(Taken from
my blog)
Tomorrow's Christian Science Monitor has an article on the "culture war" and the rise of the angry Religious Right. It's a relatively long piece, and I recommend taking a look at the article if you get a chance. Below is a section crucial to where we are and where we may be headed:
Other items on the religious-conservative agenda aren't so clearly in sync with mainstream opinion, including opposition to abortion rights. Though many Americans are uncomfortable with abortion, most oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized it nationwide. In the 2004 election exit poll by a consortium of media, only 16 percent of voters said they oppose abortion in all circumstances, a figure that has largely held steady since the 1970s.[...]
There's more from the article and more commentary below
Within scholarly circles, there's even a debate over whether a culture war exists in America at all. Morris Fiorina of the Hoover Institution argues in a new book that while the political parties and pundits present a nation riven by a deep ideological divide, most people hold moderate views on even the stickiest social issues.
But even if most Americans are moderates, it's the so-called religious right - a highly motivated coalition of Evangelical Protestants, conservative Catholics, and Orthodox Jews - that is feeling the momentum.[...]
But religious conservatives remain a minority. And there's now a danger they will overreach, political analysts say. Right out of the block, they have worked hard to prevent Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, an abortion-rights supporter, from becoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee - the gatekeeper for Supreme Court nominations.
Much of this is not new, at least to us. The Religious Right's agenda is not
in sync with mainstream opinion. Much of the online community gets this, but it's worth repeating as there are signs some of our leaders feel we need to become Republican Lite in order to compete for swing voters.
Taking that course will not only fail to help us gain ground, it will likely set us back. We can't expect to appease the Religious Right. Adopting a few positions is not going to lure more than a token few to our side. And worse, it compromises our principles. If our leaders are worried about the "values" much of the punditry is focused on, I am not sure why they feel selling out some of our core principles is an effective way to demonstrate one's values.
The answer is right in front of us: most people hold moderate views on even the stickiest social issues. Abortion, for example, is not an issue to appease the right on. It's an issue to rally around. The answer lies not in changing our values. It lies in taking a strong stand as America stands with us.
It seems not all of our leaders are on this page:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 - He is a teetotaling Mormon, a former Capitol Hill police officer who opposes abortion and was a cosponsor of the constitutional amendment banning flag-burning. He is a little-known senator from a red state whose considerable skills do not include being a compelling presence on television or behind a lectern.[...]
His overwhelming embrace by fellow Democrats in the Senate suggests the extent to which his party may need to reposition itself, both ideologically and geographically, for the difficult years ahead. But it is also is a matter of circumstance: Mr. Reid has turned out to be in the right place at a time of a Democratic leadership void left by the election and the imminent departure of the party chairman, Terry McAuliffe.
As always, make sure you communicate with your representatives exactly where you stand.