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Religious Factions, and Federalism
Topic Started: Jul 1 2006, 08:43 AM (57 Views)
cmoehle
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Chris - San Antonio TX
A speech by Barack Obama on the conflict between conservative and liberal factions of Christianity in the US--or, perhaps better stated, factions of Christianism.

The Connection Between Faith & Politics, By Barack Obama

Quote:
 
...today I'd like to talk about the connection between religion and politics and perhaps offer some thoughts about how we can sort through some of the often bitter arguments that we've been seeing over the last several years.

...[we] won't have an impact unless we tackle head-on the mutual suspicion that sometimes exists between religious America and secular America.


This I think odd. Why does each faction label the other faction secular? See this all the time. Think not, consider his example:

Quote:
 
I want to give you an example that I think illustrates this fact. As some of you know, during the 2004 U.S. Senate General Election I ran against a gentleman named Alan Keyes. Mr. Keyes is well-versed in the Jerry Falwell-Pat Robertson style of rhetoric that often labels progressives as both immoral and godless.


Might now add Ann Coulter to the style of rhetoric, no? But I digress...

Quote:
 
Indeed, Mr. Keyes announced towards the end of the campaign that, "Jesus Christ would not vote for Barack Obama. Christ would not vote for Barack Obama because Barack Obama has behaved in a way that it is inconceivable for Christ to have behaved."


How the hell can one Christian say that about another Christian???

Quote:
 
...I had to take Mr. Keyes seriously, for he claimed to speak for my religion, and my God. He claimed knowledge of certain truths.

Mr. Obama says he's a Christian, he was saying, and yet he supports a lifestyle that the Bible calls an abomination.

Mr. Obama says he's a Christian, but supports the destruction of innocent and sacred life.

And so what would my supporters have me say? How should I respond? Should I say that a literalist reading of the Bible was folly? Should I say that Mr. Keyes, who is a Roman Catholic, should ignore the teachings of the Pope?


Well?

Quote:
 
Unwilling to go there, I answered with what has come to be the typically liberal response in such debates - namely, I said that we live in a pluralistic society, that I can't impose my own religious views on another, that I was running to be the U.S. Senator of Illinois and not the Minister of Illinois.


IOW, what Christian conservatives label secular!

Quote:
 
...Now, my dilemma was by no means unique. In a way, it reflected the broader debate we've been having in this country for the last thirty years over the role of religion in politics.


A debate among the religious right, the religious left, and that minority voice, the secular, perhaps agnostic, perhaps atheistic, independents (religious-wise).

I'll leave you to read the rest, and simply skip to the conclusion:

Quote:
 
And that night, before I went to bed I said a prayer of my own. It's a prayer I think I share with a lot of Americans. A hope that we can live with one another in a way that reconciles the beliefs of each with the good of all. It's a prayer worth praying, and a conversation worth having in this country in the months and years to come. Thank you.


And in my conclusion I leave you these words from James Madison's Federalist 10:

Quote:
 
From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy...can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction....Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths....

A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking....And according to the degree of pleasure and pride we feel in being republicans, ought to be our zeal in cherishing the spirit and supporting the character of Federalists.
Politics is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order.
--Barry Goldwater
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cmoehle
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Chris - San Antonio TX
Another view on federalism with regard to "religious" issues:

A Little Unhappiness Goes a Long Way

Quote:
 
Most debates about government policy concern whether government should intervene. A different but important question is whether intervention belongs at the state or federal level, if intervention occurs. In fact, many current federal policies should be left to the states.

Redistribution...Environmental Policies...Education...Abortion...Gay Marriage....

The United States lucked into what has been, and could continue to be, one of the most effective governmental structures available: federalism. Yet the U.S. has moved strongly away from this approach over the past century. Few people favor every implication of the federal approach, but most also appreciate it on certain issues. And that is the point: by making many people somewhat unhappy, federalism avoids making some people become truly alienated. That is essential to a free society.
Politics is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order.
--Barry Goldwater
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