"The Religious Right has not place in politics"

[question everything]

said Barry Goldwater, according to his granddaughter who made a movie about him.

And this is the reason why some of us have been praising him - and being scolded by other DUers. Yes, we remember how threatened we felt when he ran in 1964, but it was clear that as the Republicans were moving right, setting their priorities on what is happening in individuals' bedrooms instead of keeping a small government, that Goldwater, and even Nixon, all of a sudden appeared to be liberal.

Now, where is the Democratic leader who will say the same?

[TomInTib]

1. "The Religious Right is Neither"

bumpersticker that I saw on some woman's car in Dallas.

[lvx35]

2. The religious right awaits enlightenment.

And that is the good news of the the religious left, that the living God does not need subsidies or legislation or court rulings to prop Him (or Her) up. The living God does not need you to go out and bash fags, or lesbians, or mexicans. The Living God, in fact, has everything under control and you just need to learn to listen to His/Her plan.

When the religious right learns this, they will be much, much happier! :)

[True Blue Believer]

3. Then Again, If We Give These Fanatics Enough Rope . . . .

IMO, the only folks out there who really like and respect the religious right wingers are the religious right wingers, and the candidates who want/need their votes. Most of whom probably only pretend to like them to get elected anyway. These religious zealots even managed to get the Reagans to turn against them with their over the top antics and threats and, uh hmmm, distortions of reality for political gain.

Their arrogance is just too much for them to keep in check. They love the sound of their own voices. They also love to rant and bluster without thought. So, be kind. Let them.
But by no means allow these people to dominate the debate and choose the issues to be debated. That's how they operate. Hell, that's all they've got, considering Bush's shrinking popularity. Distaction.
Distortion. Oh, and lies.

Speaking of Bush, he has only roughly one third of the American people supporting him, and a big chunk of them are religious righties. The rest of the Repubs running for office must also rely on the religious right as base voting blocks.

If the Democrats are smart about this, we can easily turn the religious right's support of Repubs to our own advantage. But far from telling them to shut up, we need to go all out to "encourage" these religious zealots of the right to cut loose, and get all their idiotic remarks out there for voters to gaze upon, and shudder.

We can also dig up countless revealing quotes by the religious right's "sage" leaders. There are so very many. The "congrats on getting re-elected" letter, to Bush Jr. from Bob Jones of Bob Jones University, would make a very nice start. We also need to remind the voters of news items regarding violent behavior by these "good Christians." Like bombings and murders. Remind Americans of the many intrusive (and very unconservative )laws these folks want to pass, to keep the rest of us a pure as they are.

Let the religious righties get on their soap boxes and yelp until the "End Times," and give them plenty of rope. Then use their own words to hammer them, and their Repub candidates, down to size.

[NMMNG]

4. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

And I think you have a good idea. Let them hang themselves with their own rhetoric. They are getting more and more desperate, and it is likely they'll resort to even more outrageous antics to try to keep their stranglehold on America. When they are done frothing at the mouth we can expose them for what they really are.

[newyawker99]

5. Hi True Blue Believer!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: