The potency of the Christian right in the Republican Party is limited, former senator John C. Danforth of Missouri is telling audiences this month. A lifelong Republican moderate disturbed by his party's direction, he contends that the political center has a future.Read the rest here.
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The GOP leadership habitually strives to please its base at the expense of meaningful compromise, he maintains, proving to be neither humble Christians nor effective politicians. His reasoning holds that social conservatives cannot prevail because a majority of Americans do not share their views or appreciate their style.
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Danforth is an ordained Episcopal priest and onetime Bush administration ambassador to the United Nations. He is probably best known for ushering Clarence Thomas through the grueling nomination process to become a Supreme Court justice. Danforth served in the Senate when Republicans were outnumbered and outmaneuvered by Democrats, a point noted dismissively by opponents who dispute his argument.
[...]"The problem with many conservative Christians is that they claim that God's truth is knowable, that they know it, and that they are able to reduce it to legislative form," Danforth writes. "The popular question, 'What would Jesus do?' can be difficult enough to contemplate with respect to everyday interpersonal relations. It is mind boggling when applied to the complex world of politics."
Although an opponent of abortion, Danforth has become an activist for a Missouri ballot initiative that would explicitly legalize embryonic stem cell research, an issue adopted increasingly by Democrats and some Republicans to show their differences with the Christian right.
He also favors government recognition of "committed same-sex partnerships." He believes the proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw same-sex marriage amounts to gay-bashing.
In every state in which it's voted on, including Oregon and California, gay marriage has been turned down by the voters. It appears that the public is rejecting this position, so I can 't see how it's mainstream. Moderates are just like those on the right and the left, they think the nation is behind their view. But let's just look at what the people do when they are given the vote. Let's overturn Roe v. Wade and let the people decide what they want in their state. That will be the best thing for this country, letting each state decide if they want it and then regulate it if they do.
And let's just end this talk of a middle ground in abortion. There is no compromise position, it's either you are for the killing of babies or you're not. Christians who care about this issue won't be satisfied until it's illegal to kill the baby in the womb and the left won't be happy with any restrictions. There is no way to bring these two positions together.
And btw, I just love these former politicians who used the "Christian right" when they were seeking votes and support and then criticize them when they are no longer useful.
And also, it's pretty clear where the Creator of life would stand on abortion, don't even go there!
