[lit-ideas] faith and politics, again

  • From: eternitytime1@xxxxxxx
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:51:09 -0400

Lawrence asked:  You want to criticize Palin's religion?

Hi, Lawrence,
No, I'm not criticizing her religion, in terms of her having a religious viewpoint. I have one of my own. But, we do live in a pluralistic nation and I had thought McCain understood that and also believed in things like that, as evidenced by his respect towards the concept of 'choice' in a number of areas.
Thus, if there is an criticizing happening (I'm not sure that is what I'm doing, though--that tends to be a bit more emotional a word than I like), there would be criticism towards McCain for bowing to the blackmail (in a sense) of those who are interested in pushing forward their viewpoints so make him do what they want do--even if it is contrary to what he believes and has stood for. As they stated that they would not look at any other issue -- they would simply tell their folks to stay home and not vote. There in my mind many other issues and problems facing our nation that anyone who espouses 'family values' and wants to focus on the family -- and they would prefer to ignore them (and it is not just issues like being pro-choice or believing that providing funding for all stem-cell research would actually open the doors to more scientific sharing of information which is, typically, a requirement to taking federal funding for scientific research--and would move forward solutions to health problems [many of them quite costly]. There are issues like that crowd being the main holdouts in saying that we do have a problem with the environment and we need creative solutions - they prefer to bury their heads in the sand. It's bigger than religious 'if you don't believe what I believe you will be sent to hell--) But, if McCain would bow to the extremists in his party, when it compromised his own beliefs and what he has stood for, who knows what other deals he has made? It is his judgment that I wonder about.
The racial stuff that Obama's minister has stated? Again, you want to see prejudice, come here. We ripped the bandaids off last year in my own world--there are some major issues. Go to Maryland--I spent quite a bit of time there this pas Spring and Summer--and it was NOt coming from the multi-cultural world that the deeply rooted racial tension was coming from. Perhaps because the gloves are off here, there are a lot of people who have wondered if Obama would even make it through his presidency. McCain has his health isues/problems--Obama his race. The VPs are critically important to look at in terms of a contingency plan for running this nation. I will look at all the possibilities--and look at them without the emotion and with information collected. Who these candidates chose as their VPs showed me how they were able to look at the potential and long-term ramifications of choices facing our country.
In addition, Obama's minister does not have that much control in the Democratic party. The leaders of Palin's religious viewpoint do. You really do need to look them up.
That world is how she mobilized her base in Alaska and how she became the VP nominee for McCain. (even how attended for just a few moments a meeting of mayors in Alaska--where shortly before she arrived to give her few remarks, they had been discussing how few of them had been able to meet with her to discuss problems that typically should have been addressed-- She left to go attend an anti-abortion rally. If those are her priorities as governor, they are her prioriities as VP. She knows where her powerbase in the Republican Party is.
That Far Christian Right's power in the Republican Party is what you ought to look at--not just the belief system. The power. It's about the power. And, how does McCain do in withstanding that power when what he has stood for had to be shifted? I don't know that he any longer has the strength.
Jack Danforth addresses some of the shift in the Republican Party and that powerful component in his book Faith and Politics. 

Best,
Marlena
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