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October 13, 2006
GOP - Christians are Crazy
At least, according to the former head of faith-based initiatives.
Kuo, who has complained publicly in the past about the funding shortfalls, goes several steps further in his new book.(Hat tip: Allah) Honestly, this isn't all that surprising, if true. Republicans have taken the votes of evangelicals for granted since 1994, when turnout by conservative Christians helped the GOP take over Congress.He says some of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as “the nuts.”
“National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ‘ridiculous,’ ‘out of control,’ and just plain ‘goofy,’” Kuo writes.
That support has been unwavering over the years, as the Republican party has been very good at scaring evangelicals into voting by painting scary pictures of what a Democrat takeover would mean. That's the stick. The carrot is tepid election-year support for generally meaningless policy proposals (such as the FMA)that are favored by evangelicals.
This cycle has led evangelicals to believe they have more power than they actually do, and has given them an unrealistic expectation of what it means to have political power. Many evangelical voters are 'my way or the highway' voters who believe that sitting out an election is preferable to compromising on anything. This view has been expressed by numerous evangelical leaders.
While GOP support for its most loyal voters has been disappointing at times, evangelicals have gotten some of what they want. While I don't condone the alleged views of Bush administration officials, one can understand their frustration, given the tempermental nature of evangelical voters.
If evangelicals want to be treated with respect by the GOP, they have to get a bit more politically mature and stop threatening to bolt every time they don't get their way. If they really want to gain some political clout, however, they should consider candidates in the other political party who have ideas that conform with social conservative ideology. They do exist - they just have to be found and encouraged to run. This isn't simply bolting and sitting out an election, but refusing to be taken for granted by either political party.
Posted by slublog at October 13, 2006 12:03 AM
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Comments
Generally speaking, in the U.S. system, if one wants to accomplish anything, one must have a foot in both camps, Demopublican and Republicrat. The Religious Right has have been tools. They have sold something precious; rather cheaply.
I'd ask this of Evagelicals: are you saved because you follow the law or because Christ redeemed your sins? If your belief is the latter, I ask you, why you advocate the former??
Posted by: Tom at October 13, 2006 06:50 AM