Conservative Christianity: Political Strategy or Ideology

Christian Conservatism is not and ideology not a concept but an ingenious political strategy built by the GOP in the to late 1970’s. In knowing that majority of the the new elderly or golden years American White citizens were apart of the civil rights resistance in the 1950’s and 60’s the GOP played on the distaste for the rising image of Liberalism in American mainly in part to the Hippie Anti War Veitnam  college educated Americans. GOP Leaders and front runners prayed on the political tactic of placing fear in elderly whites that the landscape of America was being entrenched in Liberal Left wing Hippism and even in some cases of late 1970’s Racism in political campaigns to achieve victory in southern states. Yet Christian Conservative political tactic also worked extremely well in Bull collar mid west and Northern rual areas where Republicans could snatch Electoral votes by eating up counties in key states For Example:

Wisconsin
Missouri
Ohio
Indiana
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Illinois
Tennessee
Texas
North Carolina
Virginia
Florida
Minnesota

All These states at that time period were blue collared states which usually meant that the citizens were more likely to be White and Christian. One More Thing Is that All these states have Double Digit Electoral Points. For a Political Canididate to carry these states would always put a canididate over the edge in a close political race. For If a Republican could win over Moderate Republicans who were more likely to be well establish upper class whites in New York annd California and to carry Southern and Mid-Western States would ensure victory. For Democrats in this time caught complete hell in presidential races, Mainly for there siding with Anti War views and Civil Rights which was also a political strategy but we will discuss that in another post. A great Example to why Conservative Christianity is a great political Strategy look at the Democratic Presidents after Nixion Carter won his first presidental race mainly because he was a farm boy a picture of blue collar hard working Southerner and then There was Clinton he was a southern White Male from Hope Arkansas a state in the heart of Conservative America who played his roots t his advanytage along with his liberak views to gain the presidency twice. W. Bush used Moderate-Christian Conservatism to gain his presidency(with help from Jeb.) He became the face of College educated conservatist by using his evangelical faith to push him a head in rural blue collar states. Florida Is a great example of a Moderate Conservative State much like Georgia.Conservative Christian Political Tactic is a great tactic in politics but it is a dirty one because it thrives of negativity and the exploitation of ones faith in achieving political success. John McCain failed with Consevative Christians because unlike his running mate McCain was more on the moderate end of the Right Wing spectrum. Which inevitably lead to the 3-4 point split in the Republican Vote especially when you factor in the economic and Bush factors the GOP is faced with trying to re-define their political ideologies, strategies and tatics to stay in the race with Democrats.

The American Dream Deferred

The American Dream Deferred

“America was established not to create wealth but to realize a vision, to realize an ideal - to discover and maintain liberty among men. “-Woodrow Wilson

It has been many years since the time of American Dreams realized. It would seem, since the birth of this great nation, that we the people have forgotten to realize the vision. A vision , that sculpted the mountain of the American way and made the U.S. the pinnacle of the World. Founded on the principles of liberty, freedom, and justice for all, we have throughout history contradicted the very principles that made us who we are. We as America have been the wind that has carried democracy, natural rights, and freedom throughout the valleys of the world, yet we deny many who are our fellow the natural right for well being.

Today’s America has matured from the days of slavery, denial of women’s rights, civil rights for all Americans, and public discriminatory racism to childish bickering of democrats versus republicans, conservatives versus liberals, and patriots and terrorism. When will the debauchery in America end. When will our greed and selfishness be replaced with Americanism and selflessness. People elect their representatives for irrational views than for the commonwealth of people and our nation. Our country bled the blood of countrymen for rights of freedom of religion but dictated politicians to the code of “Christianity”. Our spite of our fellow man and self interest blind our founding principles of the American way. The American dream.

Somehow we as a people have tarnished the glorious western light of liberty with pettiness and and foreign bullying. We arrogantly borrow from countries whose governmental ideologies differ from one another and then shove democracy in to nations whose culture and religion that conflicts with our concepts. The American Dream has evolved into the nightmare from the west, who dictates and forces our religion and democratic ideologies on the very difference that we cherish as America. How have we stray so far from home. Why do we roam for fear and force instead of exploration and innovation. We have allowed our fear to distort our vision of the world and manipulated Christianity to justify the cause.

