an important victory. It's almost win-win!

[Guest SP-1]

You'd be surprised at how much support a Christian party would get. It's not like we're a religious minority or anything.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Yes, but people don't want moral (see: Christian) legislature forced upon them.

 

More people avoid the Republicans for the Religious Wrong than come to it.

[Guest SP-1]

The Religious Wrong? Aaaand, you say this, why?

 

And we both know that a Christian President is still bound by the same rules that govern any other President. They don't make law. That's still the job of our representatives.

 

But of course, Christians shouldn't be represented in America.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

The Religious Wrong?  Aaaand, you say this, why?

Because there is a difference the size of the Grand Canyon between you or my Mom or many other Christians and Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Fred Phelps, etc.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

I have the greatest respect for Miss Schlafly, but in this case she is dead wrong. Our position was carefully considered. It is neither "cowardly" nor "stupid politics," as Farris claims. We would rather lose without people like Santorum than win with them.

[Guest hardyz1]

Dobson chastised the Republicans for getting too cozy with the gay lobby. He complained that Racicot met secretly with the homosexual group Human Rights Campaign but failed to disagree with it on the major issues. Connors said that Racicot didn’t utter one word in defense of marriage and failed to make the case that the Republican platform makes – that marriage should be limited to one man and one woman – he simply went with the message of so-called tolerance and inclusion.

There's your Religious Wrong.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

There's your Religious Wrong.

And what makes you say this? Fundamentalists (not religious people) on the whole tend to be relatively insane people.

 

Right now, I see two ways for the political die to land:

 

1) The fundies lose any and all support, and become some tiny party. The Republican party suffers in the short term, and wins big in the long term, as the fundies vanish into the fog of history.

 

2) The fundies manage to force the Republican party to bend to their will and give them more influence in effort to keep their vote. I weep for right wing politics. :'[

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

By the way, even though "Christians" compose 75% of the population, the "born-again" percentage is much lower, and the fundamentalist is lower still.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

As a Christian, I want absolutely nothing to do with the fundamental "Religious Right"

 

I believe many Christians feel the exact same way.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

You have a second right here, Tyler.

[Guest deadbeater]

Will they have Bingo night?

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Nothing will come of this. They risk too much by leaving the Republican party. Do they really not want to support a President who has expressed strong christian values in office. Leave the political party, that has made the religious sect of the party, a major player? The religious right is politicaly savy. They know that leaving the Republican party will increase the likelyhood of the Democrats gaining control of the White House. This is just too get President Bush's attention.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

That's what scares me. We risk winding up with another John Ashcroft or a school prayer amendment out of all this.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

I just want to give a little applause and props to G.W. for doing the right thing for once and shoving it to the Fundies:

 

http://middleeastinfo.org/article1607.html

 

Who knows? Maybe he won't give in.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

President Bush has been saying Islam is peaceful religion since 9-11.He's done alot more to help the cause of Islam, than most of the Muslem leaders around the globe.

[Guest hardyz1]

And what makes you say this? Fundamentalists (not religious people) on the whole tend to be relatively insane people.

The term "Religious Right", as far as I know, always refers to the fundamentalists. I know that they are a minority. I'm just saying that they're scum.

 

Of course, religion should have no place in government, but that's a given.

[Guest Vyce]

I'm sure we'll miss the fundamentalists terribly.

 

Hey, didn't even need the [sarcasm] tags for that one.

 

Dobson should really have another stroke if this is the kind of shit he's spewing.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

The term "Religious Right", as far as I know, always refers to the fundamentalists. I know that they are a minority. I'm just saying that they're scum.

Alright, we had a failure in communications there.

 

When you posted a story of a fundie being shunned by the other fundies because he didn't hate gays enough and then say "there's your religious wrong," I thought you were implying that the gay-hating fundies were right and that guy should hate gays more.

 

I really didn't think there's anyone on this board who has that view, I just wanted clarification to make sure I hadn't stepped into The Phantom Dimension or something.

[Guest SP-1]

My dislike for fundies is well documented. I just have a severe distaste for the blanket term, "Religious Wrong."

[Guest hardyz1]

Alright, we had a failure in communications there.

 

When you posted a story of a fundie being shunned by the other fundies because he didn't hate gays enough and then say "there's your religious wrong," I thought you were implying that the gay-hating fundies were right and that guy should hate gays more.

Ah, OK then.

 

SP: I understand your distaste. Most Christians I know are unlike these assholes. Unfortunately, people like Robertson, Falwell, and Dobson ruin it for everybody.

Edited May 9, 2003 by hardyz1

[Guest Slapnuts00]

I hope they do leave. Its still the one element that prevents me from putting my full support behind the Republican party...

[Guest BDC]

y'know, as a Christian myself, I don't have a problem with no prayer in school. Why?

 

Establishment of religion. Yeah, the seperation of church and state. So? Basically, let's say it's up to the community the school serves. Some may go for Christian, and then others wouldn't like it. Imagine different scenarios: Muslim chants, Hindu idols and so on.

 

These cheeseballs (or is butterballs more appropriate?) can't even listen to reason, so let 'em go. I'm an evangelical Christian, I make no bones about it, but you can't present anything to people, much less the Gospel, if you're a prick and shove it in their face.

 

Take a hike, kids.