google how Blair was the pious new Christian Socialist.  

"I'm a progressive because i'm a good Christian. 08"

The media has been complicit in this.  A few years ago, CNN installed a "faith and values" correspondent.  And then there was the debate where the candidates talked about their faith.  The whole thing makes me extremely queasy.

A couple of years ago, when the evangelicals were really getting going, my cousin in Australia emailed me:  "Thank heavens we got the convicts and not the Pilgrims!"  

But I actually do see the strategy. The Religious Right has been a dangerous and overly influential organization in our country since the 1980s. This has been bad for politics AND religion.

I am not religious, but I have friends who are progressive Christians and progressive Jews, and I think it is important that they speak up and let it be known that the FRC and the evanglical Dominionists do not have the final word when it comes to theology or politics. So I actually see the growth of a progressive, interfaith movement as an important counterbalance. And it's helped. The Religious Right is weaker today than it's been in almost 30 years, since the damnable Moral Majority burst onto the scene.

So...I'd rather politics be secular. But I can see and even appreciate the strategy here: anything to check the power of the Religious Right--as long as this isn't the start of the Religious Left.

Maybe we can sneak a few past the guards...

On another note, is this seriously where they want to go? I used Kum-Bay-Yah as a joke when referring to Obama's Hope-they-don't-read-the-fine-print Campaign, but he's actually REALLY HOPING that everyone will just forget their differences and come together.

Obama is reassuring the people who view abortion and gays as their enemy. In fact he is asking them to join the Democratic party while completely ignoring those who have been the base of the party completely.

The evangelicals will not ever reconcile with gays or people who are pro choice. This is a real threat to people who have been under attack from the religious right.

Why doesn't Obama reassure these loyal Democrats that he will protect their right to exist and live in a violence free environment from zealots-- while inviting people of "faith" to embrace human beings who are created in the image of God, as the Bible says, in their totality?

Not these prepackaged themed events, that no broadcast network even covers anymore. John Kerry packaged himself at the last one as the "veteran" gave a good performance, thought he totally proved himself a "soldier", and ultimately looked like a jerk.

Most Americans, nowadays, have never served in the military.

Most Americans, nowadays, don't vote.  They do watch television, but don't care for the news part of it.

Most Americans don't go to to church on Sunday.  They shop.

With less money than they seem to think they should have.

Imagine

In related news, a new 527 PAC is being formed to help Obama reach out to Christian voters. It's called the "Matthew 25 Network." A $1,000 per person fundraiser  (pdf) is taking place tonight.

http://biblenotes.homestead.com/files/MT25.htm

It's the parable of the talents:

 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.  

SpinDoctor, it's very different from HRC simply forming a religious advisory committee.

We have real reason to be more concerned about Obama's religious pandering than HRC's.  Remember this?:

Candidates Should Not Mix Religion and Politics     

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 15, 2008) - Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama should stop distributing fliers expressing his religious qualifications to be president, says the Interfaith Alliance, a leading religious freedom advocacy organization.

This week, Senator Obama's campaign began distributing fliers in Kentucky describing Senator Obama as a "Committed Christian" and telling voters how Senator Obama's religious upbringing will affect his decisions in the White House.  Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of political candidates from both parties misusing religion to gain support in this year's campaign.  The flier is similar to other Obama campaign publications distributed earlier this year in South Carolina.

The Interfaith Alliance is opposed to candidates exploiting their religious beliefs to gain electoral support.  The Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, a practicing Baptist minister and President of the Interfaith Alliance, issued the following statement on the use of religion in presidential politics:

"I am deeply disappointed that Senator Obama once again chose to distribute information about his religious beliefs in an attempt to score political points before a critical primary.   The candidates for president are running for Commander-in-Chief, not Pastor-in-Chief, and the Constitution clearly prohibits using religious convictions as a qualification for public office. There are so many serious issues facing this country from the war to health care to the economy. Presidential candidates need to spend more time outlining their vision for this country and less time trumpeting their religious bona fides."

religion should be a personal issue, not part of the political process. frankly, i don't give two nanny goat sh*ts what any politician's religion is, unless it unduly affects their capacity to carry out their required official duties.

we all have "values", that's such a fraud. the assumption being that your religious based "values" trump my secular based "values".

so no, i just see this as " me tooism" on the part of the DNC, desperately attempting to be just like the republicans.

I really don't like this one bit.  

This party is more like the Republican party everyday.  It's one thing to study how the conservative movement came into power, but it's another thing to emulate everything they did.  

And how do they plan to resolve the pro-choice vs. Christian values thing?  Will it be another form of "don't ask don't tell?"

Does interfaith include agnostics and atheists or are they thrown under the bus with the New Democratic party too?

This country is overwhelmingly Christian, and both parties are largely made up of Christians.  The key difference is that one party hates my guts because I'm an Atheist and one doesn't.

Christians are often a hyper-sensitive folk.  They quickly start to feel outnumbered and threatened and oppressed the instant they see someone who isn't wearing a cross around their neck.  If a few gestures like this are necessary to make them feel at ease, I'm fine with it.

http://tinyurl.com/53l9sz

I understand the uneasiness with religion in politics, especially with the way the Right has abused the Bible in the last 30 years or so to promote their agenda. That doesn't change the fact that 85% of Americans ID themselves as believers in something, and people like to vote for folks they see as sharing their values.

If you avoid the topic, you make it too easy to write you off as an elitist athesist who simply thinks you have all the answers. That is a losing formula, and I for one am glad that Gov. Dean formed this alliance before Obama became the party's standardbearer.

I also think some Democrats are paranoid about reaching out to religious voters.  For example, in Jeralyn's previous post:

Why would evangelicals and Catholics support a pro-choice candidate? Is he planning on modifying his position?

What "we get" is a chance to look more and more like Republicans.