The Christian States Of America, Part III

Yesterday I wrote that the Europeans must be shaking their heads trying to figure out presidential campaign politics in America, which now, at least among Republicans, seems to be more like a contest about religion than about what the country needs in terms of leadership and change. Other commentators have noted that the Republican Party is now, after Bush-Rove an overtly Christian fundamentalist religious political party. Make no mistake about it: Republicans want change, but the change they want is to make America a Christian religious state. This directly contradicts the intent of the Founders, who were men of faith but realized that the new republic must be secular precisely because that is the only way to preserve liberty for all.

In today's New York Times., columnist Roger Cohen comments on Mitt Romney's religion speech:

Religion informed America’s birth. But its distancing from politics was
decisive to the republic’s success. Indeed, the devastating European experience
of religious war influenced the founders’ thinking. That is why I find Romney’s
speech and the society it reflects far more troubling than Europe’s vacant
cathedrals.
Romney allows no place in the United States for atheists. He
opines that, “Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom.” Yet
secular Sweden is free while religious Iran is not. Buddhism, among other great
Oriental religions, is forgotten.
He shows a Wikipedia-level appreciation of
other religions, admiring “the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims” and
“the ancient traditions of the Jews.” These vapid nostrums suggest his innermost
conviction of America’s true faith. A devout Christian vision emerges of a U.S.
society that is in fact increasingly diverse.
Romney rejects the “religion
of secularism,” of which Europe tends to be proud. But he should consider that
Washington is well worth a Mass. The fires of the Reformation that reduced St.
Andrews Cathedral to ruin are fires of faith that endure in different, but no
less explosive, forms. Jefferson’s “wall of separation” must be restored if
those who would destroy the West’s Enlightenment values are to be
defeated.

If the Republicans get their way, and a Huckabee or a Romney is elected president, we will have a cultist as president. If this happens, the United States will then be held hostage to a cult, the Christian cult. Alarm bells should be sounding in the minds of all Americans who treasure freedom. If this drift toward making the country a Christian cultist bastion is not stopped, we will lose the freedoms that made this country great. These Christian cultists must be stopped.

Jim

The Christian States Of America

Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudolph Giuliani...will one of these Christian or Mormon religious bigots be our next president? If so that will mean that our country will become a Christian religious state. This is not what the Founders wanted.

Here's what Andrew Sullivan believes we are becoming:

"Theodemocracy: the blending of government with a universally Christian
populace in which faith is the prerequisite of public office. This is the vision of America that Romney is proposing. He has behind him the power brokers of the Protestant right, the theocons of the Catholic right, the Mormon church and the vested interests of a Republican party elite that, in the wake of George W Bush, wants to extend the theodemocratic principles of an antisecular movement.

Now, add to that the detestable Huckabee, who stands by his determination to quarantine people with AIDS, and Rudolph Giuliani, who said yesterday that gays are not sinful but their actions are.

What has happened to America?

PHOTO: At Liberty Place in downtown Philadelphia, daily holiday concerts.

Jim

Mitt's Religion Speech - No JFK He

“J.F.K.’s speech was to reassure Americans that he wasn’t a religious fanatic...Mitt’s was to tell evangelical Christians, ‘I’m a religious fanatic just like you.” - author and authority on Mormons Jon Krakurer as quoted by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times.

PHOTO: One last beautiful fall 07 shot of these fiery maples along the path of our morning walk in Fairmount Park.

Jim

Romney Is A Horror

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has changed his position on just about everything in order to garner the political support of conservative extremists, yesterday gave a speech designed to get him in good with Christian conservative fundamentalists. I'm like you, Romney wanted them to know, and by the way, all Americans of faith are on the same side against the unbelievers. This blatant attempt to pander to right wing religious conservatives runs completely counter to true American values, particularly, the freedom to believe or not to believe, and the separation of church and state, a core concept of fundamental importance to our system of government. This man Romney is truly a disgusting individual. That he is seriously in the running for president shows just how far this country has sunk.

PHOTO: My favorite tree along our private path. I think it's an oak. I don't know why it grew on such a slant. In the fall its leaves turn golden yellow before falling to the ground where they form a golden carpet for a few delightful days.

Jim

Who Would The Democrats Most Prefer To Run Against?

This is an interesting question that was posed this morning on one of the network political talk shows. The answer: Mitt Romney. There are at least three good reasons for this: 1. Romney has a reputation as a flip-flopper on issues; 2. Giuliani would be more formidable as a candidate generally; 3. Romney's Mormon religion is tough for the Republican right wing fundamentalist rank and file to swallow. The third of these reasons is the most interesting. There is even talk of Romney giving a John Kennedy-like speech stating that he is an American first and that he would not let religion interfere in the way he governed if elected president. In some respects, I am sympathetic to Romney's plight in this. I don't think a person's religion, or lack of it, should make a difference when it comes to whether or not they deserve your vote. Religion is far too pervasive of an influence in American politics, thanks in large measure to the Christian Evangelicals and their Republican lackeys. Dubbya, of course, is the prime example of the negative influence of right wing religious nut cases on our politics and government.

