When Would Jesus Bolt? (evangelicals leaving the GOP)

[BR_Parkway]

An incredible article coming out in the Washington monthly about evangelicals who are finally wising up to the way GOP has used them and abused them. Pulling out just 4 paragraphs doesn't do justice to this story in the least.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0604.sullivan.html
When Would Jesus Bolt? Meet Randy Brinson, the advance guard of evangelicals leaving the GOP.

Indeed, when Brinson and the other supporters—including several Pentecostal ministers, some Methodists, and a member of the state board of education—entered the state house chamber to make their case, they faced off against representatives from the Christian Coalition, Concerned Women of America, and the Eagle Forum. These denizens of the Christian Right denounced the effort, calling it “extreme” and “frivolous” and charging that it would encourage that most dangerous of activities, “critical thinking.” The real stakes of the fight, though, were made clear by Republican Rep. Scott Beason when he took his turn at the lectern. “This is more than about God,” he reminded his colleagues. “This is about politics.”

<snip>

But he was essentially an unknown figure until, in 2003, he figured out a way to combine his three passions—religion, politics, and music. He had already been part of a group that started WAY-FM (as in, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”), a Christian radio station based in Montgomery and carried in 44 markets. With an upcoming presidential election, Brinson realized that a religious version of MTV's Rock the Vote would have the best chance of reaching young evangelicals and getting them involved in politics. Using his own money at first, he created a non-profit called Redeem the Vote and hired the media firm that marketed Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, giving him instant access to their contacts throughout the evangelical world. Through partnerships with more than 30 Christian music acts and summer concerts like Creation East and Spirit Coast West (the Christian equivalents of Lilith Fair or Lollapalooza), Redeem the Vote registered more voters than all of the efforts of the Christian Right heavyweights—Focus on the Family, the Southern Baptist Convention, American Family Association, and the Family Research Council—combined.

<snip>

The newly converted are the most zealous, sharing the good news with gusto to any and all comers. Every few days, Randy Brinson calls me with another revelation. Republicans? “The power structure in the Republican Party is too entrenched with big business. It's not with evangelicals—they're a means to an end.” The Christian Right? “They just want to keep the culture war going because it raises a lot of money for them.” Abramoff? “Evangelicals were being used as pawns to promote a big money agenda.” His fellow evangelicals? “Can't they see that Republicans are just pandering to them??” He once was blind, but now he sees.

<snip>

Despite all of the punditry about a “God gap” at the voting booth, this is a better moment for Democrats to pick up support from religious moderates than any other time in the past few decades. That's because evangelicals themselves are the ones who are broadening the faith agenda, insisting that there are issues they care about beyond abortion and gay marriage, connecting Gospel messages about the golden rule and the Good Samaritan to the policies they want their government to support.

[pnwmom]

1. Thank you -- very interesting article. n/t

[rodeodance]

2. calling it “extreme” and “frivolous” Using labels as usual!

[rodeodance]

3. I do not know about this-How will they reconsile discrimination/hate with

the golden rule and being a good samaritan?

...Despite all of the punditry about a “God gap” at the voting booth, this is a better moment for Democrats to pick up support from religious moderates than any other time in the past few decades. That's because evangelicals themselves are the ones who are broadening the faith agenda, insisting that there are issues they care about beyond abortion and gay marriage, connecting Gospel messages about the golden rule and the Good Samaritan to the policies they want their government to support.

[Kurovski]

4. K&R

Great front-page material.

Rove sought out their votes in "earnest" in a manipulative campaign after the 2000 "election".

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Pimping Jesus is one thing. They do that all the time. But being pimped

by the GOP is unforgiveable.

[pnwmom]

19. If that kind of attitude offends me, it will certainly offend moderate

evangelicals who are considering whether our party better represents their ideals.

[izzybeans]

6. Now there will be two fractures, well if these folks organized

a right-right and to the right party of the GOP. It'll be like the left only they're divided between the sheep and the wolf.

[AndyA]

7. Better late than never, I guess but

They should have seen it coming. The Bible told them to "beware a wolf in sheep's clothing." If they'd been paying attention, they should have known better than to support the GOP. Bush's term as Governor of Texas was more than enough to show he was not the man to lead the nation. History can teach us a lot if we open our eyes.

[xultar]

8. So what about our split, DLC vs Progressives? DNC vs DLC?

Democrats vs DINOS? Democrats vs Rethug-lite? Liberals vs Progresives?

Discuss.

[zbdent]

9. I wonder how many of the "evangelicals" who support Repukes

realize that the First Amendment guarantees not only their right to speak openly about Religion, it guarantees them the right to practice whichever religion they choose without the Government shutting them down . . .

[FatDave]

31. I often wonder the same

I'm not sure if they realize that the separation of church and state is actually there to protect them. I guess as long as the state-sanctioned religion is Christianity, they're happy.

[Ufomammut]

10. Jesus wouldn't have to "bolt."...

Because he wouldn't belong to or identify with that group or any other, at least in the sense the question poses.

The sad irony is that many who comprise the GOP use and exploit Jesus' messege, and fail to understand the his essence: a dissident who opposed the Roman government, opposed illegitimate power structures in all forms, and walked the earth with the poor, the castaway, the downtrodden, extolling the message of spirit and peace.

