Blue Collar Muse

Despite serious problems with the position, there remain people for whom it is true Evangelicals and other “Christians” cost the GOP the election in 2008.  The question must be asked why, when no data supports such an opinion, do people continue to hold it?  To be sure, some dislike that Christians believe in Creation and not Evolution and that homosexuality should be sinful and not celebrated.  But where is the political damage in such views?  If Christians hurt the GOP this cycle, then in prior elections: A) the GOP was primarily a haven for FisCons who are now being driven out by SoCons and their issues; B) key issues were more secular than religious or values based, and ; C) revulsion for Christians arose, basically overnight and with no warning, driving FisCon swing voters out of the GOP.  Let’s consider these points.

A - Fiscal Conservatism is, indeed, a draw to the GOP due to fiscally conservative planks in its platform.  Some FisCons are socially Moderate or Liberal and, thus, disagree with Socially Conservative FisCons.  This duality has existed for years.  If Fiscally Conservative yet Socially Moderate or Liberal voters abandoned the GOP in 2008, they did so because the GOP abandoned Conservative fiscal ideology as evidenced by budget items like Medicare and Bailout spending, not because a longstanding “live and let live” agreement with SoCons suddenly flared into a civil war.

B - Consider the terms “Values Voters”, “Moral Majority” and “Religious Right”.  They support the view of a strong contribution from Christians to the political process, past and present.  One can still debate the matter, of course, but however the question of SoCon political significance is answered, it refutes the premise Christians harmed the GOP in 2008.  If they were not influential from 1980 through 2004, where did they gain the power to derail the GOP in just 4 years?  If momentum is now in their direction, why alienate them?  Wouldn’t prudence dictate courting them?  If they were influential in 2004 and before, then “A” above applies and the origin of any rift is elsewhere.  Either way SoCons didn’t drive FisCons out of the party in contempt for ignorant, religious cousins.

C - Is there then a Republican rift so serious it may have cost the GOP the election?  There is, but not in the way it is being spun.  It does not exist between Conservative Republicans and Christians.  For the most part they share fiscal and social positions.  The rift is between Liberal Republicans and Conservative Republicans, including Christians.  It is Liberal GOPers proclaiming Christians as the culprit.  The strategy is to use religion within the GOP to divide secular Conservatives and religious Conservatives leaving secular Liberals to divide and conquer all Conservatives.

Secular Liberals hope to change the basis for coalition from fiscal issues to social issues.  They prefer the cornerstone be Social Liberalism with a welcome to Fiscal Conservatives than Fiscal Conservatism and a welcome to Social Moderates and Liberals.  That they do so using religion as the wedge is a classic implementation of the pragmatic philosophy emodied in the adage, “My brother and I against my cousin.  My cousin and I against my enemy!”  Secular Conservatives should be wary of this olive branch and wonder when Secular Liberals will come for them with no one left to object.

The question I’ve pondered is, “Why this wedge and why now?”  I found my answer in the biblical description of God as “the Lord God Almighty, Who was, and is, and is to come.”  Those pushing Christians out of the Party are comfortable with the God Who “was”.  That God is a fairy tale good for morality plays but with no claim on current morality.  Likewise, the God Who “is to come” is a fairy tale valuable as a threat.  Gone for years and not expected back today, He can be used to club the faithful and to strip their allies from them.

What is problematic, however, is the God “Who is”.  If Christianity exists in a positive light, people will ask about the God “Who is”.  They’ll find the backstory of the God “Who was”.  They’ll find the happy ending of the God “Who is to come!”  The authority of the God “Who is” threatens Liberals, GOP Liberals included.  Rejecting God’s authority, the only remaining authority to acknowledge is their own.  This must be protected from all usurpers, real and perceived.  If that means religious people get thrown under a political bus, it’s a small price to pay.

This Christmas season, we’ve heard talk about Christ - His birth, life and death.  Most of it has been positive.  But never forget Caiphas said, of this same Christ, “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” Pharaoh and Herod also believed destroying God’s Deliverer was the path to political power, security and longevity.  History records the legacies of these men and their schemes.  Secular Liberals, injecting that same ant-Christian vein into today’s “politics that is”, won’t fare any better.  In fact, biblical accounts of this behavior in the “politics that was” should serve as a warning for modern practitioners.  The “politics which is to come” don’t always turn out as you expect if you remove the God Who is.

Without doubt, there are other factors at work, as well.  But to those ridiculing Christians for believing God speaks to them in their hearts; to those who can’t understand how that could happen - try reading the headlines with what the Book calls “an ear to hear”.  You never know what you might hear if you are listening for it.

Blue Collar Muse

Popularity: 44% [?]

In-fighting is part of politics. There are fierce battles for position and conflict over who gets the credit and who the blame.

Usually it’s kept from public view. But not always. The very public spat between Ron Paul supporters and the rest of the Right is a good example of a “not always” moment. So is Mike Huckabee’s lambasting of Libertarians. And Christians are being scape-goated for the GOP’s declining brand popularity due to strongly held views on social issues and Creationism.

