Now, I am going to say this at the outset: I intend this diary to be analytical and thoughtful. I am not going to attack anyone, and I do not want anyone to feel attacked. I do not want anyone to troll rate or down-rate anyone in this diary or the resulting thread. The issues I am about to discuss are intense and a source of much division among us, but I want us all, from all sides, to discuss this without any insults, without any troll ratings, and without any rancor if possible.
Further, when I talk about religion, I am talking about all religions. Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Protestantism, Delawaredemism, Buddhism, Paganism, Kabala, etc.
Now, I am going to start this by saying something controversial: James Dobson, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Bill Frist, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Bob Barr, Tom DeLay and how many other right wing Republicans there are who are likewise responsible, are geniuses. And there is a scintilla of truth in what they have said about us Democrats lately.
How could I possibly say this? Am I a troll, or is this a trollish comment, as Armando said to me yesterday in the heat of battle?
I say this because I now am convinced that Religion IS the Democratic Party's greatest weakness. It has been for years, decades even. I am not sure why that is, but indeed it is. And the Republicans realized that long ago, and have exploited this weakness by having their party embrace religion (or their version of it), so that the politically ignorant faithful would be faced with a choice in the political area: Democrats (Evil, unreligious and even anti-religion) vs. Republicans (Good, God-like, Religious, Faithful). They have framed the debate that way, and their consistent actions over the last thirty years have developed and enforced that frame.
How did we get here? Well, I intend to explore that, but first we discuss the divisions in our Party and in America as whole with respect to religion. These divisions are been laid bare for all to see with the passing of the Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. At least here among the Daily Kosmunity.
With respect to religion as a whole, I believe America is divided into five groups. Three of those five groups comprise the Democratic Party.
THE ANTI-RELIGIOUS
This group is comprised of atheists and non-believers who are ironically fervent and passionate in the belief that there is no God and that all Religions are merely corrupt organizations intent of graft and control of the populace. They seek to destroy religion is various ways. They seem to be very "in your face" about their belief that there is no God. They do not respect religion or people of faith, and indeed are very condescending towards the religious and even agnostics. PhillyGal said it best yesterday when she said she "believe that anti-religion is a religion of its own." This group does not include simple atheists who have a "live and let live" attitude. I will get to them in a second. No, this group is comprised of those individuals that Senator Frist and Tony Perkins constantly demonize to represent the whole of the Democratic Party.
Now, I believe many in this group are Democrats, Greens, Independents, or perhaps Libertarians. I have not seen demographical information to support my statements here, but I think it is a safe bet that the Anti-Religious would not be Republicans or Constitution Party members.
THE AGNOSTIC / NEUTRALS
This group really needs no description. If you are agnostic, or if you believe in God but are not really practicing in any organized religion, or if you are practicing but you just really don't care enough about religion to get all excited about it. Hell, even if you are atheist but have a live and let live attitude towards people of faith, you fit here.
This group is really neutral when it comes to religion. They mostly believe that religion should be kept out of the political debate and normally resent those who put religion in politics. They believe in the separation of church and state with a passion.
THE RELIGIOUS LEFT
Members of this group are religious and faithful and are proud of it. They go to church or their respective religious services regularly. They believe in God and attempt to follow the many goals and standards their religion stands for. These faithful believe that the religion is meant to help people. The young, the poor, the sick, the elderly. Religion's purpose is to provide the original social safety net. They believe that they should always show love and compassion to their neighbors. They believe in peace and forgiveness. They see a religious command to fight injustice and inequality in the world. Further, in the specific Catholic Church, the faithful are against abortion but do not view it as the one defining issue in the political field. They believe that the Catholic Church needs to modernize and reform with respect to contraception, homosexuality, and the allowing of married priests and female priests. If they are politically active, they are liberals, and most likely Democrats.
