BCITORGB wrote:


OK, Tink, while we're keeping it simple, here's what I'd really like
you to explain. I'd like to know what it is about right-wing politics
that apparently attracts a large chunk of, for lack of a better term,
rabid Christians.

Am I correct in assming that their is more to their faith than "God
loves you"? Surely they must find some sort of correlation between the
tenets of their faith and party platform of the Republicans. If there
is no such correlation, could you explain apparent Christian-Republican
attraction?


In the last presidential election, the Republicans mobilized,
polarized and manipulated voters over several "moral" issues: gay
marriage, women's right to choose, court reviews of the phrase "under
God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and the right to display the Ten
Commandments on government property. The Republicans drew a hard line
between themselves and the Democrats on these issues. Discussion of
these issues found its way into many churches, and congregations felt
sympathy with the Republican stance.

Republicans, including the President, used the buzzwords "activist
judges" and suggested immorality was being legislated from the bench.
The 2004 Republican Party Platform goes as far as to say activist
judges are exercising a "self-proclaimed supremacy." In a Christian
context, this "supremacy" is seen as an affront to God, and not just a
powerplay between the judicial and the other two branches of government.


From the 2004 Republican Party Platform:

"Supporting Judges Who Uphold the Law

In the federal courts, scores of judges with activist backgrounds in
the hard-left now have lifetime tenure. Recent events have made it
clear that these judges threaten America's dearest institutions and
our very way of life. In some states, activist judges are redefining
the institution of marriage. The Pledge of Allegiance has already been
invalidated by the courts once, and the Supreme Court's ruling has
left the Pledge in danger of being struck down again - not because the
American people have rejected it and the values that it embodies, but
because a handful of activist judges threaten to overturn commonsense
and tradition. And while the vast majority of Americans support a ban
on partial birth abortion, this brutal and violent practice will
likely continue by judicial fiat. We believe that the self-proclaimed
supremacy of these judicial activists is antithetical to the
democratic ideals on which our nation was founded. President Bush has
established a solid record of nominating only judges who have
demonstrated respect for the Constitution and the democratic processes
of our republic, and Republicans in the Senate have strongly supported
those nominees. We call upon obstructionist Democrats in the Senate to
abandon their unprecedented and highly irresponsible filibuster of
President Bush's highly qualified judicial nominees, and to allow the
Republican Party to restore respect for the law to America's courts.

The sound principle of judicial review has turned into an intolerable
presumption of judicial supremacy. A Republican Congress, working with
a Republican president, will restore the separation of powers and
re-establish a government of law. There are different ways to achieve
that goal, such as using Article III of the Constitution to limit
federal court jurisdiction; for example, in instances where judges are
abusing their power by banning the use of "under God" in the Pledge of
Allegiance or prohibiting depictions of the Ten Commandments, and
potential actions invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Additionally, we condemn judicial activists and their unwarranted and
unconstitutional restrictions on the free exercise of religion in the
public square."





--
"This president has destroyed the country, the economy,
the relationship with the rest of the world.
He's a monster in the White House. He should resign."

- Hunter S. Thompson, speaking to an antiwar audience in 2003.