Death of the Religious Right?

[pbrower2a]

The Religious Right isn't going away; it is simply shrinking for now. It isn't winning over young adults, and if anything, many kids of RR families leave the RR at the first opportunity.

The Religious Right has been the most reliable conduit of voters to the GOP in recent years.

[pbrower2a]

The issue may not be the death of the Religious Right so much as its impending irrelevance as it shrinks.

[pbrower2a]

The Bible is greater than the Constitution.  The Bible tells us to obey our Government as long as it doesn't interfere with the Word of God, therefore the Constitution is great, the Bible is greater.  Even the ACLU picks and chooses and interprets the constitution to suit them and their agenda.

One is not superior to the other; the two are separate. The Bible can be used for teachings on personal morality; the Constitution can't. The Constitution sets moral standards for the government so that it does not do what a tyrant does. Our Constitution could fit any religious heritage

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Tell me what Biblical commandment is inconsistent with the Constitution.

One can live a fully Christian life and not run afoul of the Constitution. Likewise Jewish, Muslim, Baha'i, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, or pagan. I'm not so sure about Satanist...

You must be logged in to read this quote.

To say that homosexuals are gross sinners damned to Hell for abominations against the Lord is permitted by the First Amendment. To advocate violence against gays and lesbians is a criminal offense if it results in a crime and a civil tort if it results in some unjustifiable damage. Not even clergy are exempt from criminal consequences for their preaching and ministries. "Jesus Saves" and "God Loves You" are very tame expressions of religion appropriate to private (but not public) property. (College dormitories, to the extent that they are rented from even a State university are generally considered  free-speech zones).

Taking Christ out of Christmas? It's commerce that replaces religion with commercial trappings, including the bowdlerized "Happy Holidays" intended to encompass the very secular New Year's Day as well. "Xmas"? It's an old abbreviation for Christmas. the "X" standing for the Greek letter chi, the letters "ch" in Christmas. Even the spelling and pronunciation of Christmas partially conceals the reality that Christmas was originally "Christ-mass".

So what do I suggest? If you really want to put Christ back in Christmas, then by all means do so. Say "Merry Christmas" at all possible occasions, especially in response to the vapid  "Happy Holidays".  Junk the Christmas carols that have no mention of Christ or refer only to snow, winter, or gift-giving. Listen to genuine Christmas music -- like Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Handel's Messiah.     

The ACLU is not the American Civil Liberties Union, rather it is the Anti-Christian Litigation Unit.

Oh, come on. Christianity is so powerful that no significant politician could ever impose militant atheism upon a community. If such a figure did, then the ACLU might even come to the aid of Christians. Of course that may be like saying that if the Washington Nationals reach the World Series next year, then who will be their starting rotation against the AL team?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The Jews would dispute that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Muslims say that Jesus will return, only to convert the world to Islam through His Example. Your guess is as good as mine.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Christianity has faced far greater evils than the ACLU. Would you face hungry lions as early Christians did? Would you risk testimony that offends Stalin or do actions that violate the dictates of Hitler? The ACLU has no lions at its hands.

[pbrower2a]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You're absolutely insane. There's nothing I can say to that comment. Do you really believe that? Do most people in Oklahoma believe that?

How else could Oklahoma vote for Imhofe and Coburn as Senators?

[pbrower2a]

The fault with trying to run a government on "Biblical values" is that religious experts disagree on what they are. On many issues the Bible is either mute or contradictory. It would be an anachronism to attempt to find Biblical verses the preclude the use of narcotics for self-intoxication or against the possession of firearms.

By keeping Church and State separate, government allows people to keep and individual conscience together. Isn't that far better? When persons act in violation of the norms that practically everyone irrespective of religious beliefs act (that is, typically without a conscience or contrary to one), then the State can turn to the Criminal Code, the police, the courts, and in the end the prisons or even the gallows.