A crumbling Christian right?
October 2nd, 2007 | by Jones of the Nile |Another campaign week goes by, and more evidence is emerging that the Christian right is flailing as it heads into 2008.
I wrote last week about a disappointin g gathering in Florida that attracted only 100 or so conservative Christian organizers (not including the plants from Americans United), and the general disorganizat ion of the once supreme Christian right, who are still searching for their Mr. Right four months ahead of Iowa. Need more proof that the Christian right has lost its Christian version of chutzpah?
- Check out the public tiff this week between former GOP Presidential candidate Gary Bauer (and founder of American Values) and Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, over whether Fred Thompson is religious enough to be President. Dobson went so far as to say that his impression of Thompson was that he wasn’t a Christian, prompting Bauer to fire back that Dobson was hurting the entire Christian movement with his comments. Round one.
- Just this past weekend, a gathering of influential Christian right leaders gathered in Salt Lake City (Rev. Dobson among them), and let it be known that if a pro-choice candidate heads the Republican ticket (*cough* Giuliani *cough*), they’ll likely back a third-party candidate. Round two.
- Conservative Catholics, not wanting to miss a beat, have formed a Web site, www.catholic sagainstrudy .com, to (in their own words…I can’t write stuff as good as this): “empower faithful Catholics at the local level to educate their fellow parishoners about Rudy Giuliani’s abysmal record on non-negotiab le “Culture of Life” issues (e.g., abortion, embryonic stem cell research) and traditional marriage.” (Note: If I had written that, you can bet that I would have spelled parishioners right!) Round three.
- And check out the continued stories coming forward – in both secular and religious press – that show Americans more uncomfortabl e voting for someone who is a Mormon (25 percent, according to this article) than voting for a candidate who is Jewish (11 percent), evangelical (16 percent), or Catholic (7 percent). Sure, this is ignorance at play, but it still has to influence the level of Christian right support that Romney will be able to pick up. Can a Mormon unite a base that really wants an evangelical Christian? It’s hard to say. Round four.
To keep the boxing metaphor running, I don’t think a knockout blow has been delivered to the Christian right. But clearly they are disorganized , petrified of any of the top-three Democrats, and totally unfocused heading into 2008.
Is it a result of putting all their eggs in one basket with President Bush, while failing to focus on his successor? Is it the result of the death of leaders like Jerry Falwell and D. James Kennedy, and the falls from grace that folks like Ted Haggard and Ralph Reed have taken?
Or is it that, FINALLY, after years of shoving gay marriage, stem cells and abortion down peoples’ throats, folks are ready for a more spiritually mature movement that focuses on poverty, human rights, the environment, and war, as opposed to wedge issues and rhetoric that just create more division in this country?
That might be the ultimate question, and one that may not be answered until November 2008.
Tags: BIO, catholic, christian, christian right, Faith, Fred Thompson, gay marriage, GOP, religion, Rudy Giuliani