Unchecked, the Right may succeed in disemboweling itself. Staunching the bleeding is hard as restricting faith to the heart prevents mental use of biblical warnings about divided houses. Worse, successful “kills” deplete the Right’s strength. We agree on more than we disagree. There are some very real differences and these will need to be worked out. But using exclusion as a tool in this working out is precisely the wrong approach.

Coexisting is not the same as embracing. Social Conservatives can work with Libertarians without embracing the legalization of all drugs and eradication of all borders. Libertarians can reciprocate without “walking an aisle” or surrendering any presumed intellectual superiority. This strengthens us all at little cost. Intentionally devouring one another, on the other hand, not only thins the ranks physically, it depletes stores of philosophical and principle based strength as well.

Consider the Christians. What is to be gained and what lost if we politically excommunicate them?

No more sheep bleating about abortion and the sanctity of marriage. No more accusations of ignorance over Creationism or Intelligent Design. If that is all that’s lost, perhaps it’s a good thing to give believers the “Left Foot of Fellowship” as they exit the building. But what else do we lose?

We lose the stature and strength Christianity has to speak truth to power. From Nathan to King David and John the Baptist to Herod to William Wilberforce to Slavers and today’s Pro-Lifers, Christianity has been the platform from which many a naked emperor’s exposure has been exposed.

We lose the foundation from which to fight the relativism of the Left. The culture we enjoy did not simply arise from nothing. Christianity provides instruction to those who value it. Imperfectly built structure? Absolutely. But a valuable structure, nonetheless. 16th Century Europe birthed two influences on developing Western Civilization. The Renaissance, steeped in “Man is the measure of all things”, gave us Humanism and the French Revolution with its horrors. The Reformation, steeped in “God is the measure of all things”, gave us the means to judge the behavior of all men, even Kings, and the American Revolution with its Freedoms and Rights.

Evangelicals who would force Libertarians from the ranks produce a similar drain. The works of Hayek, Rand and von Mises may not be theological masterpieces in the Christian sense. But their impact on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness cannot be overestimated. We need people who champion their beliefs as we need those who champion Christian faith.

Those with their minds made up will accept no argument to the contrary. To them I offer a hearty Godspeed and Fair Winds. You are going where I cannot and dare not follow. But for those who agree, and more importantly to those who are unsure, I offer a welcome to the Don’t Go Movement.  Based on the premise that which unites us is more important than that which divides us, DGM is a community dedicated to working together despite differences.  The New Testament word for “unity” is “symphonia”. The unity of the disparate instruments in a modern symphony is not all sounding the same. Rather it is all sounding together, at the proper time and with their individual contributions.

At DGM you’ll find a broad range of philosophies and principles.  While all are Right of Center, not all who are Right of Center hold them. It makes for spirited debate. It makes for a learning experience. And serving in unity makes us a near unstoppable force when we turn, as one, to focus on that which we both hold dear.

Join us won’t you?  Woodwind or brass, percussion or string, we’ve got a chair with your name on it.  Come lend your passion to the pieces we play.  You won’t be sorry!

Popularity: 100% [?]

If there is one thing that the Left never tires of doing, it is trumpeting to anyone who will listen that they really are patriotic; they really do support the troops; they really do care about the country; and, in the latest election cycle, they really are Christians and want to court the votes of religious people in America.

It might even be true.

Unfortunately, those on the Left continue to actually behave in a manner sufficient to cause any reasonable and rational person to question what they say in the light of what they do. Seen another way, if the Left actually behaved in accordance with their announcements, they wouldn’t have to continually tell us what they believe. We’re smart enough to get the picture.

The most recent outrage is from Larry Lessing who is both an Obama advisor as well as an advisor to Google, among other clients. That should be sufficient to establish his bona fides with the Left. At a recent Google employee meeting, Lessig showed a video that features Jesus Christ prancing around a metropolitan area dressed in a loin cloth until he is run over by a bus. All while singing the recent pop hit, ‘I Will Survive’.

Erick Erickson, over at RedState, is rightly outraged over this, as am I. Lessig’s point is irrelevant. It’s how he chooses to emphasize and make his point. Over the weekend I spoke at a conference in Denver. I had a host of potential media and sources to illustrate the points I made. I opted for Shakespeare, Shelley and the like. I didn’t use video so I was less 2.0 than Lessing However, neither did I diss the guy hundreds of millions of people worship so I was less of jerk than Lessing, too.

Note to the Left: We really DO watch what you do and listen to what you say. Either change your message or change your beliefs. Continuing to say one thing while doing another is not helping your cause. One final thought - to those of you clinging to the Left as the best and brightest hope for the country and the world but who also retain traditional American values, perhaps this would be a good time for you to be considering your options.

Blue

Popularity: 43% [?]