Bill Scher: The Conservatives' "Secular Problem"

[marmar]

from HuffPost:


The Conservatives' "Secular Problem" (1 comments )

Today through Saturday, when Republicans and conservatives gather in Washington for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, will they face up to the biggest obstacle preventing them from connecting with voters? Their "secular problem."

Lots of ink has been spilled about how Democrats and liberals suffer from a "religion problem" -- a perceived hostility towards Christianity and religion in general.

But Pew Research Center exit poll data from the 2006 midterm elections shows the opposite.

Democrats crushed Republicans among secular voters, broadly defined as those who attend church seldom (favoring Democrats 60% to 38%) or never (67% to 30%). Republicans retained strong support among those who attend church more than weekly. But among those who only go weekly -- the larger portion of the religious vote -- the Republican lead shrunk from 15 points to 7.

In short, Republicans failed to be competitive among secular voters, while Democrats were at least competitive among regular churchgoers. And since the secular vote is roughly equal to the regular churchgoing vote, according to the last several national election exit polls, that means Republicans and their conservative base have a far bigger secular problem than their rivals have a religion problem.

How might the conservative activists conferring in Washington this week address their secular problem? ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-scher/the-conservatives-secul_b_42359.html

[ms liberty]

1. K&R - great piece! n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. And how may Democrats address the religion problem?

One way is to realize that not all believers are cut from the same cloth. There are many moderate/progressive believers who are very willing to let secular people be secular-they would rather not have religion in politics, in fact. All they ask is that their belief systems not be mocked.

[theoldman]

3. My hope has always been that the people who go to church

weekly would stop being controlled by what I call the religious nuts. I divide Christians into two groups, the intelligent ones and the ignorant ones. Unfortunately, we the intelligent ones are outnumbered by the ignorant ones.

[unpossibles]

7. honestly, I think (hope) that you are more outvoiced than outnumbered

they are louder and more cohesive, so they just appear larger. I could be wrong though.

[Zenlitened]

4. Wow. Excellent piece. Thanks for posting.

:hi:

I especially liked:

... Ultimately, conservatives have to find a way to speak to the substantive concerns of secular voters: low wages, poor health care coverage, energy dependence, destabilizing foreign policy and the imposition of religious beliefs on others.

(snip)

Therein lies the rub for conservatives. It is conservatism itself -- the belief that our government should not be put to work in service of the common good -- that has turned off secular voters, and a considerable number of churchgoing voters.

Democrats and liberals perhaps (I'd say definitely -- Z.) have work to do to show they can effectively manage government and solidify the trust of voters. But it is clear that voters want their government to get involved. Not to interfere with deeply difficult personal decisions, but to solve difficult public problems like global warming and rising health care costs. If they wanted more hands-off conservative government, they would have kept the last Congress.

It's not more "god talk" Americans are hungry for... it's real action to address real issues that directly affect our lives every day.

:dem:

[maddezmom]

5. Saw a report where McCain isn't going to go, but wants to get a room in the hotel

so he can meet with these people out of the public eye. :eyes:

k&R

[Demeter]

6. If Anybody Has a Religion Problem, It's the GOP

because they are controlled and praised by very sick people poisoned by a brand of religion that none of the prophets would tolerate....