Is this Kosher? Not Hardly.
I was driving down Third Avenue in Downtown Huntington in Cabell County West Virginia when I saw this big billboard that had been posted as a paid political ad by the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee. This Billboard in Huntington claims that "DEMOCRATS ARE CHRISTIANS TOO". I have no idea why the Cabell County West Virginia Democratic Executive Committee is using party funds to preach a religious message. It would please me enormously if both the democrats and republicans would leave religion alone and quit generating theocratic propaganda. One of the reasons that I am registered as a Democrat is because I do support diversity and pluralism as opposed to the conformist conservative agenda of the GOP that relies heavily on the followers of TV preachers and evangelicals to keep them in office. It is the policy of the Democratic National Committee to support religious diversity and leave religion to the individual as a matter of individual faith and individual rights. The West Virginia Democratic Party is of a similar position to the best of my understanding. The Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee does not seem to get the message that religion and politics are a binary explosive combination that can hurt the party at higher levels when seeking donations and fundraising.
The Billboard in Huntington West Virginia Clearly States "Paid For By The Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee". This christian billboard campaign by the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee is grossly insensitive to the religious identity if non christian voters who just happen to be democrats. This conduct by the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee gives the impression that one has to be a "good christian" to be a "good democrat". It also gives the clear impression that non christian candidates cannot expect support from the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee. This type of gross insensitivity to the non christian voters who happen to be democrats by a county party committee should be brought to the Attention of the DNC and other organizations concerned with religious freedom. Help me get the word out please.
I sent the picture above to several of my Jewish friends who happen to be Democrats, and they were quite offended that the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee as a county extension of a political party of which they are members, would represent the party as a christian entity, or brag about a christian majority or the religious affiliation of the majority of democrats. To quote my Jewish friends: "It sends a message that non Christians are not quite welcome", and " As a Jewish person I will not donate to a party that puts out christian messages on billboards".
Speaking solely for myself: I am displeased that the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee is using party funds for this purpose. Non Christians do not desire for their religion to be re-defined by a political party of which they are members. When political parties start endorsing religions, it is not too long before political leaders are forced to toe the religious line to gain the parties endorsement, and I don't think the founding fathers would have liked that. We have seen Far too much of that from the republicans.
In Cabell County West Virginia we have some conservative "democrats" in leadership positions who are D.I.N.O's (Democrats In Name Only), AKA "Closet Case Republicans". If a liberal democrat would run for office in this county, the executive committee is far too right wing and ultra-conservative to support them. The Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee did not even try to organize the Huntington gay community against the Bush Campaign in the last election and made only a half hearted attempt to organize other disenfranchised and marginalized groups. As the result Bush won in West Virginia because regretably Democrats did not work hard enough to win.
It seems as though the evangelical goal of the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee is to prove that the political "loose cannons" have united to form a loose artillery unit. It is little wonder that the Governors campaign staff shunned the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee during the last election. The Governor is smart enough to avoid trouble like the plague until such time as the State Democratic Party gets a handle on Cabell County's Democratic Executive Committee, for impersonating a church in a democratic party that officially leaves matters of faith to the individual by official policy at the national level.
This is what happens when ultra conservative D.I.N.O.''s ( Democrats In Name Only ) get control of a County Democratic Executive Committee and go into a bad case of "Stark Raving Republican-itis". There is nothing conservative about Mr. Jefferson's conception of Democracy. True patriotism mandates a liberal broad mind that comprehends that "freedom" is a very liberal rebellion against the regressive arch-conservatism of the defenders of the status quo.
I fully support religious expression for individuals and religious institutions, but not for political parties because they are too closely tied to the electoral process and I respect the separation of church and state. Am I the last remaining liberal Democrat left in the State of West Virginia? One of the reasons I love the Democratic Party is because the Democratic National Committee acknowledges that religion is an individual matter. The Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee does not understand that a religious choice DOES NOT equate to a political choice in a democracy therefore the billboard in question is irrelevant to any legitimate political goal.
Jerry Falwell And Pat Robertson may feel that party affiliation is a religious choice, and by posting that Billboard the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee is playing the republican game on GOP turf and provoking non christian democrats in the process. The entire purpose of the establishment clause and free exercise clause of the First Amendment is to separate religion and politics and to protect the rights of religious minorities. Religion is not a majority rule proposition like political issues are.
I personally feel that the evangelical movement in the GOP known as the "religious right" is neither religious or right. Just another theocratic political movement under the command of the political commanders who run it with total contempt for the First Amendment.
If the billboard said "DEMOCRATS ARE ATHEISTS TOO" instead of "DEMOCRATS ARE CHRISTIANS TOO" think what an uproar it would create in West Virginia. Religious messages are subject to such a wide interpretation that there is no correct way to present one in a political context. I am not hostile to anyone's faith or lack thereof. I just prefer that the states democrats refrain from the same type of religious sloganeering that the GOP uses. The Theo-politics of the GOP that assumes the holier than thou mentality is contagious around election time. Let us not become what we detest. Non Christians are not in a habit if making a stink for the most part in this state. They will just passively refuse to donate to a party that claims to be christian on its billboards. The results of this sort of thing show up in fund raising reports the next time the state party goes on a fund raising drive.
The pages of political history are best turned in reverence for the way things are, rather than the way we desire them to be. To be pragmatic: Religion is the art of divinely dictated absolutes, and politics is the art of debate and compromise. Religion defies compromise, and politics embraces few if any absolutes. Mixing religion and politics is a recipe for something that can easily come back to haunt you in the next election.
Putting religious messages in a political slogan Billboard cheapens both religion and the sloganeer. All democrats have a vested interest in upholding the integrity of the party. I wish to thank the state executive committee for NOT following the religious example of the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee on a state wide basis. We would never live that one down. It is because I do care about the integrity of the party that I oppose these Billboards, and those D.I.N.O's (Democrats In Name Only)who advocate undermining the DNC standard of leaving religion to the individual. To advocate political affiliation with the religious majority is to politically undermine religious minorities. For every action there is and opposite and equal reation and I regret to say the laws of physics are relevant to politics as well as the universe.There is nothing conservative about Mr. Jefferson's conception of Democracy. True patriotism mandates a liberal broad mind that comprehends a that freedom is a very liberal rebellion against the arch-conservatism of the defenders of the status quo.
Stephanie Heck
http://sheck.com/serendipity
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