It is that clouded judgment that has somehow made Christianity a qualification to be a real American. In a country founded on the bases of freedom of religion, we have become a nation that persecutes and isolate those whose religious preference differs from our own. In today’s world, we fight the crusade against Muslim nations and label it the war on terror so we can have a clear conscience. when we go to bed at night. Subsequently. we have become the very terrorist we despise and seek out. Not to point fingers but, it seems since Conservative Republicans took office eight years ago, hate, fear, and deception has been the fuel that drove our military into the heart of Muslim nations to wage war with and idea.

From observation of this nation’s past decade, one notion is true the American dream has been lost, abandoned for hate, diminished by fear and discouraged by deception. When will she return, when lady America grace American shores with her glory. It is not certain the time nor the hour, but merely determined by the minds and hearts of the American People who dream the dream of dreams.- William R. Gilbert, Jr.

Conservatives Stoop To New Lows With Obamageddon

The celebrity ads where bad enough, now Republicans want to claim Barack Obama is the Antichrist. In an email from the conservative Townhall.com they reinforce the hidden message in McCain’s “Messiah” ad:

Big media is swooning over him like love-sick teenagers. People are acting as if he’s the greatest celebrity on Earth or even some sort of cult leader — the “Obamamessiah.”

The Carpetbagger Report and other progressive blogs talked about this connection a week ago:

The McCain campaign may be playing on evangelical fears of, believe it or not, the Antichrist. The argument made the rounds a few days ago, and was elevated to a national issue by Time’s Amy Sullivan yesterday, who noted that the ad’s suggestion of Obama as the Antichrist might actually make the Willie Horton ads “seem benign” by comparison.

Now I don’t know which is worse, the juvenile insults or that conservatives would actively bend our scriptures to deceive the public about a very important subject. Revelation, the book of the Bible that talks about Armageddon warns against adding and taking from this message. If they really believe that Obama is the Antichrist they need to come out and say it, otherwise evangelicals need to stop playing games with religion.

But why would conservatives even go down this path? It’s because McCain is not a presidential candidate that advertises his religion on the billboards. So to compensate they must throw lies out, accusing him of being a Muslim, the Antichrist, et cetera, to make McCain seem more Christan.

This shows that the conservative evangelicals establishment puts their politics (low taxes, “fortress America,” discrimination…) over their faith.

Obama Leaves His Church of 20 Years

Barack Obama has now officially left his church of 20 years and home to the controversial Reverends Wright and Pfleger, the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

This shows a significant change in Obama’s style. In the past, he has tried to portray himself as a senator who doesn’t play all of the political games that other politicians do. But by leaving his long time church, he is doing exactly what the typical politician would do. Now don’t get me wrong, I know that Obama is a politician like any other, I’m just saying that other people don’t think so and that he has been trying to portray himself as different. With this latest turn, voters will see that Obama isn’t the man-god so many people think he is. Like pretty much any other politician, he will put aside personal principles for votes.

Not only will leaving his long-time spiritual home hurt his image as above “playing politics,” it won’t play well with the growing number of very-religious Christians who have been looking at the democrats as a party that more closely follows their beliefs. That group of voters may see Obama as hiding his faith and putting it on the sidelines, and that could mean more votes for McCain in November. Read more

McCain’s Hate Spewing “Spiritual Adviser”

If you thought Reverend Wright was bad, watch this video of McCain’s spiritual adviser stating that America’s founding purpose was to eradicate Islam.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZbIGJrDkg[/youtube]

Reverend Rod Parsley is seen saying that Islam is a “demonic” religion, and that it is Christian’s purpose to “wage war” against it. But more than that, McCain is seen on stage with him, giving a glowing welcome to that pastor. Compare this to another mega church pastor, who McCain sought an endorsement from, that wanted America to invade Iran so we could start Armageddon.

Parsely also claimed pro-choice activists where equivalent to Nazis because they wanted to wipe out blacks. If McCain won’t repudiate endorsements from such crazy people, he defiantly can’t be considered a moderate.

Obama: My Pastor is not my Political Adviser

Obama has come out strong against denouncing comments his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made, including saying “The government gives [blacks] the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people,” he said in a 2003 sermon.

Obviously Obama doesn’t hold these views, but just to remind people of that, he’s written a post over at HuffPost defining his relationship with his pastor:

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he’s been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

This is the exact sort of thing McCain should have said when a pastor endorsed him who believes we should invade Iran to start Armageddon.
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McCain Accepts Endorsment from Armageddon Wanting Pastor

A pastor who wants a milatary strike on Iran has endorsed McCains bids for presidency. And unlike Obama, McCain said he was “very honored” by the endorsement of the war mongering pastor. The New York Times has more on the endorsement:

Senator John McCain got support on Wednesday from an important corner of evangelical Texas when the pastor of a San Antonio mega-church, Rev. John C. Hagee, endorsed Mr. McCain for president. Mr. Hagee, who argues that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive, biblically prophesized military strike against Iran that will lead to the second coming of Christ, praised Mr. McCain for his pro-Israel views.

