Growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, home of the ultra conservative American Family Association, I learned early about how politics and religion can mix. In 1992, when George H.W. Bush ran for reelection against Bill Clinton, the Protestant grade school I attended held a mock election. The school bucked the national vote and overwhelmingly supported Bush. Afterwards there was a public witch hunt for the few students who had dared to cast a Democratic vote.
Things aren’t much different here at the University of Mississippi than they were at my Christian preparatory school. Though Ole Miss is officially non-denominational, the campus has a very Christian feel. Bible studies are a dime a dozen here. Churches and thirteen Christian student organizations compete with fraternity parties for turning out large crowds. Hundreds of Bible-clutching students routinely gather in Oxford to watch a guitar-wielding worship leader carry a contemporary Christian tune.
Most of the time, these students’ faith in Christ translates into faith in George W. Bush. When I went looking for Democrats at campus bible studies, most students just laughed in my face. Some squirmed at my question. A few clever ones pointed fingers unsuspecting friends, calling them “Democrats” as though membership in the party were some kind of unpopular disease.
John Kerry will have to compete with that kind of stigma at my school if he wins the Democratic nomination. Of course, there are some voters among the faithful here who don’t fall lockstep behind the GOP. Plenty of religious students are upset about the Bush administration’s handling of prewar intelligence and the struggling economy nationwide. But students affiliated with religious groups like Campus Crusade and Reformed University Fellowship are almost unanimously opposed to abortion and gay marriage. In the current political climate, it’s hard for religious students to stifle their beliefs on those issues and support a Democratic nominee.http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4269261/How do we win faithful voters for the GOP? Hmm...I know, let's turn it into a cult!
'Christianity' according to the republican fundies has almost nothing in common with a humanist religion of peace. Not to mention those who they hail as champions - Bush, Reagan, bush* cannot even be considered Christians by anyone's standards.
Reagan never even claimed membership at a church, was divorced, lived a somewhat decadent Hollywood lifestyle, consulted astrologers, and once told the pope to "bring the wife and kids" on his visit to the white house.
Bush Sr. coddled up to the moonies to get his hands on some of that dough swindled away from their brainwashed members.
bush* Jr. is a lier, thief, bigot and he uses religion to force his way on the country.
I didn't even mention the countless murders on the hands of those three.
But I'm on a tangent. Reagan and Bush did what they could to solidify the religious fundies with the social conservatives, turning their sermon into a religion. A religion of power, greed, terrorism, murder, drug and weapons trafficking, and basically selling the United States to the highest bidder. Destroying the morals of the US while claiming to be the only solution to the moral problems in our country.
Religion and Politics are at their purest when they as far apart as they can get. I can't imagine any Christian would want to live in a country where their religion is a state requirement and their beliefs are forced on every citizen.
Well, I've ranted enough. Sorry for the long post.
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