He'd be dismissed as a crazy, hateful, hippy, tinfoil weakling in today's evangelic movement (even by many on the left!) ...or worse yet, poor. And just as it happened in his time, those who slavishly cling to corrupt power structures would want him killed in order to silence his messege ...no different than how right wingers can barely conceal their contempt for anyone not of their fascist ilk today, and if they thought they could get away with it, don't delude yourself for a second into believing they wouldn't do it on a mass scale.

Here's a great book on this subject, "America, Fascism, And God: Sermons from a Heretical Preacher," by Davidson Loehr.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1931498938/qid=1142427830/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-7891850-9895255?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

[wildeyed]

11. Very interesting article.

And it jibes with a lot of conversations I have had with evangelicals.

[Seen the light]

12. One of the best articles I've read in a while

Very accurate.

[Seen the light]

13. Double post

My bad.

[Kber]

14. Good article - thanks for posting

[BushOut06]

15. Where are they going to go?

They're sure as hell not going to embrace the Democratic Party.

IMHO, the only thing scarier than the GOP is a new Evangelical Party. At least the fiscal conservatives in the GOP have pretty much helped keep some of the more extreme RW elements of the GOP in check.

[BR_Parkway]

20. No, it wasn't talking about the radical right evengelicals (Falwell

Dobson and the rest of the big name Radical Clerics) - it was talking about alot of people who seem to believe that all the parts of the Bible are important (feeding the poor, taking care of the Earth, loving thy neighbor, etc...) who are realizing how badly they've been used and abused by the KKKarl Rove crowd. And how they are seeing that their Biblical concepts do gel with the Dem party platforms much better (not perfectly, but more aligned) and how we can reach out to them.

A woman scorned and all that.

The extreme RW isn't going anywhere

[Mythsaje]

21. That's not scary...

That's a (if you'll pardon the expression) a godsend.

It would suck at least half of the GOP's base away...and STILL leave the Dems pretty much where they are today.

[file83]

24. Some other PSYCHO movement will just highjack the evangelicals...

...because they are so easily manipulated by false profits prophets.

[rman]

16. best news in quite some time. nt

[NMDemDist2]

17. a long read but worth it. and truly we Dems do care about the many

of the same things real Christians do. Poverty, environmental issues, health care and religious freedom.

I want religious freedom too, the freedom to live as I believe and not have to fit into a cookie cutter mold of what people "should" do

Huzzah for the thinking, caring folks who live the courage of their convictions. And I have been saying for the last two years, the way to fight Walmart is to pound on the fact that China forces women to abort their children and now can add another arrow to my quiver that they persecute Christians too!

:kick:

[IndyOp]

18. Let's scream it once again my friends:

Election 2004 was STOLEN!!!!

And let's add some Bono...

They stole it from us.
Now we're stealing it back!

[renate]

22. "Jesus is ours and you can't have any!"

"... insiders say, the word has gone forth from the Republican National Committee to defeat Democratic efforts to reclaim religion. Republicans who disregard the instructions and express support for Democratic efforts are swiftly disciplined."

I'm pretty sure that's what Jesus would want.
:eyes:

What a great article, and it's so encouraging, in terms of both potential political shifts and a return to religion as real religion--caring for the poor and hungry rather than for oil company executives.

[eridani]

23. Does Randy Brinson have a website? n/t

[BR_Parkway]

28. Only thing I could find was his bio on Redeem the Vote (RW) website

http://www.redeemthevote.com/randybrinsonbio.html

[Miss Chybil]

25. Great article! Thanks. nt

[Stephanie]

26. beautiful

appeal to their better selves

[EVDebs]

27. He would have realized their 'god' was mammon from the gitgo

and also that George Monbiot was right , their beliefs are bonkers

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=215343

[cain_7777]

29. Religous factions are always easily manipulated...

and when they get into government America's foundation begins to crumble. Religion is a crutch for those who can't think for themselves and that is obvious when they swayed the election of 2004. Now they have realized that they were used only to get this douchebag into the White House.

[Dob Bole]

30. As a young evangelical who has "crossed over..."

this article is very interesting to me, and inspires hope. I voted for the first time in 2000, and though my vote didn't count, I voted for Bush. I just assumed, with all his talk of "compassionate conservatism" that he would be like President Carter.

Needless to say, that didn't work so well. I finally severed all my ties with the GOP during the buildup to the Iraq war in late 2002/ early 2003. I haven't voted for a Republican since, and I probably won't. The Green Party is closest to my values at this point.

I think it's fair to say that a BARE MINIMUM of 22% of evangelicals are progressive, with perhaps another 30 percent or more who are moderate. Carter and Clinton carried these votes, (and so did Gore) and they won. But part of the trick is that evangelicals are concentrated in the South, so a Southern candidate who is a regional favorite naturally carries more of these votes.

Edwards was pretty popular among evangelicals too...especially the ladies!

[warrens]

32. Jeez, someone who actually reads the bible

Not selected phrases highlighted by nazis.

[MsMagnificent]

33. Oh but RTV IS Political

Just visit Redeem The Vote's site
http://www.redeemthevote.com/index.html

dead center is a nice little list of politicians: Boner, Alito, Chevron Condi; who are all GOOD
Then come articles on the pandering Hillary and the Pelosi-Murtha "Anti-War Scheme"
They, of course, are BAAAD

Talk through your hat all you want, declare anything you wish, but when you finally start walking the actual talk -- then I'll take your propaganda for actual Truth.

It's amazing how all these Evangelical's touted Bibles obviously, conveniently, omit the commandment "Thou shall not lie"