Jim

Republican Top Guns Snub Black Debate!

What are these Republicans thinking? Romney, Giuliani, McCain and now Thompson are not planning to participate in the GOP presidential debate focusing on issues important to people of color. They are truly delusional, and they are wrong, and they will lose not only the black and Hispanic vote, but they will lose the election big time. As brother Cornel West puts it over at the Huffington Post:

At this moment in American history, it is clear that either the Republican Party
wisely embraces people of color, or it chooses to be a losing political party in
the future.

Well, the Bush-era Republicans have been real losers character-wise for a long time!

Jim

Three Interesting Items In The News

There are a few items in the news that I find interesting. First, on the potential Mike Bloomberg candidacy, pundits are saying that he'll run as an independent third party candidate for president IF the two candidates likely to be nominated by the two major parties both have "high negatives." Take one guess which candidate from the Democratic Party currently has the highest negatives. Hint: HC. The Republican candidate with the highest negatives is John McCain. Bloomberg will only run if he thinks he can win. His numbers crunchers have been busy figuring the odds and this is what they've come up with.

The second bit of news has to do with Mitt Romney, the I'll say anything to get elected Republican former governor of Massachusetts who has turned on the gay community big time. According to a panelist on Sunday's "Meet The Press" show, Romney, who favors a pardon for convicted liar Scooter Libby, had a "no pardons" policy as Governor, and denied a pardon to a soldier fighting in Iraq who, as a young person, was convicted of some minor charge. The soldier wanted the pardon so that he could apply to be a policeman when he gets home. That's really a nice story about the Mittster, now isn't it?

Finally, Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, says she disagrees with hubby and is fine with full gay marriage equality. Thank you Elizabeth, and get and stay well!

Jim

Will Al Gore Run?

Here's a photo of the nearly-completed Whyte Hall in the Fire Island Pines. Whyte Hall will be the community center and will host performances given by the Pines Arts Project.

Al Gore is in the news today with the publication of a new book. The buzz is that he still might run for president. Apparently, he's third in some polls even though he has said he is not a candidate. I have mixed feelings about Gore. I believe that he really blew it in 2000 in the debates with Junior. He should have wiped the floor with him, but instead he pandered and waffled and became a different Al Gore in each of the debates. I'm sure he has learned since then that you have to have a core set of beliefs and positions, and stick to them, He spent too much time around the waffler-in-chief Bill Clinton. I think he is tainted by his association with the Clintons. However, he could be a "new" Al Gore based upon his work on global warming, etc. It should be interesting. We'll just have to wait and see what he does.

The Democrats have finally caved on the issue of a deadline for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. We knew this was coming. Junior gets his way on the war, more troops will die, more money will be wasted, and our image worldwide will continue to suffer. The American public is powerless to stop it. So much for democracy.

Quotable: One of Andrew Sullivan's readers notes that Groucho Marx has a great one-liner that fits flip-flopper Mitt Romney perfectly: "I have my principles. If you don't like them, I have others."

Jim

U.S. "Taliban" Leader Falwell Dead

7:30 AM: Most of what I would like to write about the death of Rev. Falwell has either already been written or is not fit to print. He was a despicable person, but the blame for the damage he did over the years must also be shared by politicians and the media, who continue to embrace or give forums to intolerant, fundamentalist religious bigots. The fundamentalist extreme religious right are nothing less that our own home grown Taliban. Why are their spokesmen invited on national TV programs like "Meet The Press" to spew their hate? Why do politicians get a pass for speaking engagements at Bob Jones University, a bastion of hate and intolerance. Until it's no longer acceptable to embrace or give forums to these intolerant extremists, the death of a Falwell or a Robertson will not make much difference.

The Republican candidates for president had another debate last evening, their second. This time there was a little more heat on the stage with some of them taking shots at each other. Giuliani took some flak for his pro-choice position, and Romney was criticized for his flip-flops. Andrew Sullivan notes that the three Republican front runners cover the complete spectrum on abortion with McCain being anti-choice, Giuliani pro-choice, and Romney willing to say whatever he has to in order to pander to whomever he is talking to at the moment. The bottom line for Republicans is that they really don't have a candidate at the moment who can win the election against a generic Democrat. The Democrats will have to lose the election on their own, which they might do, especially if they nominate Ms. Clinton, who is a polarizing figure. Look for more Republican late entries into the race, including Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson, and maybe even Michael Bloomberg. It will be fun to watch the Republicans try to figure out how to win the presidency post "Dubbuya."

Photo: red fox comes out from under the walkway near the "Sunken Forest" on Fire Island

Jim