posted on November 5, 2004 04:14:47 PM new
Yo, Replay, wanna be on my cabinet?
You can be "Secretary of Confusing and Totally Meaningless But Very Effective Phrases and Oxymorons"
like ...family values....moral majority...steadfast...christian ethics(falls in the oxymoron group), compassionate conservatism(falls in the "humor" group).
I see you don't have any answer for my post. That's Ok, I understand.
posted on November 6, 2004 12:39:18 PM new
Faithful take heart: All not blinded by the Right
November 5, 2004
BY CAROL MARIN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Faith and values. I'd like to believe I have both, but as defined by this election, I guess I clearly have neither.
It makes me angry that one group of Americans believes they have a lock on faith or values. And I'm distressed that an entire political agenda may be set not by what is best for a religiously diverse country but by the unwavering orthodoxy of the Christian Right.
In search of some guidance, I called Thomas Cross. Not the Illinois House Republican leader from west suburban Oswego, but rather his father, Pastor Thomas Cross of the First United Methodist Church of Elmhurst.
Pastor Cross at 68 is a man of abiding faith and deeply held values, someone who spends much more time with the Bible than I do, and someone whose own family lives at the intersection of Church and State. He seemed like the right guy to go to for a little help.
He began by talking about hope.
"Christianity began as an extreme minority movement spurred by hope and by the power and the grace of God using nothing more than our feeble witness and compassion," he said.
Seen a lot of compassion lately?
"No," said Pastor Cross firmly.
The choice between George Bush and John Kerry has been cast by Karl Rove and the Christian Right in absolute terms of good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, the spiritual vs. the temporal. No shades of gray. No nuance. And certainly no tolerance.
This election was won on fear. Fear of gay people. And fear of foreign people.
"We have had enough of condemning and excluding everybody who doesn't look like us or live in the same place on the planet or who does not make love like us," he says. "But we've ignored other issues. It's Matthew 25:36-41 who calls us to minister to the sick, welcome the stranger, visit the prisoners, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and water the thirsty. He isn't talking to us about abortion and homosexuality."
As Pastor Cross knows only too well, the uncommonly uncivil conversation in this country about who is in possession of faith and values and who is not is dividing us both politically and religiously.
Some Catholic bishops are quick to deny communion to those who dare to thoughtfully question the church's condemnation of anyone pro-choice or pro-gay rights, though they fail to approach with the same vigor those who differ with the church on matters of war, poverty or the death penalty.
In Protestant churches across this country, there is open warfare between conservatives and liberals over gay ordination and biblical inerrancy, threats of divorce among Presbyterian and Episcopal denominations, and in some cases charges of apostasy and heresy lodged against some ministers.
I spent a great part of this summer talking to evangelicals as part of a documentary I was working on. It's easy to pigeonhole evangelicals, and I don't mean to do that. They come in all shapes and sizes, colors and political persuasion. Still the great majority are conservative and white. When I asked one Southern Baptist minister if there can be a Christian perspective in a country where everyone isn't a Christian, his answer came back without pause. "I don't know whether that can be the case, but I believe that should be our mission."
The mobilization of evangelicals in this election is testimony to that determination. And the founding fathers carefully crafted separation of church and state stands to be tested as never before.
Does Thomas Cross, the minister, advise Tom Cross the legislator?
"I was with him election night. I did not say anything to him about who I voted for for president."
Pastor Cross is a Democrat. Representative Cross is a Republican.
"I have not said anything to my son because I love him so much and respect him so much, I try not to tell him what to do."
Maybe that's because, though they are different in some respects, they share two things.
Faith. And values.
There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
posted on November 6, 2004 12:42:10 PM new
Which values?
It is time for the Democrats to seriously examine how the Republican Party has successfully hijacked the term ''moral values'' and made it synonymous with their party and its opposition to abortion rights and gay rights. With the rise of the religious right, it is essential that the Democratic Party highlight that values such as protecting the environment, providing access to health care, ensuring high quality public education, defending civil rights and working toward finding cures for age-old diseases are moral values. These are the values of the Democratic Party and they are the values of millions across the country, regardless of their views on abortion and homosexuality.
The Democratic Party must strive to loosen the Republicans' self-righteous stranglehold on the issue of ''moral values'' by:
1) Speaking candidly about why they believe that abortion rights and gay rights are important.
2) Reminding the American public that morality encompasses a plethora of other issues on which the Republican Party falls far short.
There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
posted on November 6, 2004 12:48:11 PM new
I am told that Christian evangelicals made a difference in this election. I am also told that moral values were the reason people voted for George W. Bush. I find that very interesting.
It is my hope that as people lose jobs, health benefits and Supreme Court decisions change lives not necessarily for the better, we can hold on to moral values. Moral values are great things to have, but if they have no principal underpinning, they become pointless.
I trust that life, our social, moral and civil rights are not eroded by an arrogant ''I have all the marbles and it is my game'' leadership model.
There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
posted on November 6, 2004 12:48:32 PM new
Nov. 3 was a great day for incompetence and religious fundamentalism.
Illinois represented itself well in the national election. I'm proud of our state's efforts to bring reason and accountability to the White House.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration successfully ran a campaign rooted in fear, ignorance and deception. And the shameful tragedy is this message resonated with so many Americans.
There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
