breaking radio silence from work

[tree_talking]

An Open Letter to All Republicans From a Former Religious Right Activist

THIS.

I often try to explain to people why I am not on the Religious Right (in any way, shape, or form) anymore. This man explains it so well--if a little snarkily. But you see, you deal with this sort of pain with snark.

This doesn't even begin to come close to my own personal story. That one is full of my stupid naivete, my betrayed trust and a semi-nasty case of brainwashing. What it does explain is what is wrong with the Republican party as I see it, and specifically, the Christian Right.

(I'd have NO problem with the Republicans if they would just be fiscal conservatives, and stop trying to make this a "Christian nation"--which it NEVER was. They certainly are not right now, no matter what they say.)

As for what I am right now, I am an Episcopalian. That was what I was raised in for the first 13 years of my life...and now it feels like I am back home. My priest saw my hubby's Obama button and gave him a high five. It feels so good to be able to be a liberal--even in church.

Comments

[beccadg.livejournal.com]

You're entitled to your opinion.

Thanks. *Hugs.*

Though two people aren't wholly responsible for the cock-up of that party. There are plenty of others.

I didn't mean to come across sounding like I was blaming the mess the party is now entirely on his father and him. I'm not about to dispute the part of the names he mentioned, from Dobson, Falwell, Robertson, Rove, Reed et al., to Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, John Bolton, Elliott Abrams, Robert Kagan, Michael Ledeen, William Kristol, Frank Gaffney Jr., and Dick Cheney, have in the party being in the state it's in now. It wasn't ruined by two people, and it won't be salvaged by two either. If it could be salvaged by two people my parents would've saved it from the Christian Right years ago.

YMMV, of course. I don't like arguments, and I won't start one with you.

*Nods.* I don't want to argue. I was just reacting to being lumped with Republicans I don't agree with or vote for. I'm very tired of spending 20 years listening to people paint all Republicans with the same brush.

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

I totally understand your last point. If I could be comfortable "being" a Republican without seeming like I support the current leadership, I would. I'm fairly conservative fiscally and middle of the road socially.

It's really just a matter of what I can live with, and I can't live with that label anymore. It was pretty much forced on me for a long time.

[soundwave106.livejournal.com]

You know, for a long time, it did seem like that Republicans winked at the populist, politically reactionary-religious side and were able to win votes without a whole lot of pandering to that side. In many ways, it was the Iraq-war-loving "neo-conservative" Zionists who pulled the party apart more.

This past 8 years, however, was the first time that I think the "religious right" became a big *distraction*, being behind such incidents as the insane amount of government time spent on Teri Schiavo. Add in the other populist items (eg the hard line on immigration) and the agenda was becoming increasingly incompatible with the business types and libertarians that form the party's other wings.

In some ways, I wonder if the "religious right" movement's alignment with the Republican party will damage the American Christian church more. By ignoring many of the compassionate elements of Christianity, we have a generation, of whom many see Christians as "intolerant", "hypocritical", "self-righteous", "anti-intellectual", or "judgmental"... attitudes that any Bible reader know are strongly discouraged in the first place.

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's it. It makes it hard for a person like me--a seeker within Christianity--to find their way. I spent 20 years in the neo-conservative Christian right and I'm done with that now.

Now I just have to figure out what my new beliefs are--and try to make sure that I remember to be compassionate and to respect differences.

I'm not perfect, I'm just trying.

I can't stand now when politics and religion go hand in hand. They're meant to be as far apart as things can get.

[beccadg.livejournal.com]

I totally understand your last point.

Thanks. *Hugs.*

If I could be comfortable "being" a Republican without seeming like I support the current leadership, I would. I'm fairly conservative fiscally and middle of the road socially. It's really just a matter of what I can live with, and I can't live with that label anymore.

*Nods.* I understand. I take comfort in knowing that at the state and local level we have Republicans that don't blindly follow the current leadership. A former Maine Republican Party Chairman and former Republican State Representative have formed, "Maine Republicans for Obama". Our Senator Olympia Snowe has been picked by TIME Magazine as one of the Ten Best Senators in the country because of, among other things, "her centrist views and eagerness to get beyond partisan point scoring." As a kid one of the people I thought I wanted to be when I grew up was Margaret Chase Smith. I've lost my fondness for politics as I've grown up, but I still live less than thirty miles from the Margaret Chase Smith Library.

It was pretty much forced on me for a long time.

I'm sorry to hear that.

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

OMG, Maine is such an awesome state. :) My parents came from there. I'd love to live there myself.

Having politicians who do not follow blindly is the best thing ever. On either side.

[mincot.livejournal.com]

Well, and while the author may have played a role in the current resurgence of religious fundamentalism, the author completely missed the way in which fundamentalism appeared earlier. The 1950s and the 1920s, the 1870s and the 1830s were all periods of evangelical fervor. Sometimes they were intertwined in politics, and other times they were separate, but thsi most current episode was not the first. It was the slickest, the most prolonge, the most political, and the most entrenched, and it has done a real number on our country.

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the "Great Awakening" et al. While they did do some good things with the temperance movement and such (as well as some awful things), the evangelical movement has been very influential upon American society and morals.

Sometimes to our edification, and sometimes to our detriment.