Month: May 2006

A reader writes:

I am a Christian. I attend a very conservative Bible Church. I am a very liberal Democrat. There are others in my church who are like me, but we are the silent minority. I am politically active. I always vote.
Thank you for exposing the lie that the conservatives promote. My God did not tell me that He is a conservative Republican. Actually, I believe He didn’t tell that to anyone. Thank you, thank you for expressing the position of many of us.

Happy to do so. Now tell your fellow Christians to knock off the politicization and focus on the enormous challenges of actually living a life worthy of Jesus of Nazareth.

Who said this:

Liberalism and Western style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity. Today these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the liberal democratic systems.
We increasingly see that people around the world are flocking towards a main focal point – that is the Almighty God.

Benedict XVI? Rick Santorum? Pat Robertson? Guess again. (Hat tip: Dan.)

Even pathological pessimist Spencer Ackerman is seeing some hope in the new Iraqi government.

A reader comments on my defense of the law’s neutrality on divisive moral questions:

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., probably my favorite Supreme Court personality, had a quote that sums up the role of the courts in adjudicating non-sectarian civil law: "If my fellow citizens want to go to hell I will help them. It’s my job."
The Constitution was not designed to get anyone to Heaven, it was designed to allow each of us to pursue our own route. It seems to me that this is a favorable condition for Christians to practice their faith actively and consciously.  Creating a society whose guiding principle is providing an easy path for people of faith seems to rob credit from the faithful, the object of their faith, and the health of the broader civil society.

I couldn’t agree more. The Christianists are not only undermining democracy; they are condescending to real believers. Real believers, who also know doubt, don’t need the government or any legal education to grapple with the ineffability of the divine.

A reader comments:

Reading the Hugh Hewitt posting linked to here, all I can say is that if you can remain the party of victory when your policies lead to defeat, if you can remain the party of fiscal restraint when you run up staggering deficits, if you can remain the party of moral rectitude when your leadership is mired in corruption and has indelibly stained the country’s honor, then certainly you ought to be able to retain control of the government when your approval rating is under 30%. Hell, if you can do all that you ought to be able to fly to Mars on a hang glider.

I’m afraid my reader doesn’t fully understand. For God, all is possible. And, according to Hewitt, God votes Republican.

A report on how religious fanatics have taken over the GOP in Texas.

We’ve enabled them. If you don’t know what they are, I explain here. What we’re trying to do is add one more nexus between the MSM and the bloggy conversation. If you’re a blogger and want to reach more readers, linking to a post here can also mean bringing Time.com readers back to your site. Readers on this blog also get to read criticisms and elaborations on the various posts. Win-win. So link away.

More evidence of a connection between genetics and sexual orientation. Will Saletan comments here.

David Boaz nails it:

Republicans used to accuse Democrats of setting up a nanny state, one that would regulate every nook and cranny of our lives. They took control of Congress in 1994 by declaring that Democrats had given us ‘government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public’s money.’ After 10 years in power, however, the Republicans have seen the Democrats’ intrusiveness and raised them.

So from the Republicans we get federal money for churches; and congressional investigations into textbook pricing, the college football bowl system, the firing of Terrell Owens, video games, the television rating system, you name it; and huge new fines for indecency on television; and crackdowns on medical marijuana and steroids and ephedra; and federal intervention in the sad case of Terri Schiavo; and the No Child Left Behind Act; and federal subsidies for marriage; and (for less favored constituencies) a constitutional amendment to override the marriage laws of the 50 states.

David is optimistic that this debilitating state of affairs can be reversed. Americans actually like self-government, liberty and federalism. It’s just that Republicans have stopped articulating this vision; and many conservative intellectuals have stopped believing in it altogether, preferring the theocon nanny state. Believers in freedom need to find the courage of our own convictions again. I hope my forthcoming book helps.

(Photo of Tom DeLay: Chuck Kennedy/KRT/Abaca.)

Conservative writer, Byron York, fears that immigration is sending the president into Carterland. Conservatives are now deserting the GOP quite fast. 31 percent is not a floor, and a trap-door may be opening.

(Graphic from Charles Franklin.)