The endorsement violates the lines of a non-profit getting involved in politics. Even though he tied in a biblical prophesy in, nowhere in the Bible is John McCains name.

I was willing to dismiss McCain’s bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran song, but he should have forcefully denied this mans war mongering. The last thing we need is a president that deliberately makes prophesies, especially ones like these, come true.

Also, the endorsement of a pastor from a Texas mega-church further dents Mike Huckabee’s creditability.

Barack Obama and Islamophobia

When this election cycle began I expected a fair amount of shovanism, homophobia (because of Giuliani) and racism.

What I didn’t expect was anti-Muslim sentiments against a Christian candidate running for president. Perhaps this has reached a climax with debate moderator Tim Russert asking about Farrakhans endorsement of Obama.

Then Hilary Clinton tried to gain points by saying, “You asked specifically if he [Obama] would reject it [the endorsement] and there’s a difference between denouncing and rejecting.” Obama replied, “If the word ‘reject’ Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word ‘denounce’, then I’m happy to concede the point and I would reject and denounce [Farrakhan]“

Obama went on to clarify his position on the issue:

I think that they are unacceptable and reprehensible. I did not solicit this support. He expressed pride in an African-American who seems to be bringing the country together. I obviously can’t censor him, but it is not support that I sought. And we’re not doing anything, I assure you, formally or informally with Minister Farrakhan.

This isn’t the first time Islamphobia has creeped into the 2008 election. Previously both the McCain and Clinton campaign have made a big deal of Obama’s middle name, which is Hussein. Then there are the leaked photos that are designed to conjure images of radical Muslims in turbines.

But a major point of Obamas campaign has been about uniting people. He wants to see Democrats and Republicans, black and white, Mid West and East Coast all work together. Perhaps one of the most divisive divides today is none of the above, but Jew versus Muslim.

Obama needs to reach out to both groups if his message of unity is authentic. If he truly denounces Farakhan as a whole he will be alienating black Muslims. What he can do is reject his anti-Semitism which he has done. Besides, in recent years Farrakhan has even denounced his own anti-Semintic comments.

But apparently many in Jewish community realize this was a game to score cheap points. Here’s what Jewish newspaper Haartez says:

Obama, talking about Farrakhan - and about anti-Semitism among African-Americans, which he also denounced in his speech on Martin Luther King Day - touched a sensitive nerve when he was talking about one possibility that’s inherent to his candidacy: he has the chance to restore the alliance between blacks and Jews.

This will not necessarily get Obama the votes of every Jewish liberal in this country. But it is also one promise that no American liberal Jew can simply ignore.

Huckabee Says Amend Constitution to “God’s Standards”

If anybody needs more proof that Mike Huckabee is one of those crazy baptist ministers that wants to gather all the atheists in the town square and stone them, here it is. Mike Huckabee made a speech on Monday in which he said that he wants to amend the constitution to be in line with “God’s standards.”

He says:

“I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.”

Who knows what that means? At the very least, he is suggesting a series of amendments banning abortion and gay marriage and maybe something on how government derives its power from God, and most be obeyed at all times. At the worst, it could mean he wants to go as far as implementing whatever the Christian equivalent of Shar’ia law is in order to bring us back to the days of stoning adulterers. But nobody really knows how far he wants to go. He hasn’t expanded on what “God’s standards” are (to my knowledge).

Keep in mind, it doesn’t really matter what specific changes to the constitution he is suggesting. Any amendment that would introduce the Christian God into the constitution is uniquely un-American. As all good liberals know, the separation of church and state is a fundamental part of American democracy. A constitutional amendment that brings our government in line with one man’s interpretation of the Bible is not just breaking that church state barrier, but an encroachment on civil liberties.

Luckily, I have faith that even if Huckabee became president, he would have a hard time dragging the constitution down to the level of his theological beliefs because there are enough Americans that don’t agree with his exact religious views, but we need to be careful. Huckabee is crazy. Anybody who says otherwise has just been fooled by his charm. He is just a steaming pile of charisma who has shown all signs of being intent on creating a Christian America.

What Does Iowa Mean? A Closer Look

I’ve been going over CNN’s entrance polls for the Iowa caucus, and there are a few interesting things that I’ve discovered.

