US evangelicals warn Republicans

[kpete]

US evangelicals warn Republicans
By Jamie Coomarasamy
BBC News, Washington


Prominent leaders from the Christian right have warned Republicans they must do more to advance conservative values ahead of the US mid-term elections.

Their message to Congress, controlled by Republicans, is "must do better".

Support from about a quarter of Americans who describe themselves as evangelicals was a factor in President George W Bush's two election victories.

The Republicans will need to keep them onboard if they are to retain control of Congress in November.

At a news conference in Washington, some of America's most influential conservative leaders said the current perception among evangelical Christians was that the Republican majority was not doing enough for them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4815912.stm

[Virginia Dare]

1. Theocracy Now!!!! EOM

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Okay, I've got to ask.

Just what percent of the voters are evangelical Christians that they weld so much power over us?

[LisaLynne]

7. I was posting about this this morning.

I don't think there are THAT many of them, but they have been mobilized and have gotten way too much control of the GOP. I keep reading that there are 35 million of the "hard-core" evangelical and/or Dominionist fundamentalists, which isn't that many in comparison to the pop of the entire US, but since they are a very cohesive group, they have aquired far more power than they should!

[asthmaticeog]

15. They weild so much power because the right isn't a unified ideology.

The Republican party is a rightist coalition. It contains libertarians, Goldwater conservatives, moderate rightists, ex-Dixiecrats, neo-cons and right-wing evangelicals/fundamentalists/whatevers. If the party that contains all that loses the support of one of those factions, they can't weild a majority - a majority that's already shaky, as the religious right and the libertarian right are STRONLGLY at cross-purposes. They weild so much power because they're the group upon which any political party holds the loosest grip- they're interested in the Bible, not political doctrine, except insofar as those two things run on parallel lines. Thus they have to be *seriously* pandered-to or the Republican party as it exists today risks losing power. It has less to do with right-wing Christians constituting a majority than with parlor games that give someone else a majority in a winner-take-all two-party system.

[converted_democrat]

16. Okay.. I grew up in a family of fundies, maybe I can help..

In my best estimates I'd say they account for 15-20% of the population.. They have a tendency to be loud mouthed and extremely politically active, so their numbers appear to be larger than what they really are.. On top of that, they more or less hijacked the conservative movement to make themselves appear larger than what they really are.. Most conservatives have completely different values than what the fundies do, but because conservatives are often religious they don't do the further exploration into what the differences are, so the side with the zealots instead of us "godless commies." Most conservatives want to be able to pray in public schools, and plaster "In God We Trust" all over everything, but they would stop short at giving up their privacy and force others share their views, where as that is the fundies actual goal..

Until we can separate the true conservatives from the fundies for good we are outnumbered.. Most conservatives though to their credit are coming around.. They hate how much money is being spent and they hate big government, and they are beginning to see that they aren't getting what they bargained for.. They are beginning to see what is happening, and the ones that have woken up are just as pissed about it as we are..

The other reason that fundies are getting what they want is because they are aligning themselves with corporate America.. They both want basically the same things, but for different reasons.. Fundies want women to not have choice because they like to control and punish women who have sex, where as corporations want it so they have more consumers for their products, cannon fodder for their wars, and a bigger pool to get cheap labor from.. If you look at almost all of the corporate and fundie goals, they're almost all the same, they just want them for different reasons.. When the two joined forces they became harder to defeat.. The corps. have the money, and the fundies have the people to write the letters, make the phone calls, and demonstrate..

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. If they had the numbers, they wouldn't have to cheat to win elections.

But I see what you mean. Their numbers are high enough so that a little bit of cheating is all they need to win.

Thanks for the info.

[Canuckistanian]

3. More fundamentalism, that's what this country needs!

After all, look at how much they've brought the people together already. :sarcasm:

[kevinbgoode]

4. Ohhh Yes....PLEASE do more for the American Taliban

because it will guarantee the Republican Party disintegrates in the next few years. The rumblings from the masses are growing louder with each theocratic ploy - and no matter how much Americans swallowed the Bush kool-aid, the American people are not about to be dictated to by a bunch of fringe televangelistas.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. And because Republicons are not doing enough to create a theocracy...

Christians are being persecuted in America worse than they were under the Romans; just as the Religious Right. :sarcasm:

[hatrack]

6. Or else what - they'll vote for Democrats this fall?

Ooh! Scary, scary threats!!

[BOSSHOG]

8. "Advance conservative values"

They mean force their values on the rest of the nation. They are incredibly ignorant beings unaware of the value of the constitution. They are free to live their "conservative valued" life in this country. And those who choose to are free as well. "Christian conservatives" have no use for freedom. They are the number one domestic enemy of the constitution.

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. More like this,

SELF SERVING, SELF RIGHTEOUS ASSHOLES!

[Norquist Nemesis]

18. Agree 100% Take a look at this guy here

http://www.hartforcongress.com

Notice how, before you 'enter' the site the statement includes "IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN A CHALLENGE TO YOUR CORE BELIEFS THEN PLEASE EXIT IMMEDIATELY AND DO NOT RETURN."

Then take a good look at the issues...both the order they are listed as well the message. I wouldn't be surprised to see Alan Keyes out stumping for him (and this is the type of 'conservative' that Keyes has made it his mission to nurture to the political arena here in Illinois).

Hubby tells me, "then don't vote for him!" (as if I would consider it). When I ask what if he would get elected, his response is, "Oh well!" :grr:

[rucky]

9. Why do they care so much if they'll all be raptured in a couple years?

Don't they have FAITH?

[Atman]

10. Meanwhile, a chihuahua just warned bull mastif to keep out of its yard

YIP YIP YIP YIP.

A warning from an impotent chihuahua...that's rich.

[katsy]

I wanna play too!

A message to US evangelicals from the Democrats 2006....

You lose your tax-exempt status.

[IsItJustMe]

11. These sorry excuses for compasionate humans have no place else to go.

They have made their bed and now we all have to lay in it.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Well, That Oughta Do It!

Hey, let's push for more of the same from the crowd that supported the current list of failures! Besides, it's a hollow threat. What are they going to do, vote Dem? They're not going to vote for an evil liberal anyway! So, this is apropos of nothing.
The Professor

[mtnsnake]

14. Wow! This was all but predicted just yesterday by 1 of our administrators,

EarlG, in this thread where he said:

"The radical right-wing base has been fired up in the past on social issues like abortion and gay marriage, but will they be fired up by pleas for loyalty to a guy who is increasingly seen by most of the country as a loser? After 6 years of GOP control, their base hasn't gotten Roe vs. Wade overturned or a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage - not only that but Republicans are getting increasingly fed up with Bush's incompetence on issues like Iraq, Katrina, and Homeland Security. Are they really going to stick with the guy who's let them down on these issues, or will they cash in their chips and move on to the next poster boy for these issues, whoever that may be?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2517089&mesg_id=2517163

:toast:

[bullwinkle428]

17. "Must do better" = "Hate gays even more"

[0007]

19. Now the fundies are threatening the pukes.