THE GENIUNE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
Members of this group are religious and faithful and are proud of it. They go to church or their respective religious services regularly. They believe in God and attempt to follow the many goals and standards their religion stands for. However, these faithful are conservative. They do not believe that their religion's traditions need to be reformed or modernized. Their most important goal, in America, is to fight what they genuinely see as the corruption of America. Loose morals, sexual promiscuity, and obscenity on TV and radio and in Hollywood. And they are passionate about ending abortion. They consider abortion premeditated murder and want all forms of it to be criminalized. They really do not believe in forgiveness or peace, as that is God's job. They are more interested in following the traditions and laws of their religion, and if someone breaks those laws, they are more interested in punishment rather than forgiveness. If they are politically active, they are social conservatives, and most likely Republicans or Constitution Party members.
THE EXPLOITERS
This group is mostly comprised of hypocrites. They seek power, wealth, success and pleasure, and one of the ways they get that is to exploit. And they exploit religion. They are not really a religious group per se, but in the religious context, we have to include them. These are the moneychangers in the Temple. These are people like Jimmy Swaggert, who preached fire and brimstone if we did not follow God's law, but cried like a little girl on TV when he got caught sinning and begged forgiveness. The current Republican leadership is comprised of Exploiters. For example, Tom DeLay. He condemns Michael Schiavo, yet makes the same decision himself when his father was at the end of his life. Another example, Newt Gingrich. How many times was he divorced? Bill Frist. George W. Bush. Rick Santorum.
Now, the Democratic Party is comprised of the first three groups: The Anti-Religious, the Agnostic-Neutrals, and the Religious Left. The Republican Party is comprised primarily of the Genuine Religious Right, the Exploiters, and perhaps some Agnostic-Neutrals as well.
The key to any battle between factions is passion. The most passionate and committed normally always win, and thus have control. Thus, the Agnostic-Neutrals will always lose, leaving the Republican Party controlled by the Religious Right and the Exploiters of the Religious Right.
The Democrats thus are left with the battle between the Anti-Religious and the Religious Left. And we have seen that battle play out the past three weeks. But it has been going on for years. The Religious Left has been handicapped in both their fight with the Anti-Religious and the Religious Right. They are humble. They are not nearly as passionate as the Religious Right or the Anti-Religious, and if they are, then they are screaming into the wind and/or afraid to speak up. Further, the Religious Left may indeed lack a real platform or bully pulpit to get their views out.
So when the Exploiters like Bill Frist or Tom DeLay say that Democrats are against "people of faith," this statement is somewhat true. Some Democrats are. The Anti-Religious. But I imagine that the Democratic Party, and indeed most Democrats are not. I believe that the Anti-Religious are a small minority that is very vocal since they are very passionate in their beliefs that Religion sucks. So too are the Exploiters and the Religious Right. They are loud primarily because they are in charge of three branches of government and the corporate media right now. Their message gets out.
Thus the Exploiters make sure that the media hears the messages of the Anti-Religious and the Religious Right. And there is your frame. Democrats (Anti-Religious) vs. Republicans (Religious Right). With Agnostic-Neutrals in both parties silent, and with the Religious Left without a voice, the only messages we hear are those being played.
So the point of this diary: Understanding. I think my classifications are correct, although I look forward to comments and thoughts about them.
For now, this is the frame we are dealing with in our battle with ourselves and against the Republicans. The Republicans are of course winning right now. But there are encouraging signs that the Religious Left is getting their act together to fight back against not only the Religious Right and the Exploiters, but also the Anti-Religious. The evidence of that is what has happened on Daily Kos after the election and after the Pope's death. There has been debate about religion and about faith. There have been heated arguments from both sides, indeed three sides, since the Agnostic-Neutrals are starting to speak up as well. And that is encouraging.
Like it or not, Religion is part of our Politics now. You have two choices, let the Republicans control the debate, or let the Democrats. To the Anti-Religious, of which I am most definitely not a member, I say this: Who would you rather see win the debate? I am sure this is a choice of the lesser of two evils, but that is what you've got.
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