Firstly, as expected, first time caucus goers voted overwhelmingly for Obama at 41%. In addition, voters aged 17-29 voted for Obama at 57%. Clearly, young Americans are fans of the extremely charismatic senator.

Hillary’s results, when viewed by age, are very revealing, though not surprising. She only won in the 65 and older age group, and she got less and less votes in each younger age group with only 11% in the 17-29 age group. What this shows is that the people supporting her are the people who remember Bill, and who want to see Bill back. The youth, who either don’t remember the Clinton years very well, or weren’t involved in politics at that time, can see the real Hillary, and just don’t like her. Read more

Ron Paul: Blind As Bartimaeus To Evolution

Until today, I have supported Ron Paul. Although he was never my first choice for president, I would have been at least content with him in office. Then I went on Digg.com today and saw a video that worries me. In this video, he says “It’s a theory. The theory of evolution, and I don’t accept it.”

The reason that I have defended Congressman Paul in the past is because I believed that even though I disagreed with a lot of his views, he was educated and all of his views were genuine and well thought out. I would have loved to see him as the republican presidential nominee, and I would have preferred him as president over certain democrats. Unfortunately, I am realizing that I may have been duped.

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Time to End Religiously Influenced Voting

Christmas is coming up, so what better time to talk about religion in politics?

Religion has become a central issue in American politics over the past decades. Republicans are practically required to get support from organizations like the Christian Coalition. Where I reside in the United Kingdom though, we do things a bit differently.

Former Prime Minister and President Bush’s lapdog Tony Blair officially converted to Catholicism this week, but the most of the time that he was actually in office as Prime Minister, he never commented on his religious views. Imagine if our next president spent their entire campaign and time in office without commenting on their religious views. Well, there wouldn’t be any time in office, because he or she wouldn’t be elected.

Most of Europe doesn’t really care about a politician’s belief or disbelief in a religion. What is so different about America?

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Government Funded Missionary Work

(image credit to gruntzooki)

I saw an advertisement on television recently that made me laugh, but then it made me worry. The advertisement was on during Pat Robertson’s show The 700 Club (nothing else was on, and I was in the mood for something scary). I believe the ad was for Robertson’s charity organization Operation Blessing. The ad went something like this. Read more

Head of Prison Rehab Ministry Defends Torture

I use to have respect for Chuck Colson, a man connected to the Watergate controversy, jailed, and then freed. He went on to start a non profit that helped to rehab prisoners, take care of prisoners families, and created the Angel Tree project. Sure he was still a prominent conservative, and had ideologies I disagreed with, but at least he was doing a good work.

But today comes news that Chuck Colson, a man who has dedicated his life to helping prisoners, has called torture a noble act. In Newsweek he is quoted as saying:

Centuries of Christian ethical reflection would lead to the answer “no.” Inflicting bodily or psychological harm on a helpless captive would be inconsistent with the Christian understanding of human dignity. But as with all moral obligations, there may be circumstances for exception.

It is well understood in Christian tradition that while we are supposed to obey the law, there may be times when there is a higher obligation (see Aquinas, Augustine, and Martin Luther King). To rescue a drowning person, a Christian would be justified in disobeying a “no trespassing” sign.

So it is with torture; if a competent authority honestly believed that this was the only way to get information that might save the lives of thousands, I believe he would be justified. That is not moral relativism. It is making a difficult decision when human life and dignity will be affected either way. The Greeks called it prudence.

We have to remember that many of these “terrorists” that the CIA takes don’t have the information we need, or even in some cases are not terrorists at all. Because they don’t know anything they can’t answer any questions, and are tortured for something they know nothing about.

By running a prison rehab ministry, Chuck Colson should realize that a lot of what happens inside prisons is responsible for the trap that sends these men back to jail. Compared with the relatively minor horrors of American jail, how do you expect someone to become a normal citizen after being beaten, drowned, and held naked in rooms with below freezing temperatures? That’s enough to encourage a man to create another September 11th.

And how can he use Martin Luther King, one of the worlds most famous peacemakers, as an example to torture someone? The acts of Augustine and King where both crimes that didn’t harm anyone. If I remember correctly, Augustine challenged an alcoholic king to give up his addiction, and since this was the time of monarchy’s challenging a king would have been a crime. And it’s obvious that Kings civil disobedience hurt no one either, but rather challenged corrupt laws.

But at least the right has progressed to realize that what we are doing is torture. The next step is to help them realize that torture is always wrong.

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