An Olive Branch

Peter Duniho wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:aItid.296104$wV.217316@attbi_s54...
I'm a "conservative" and mostly "Republican" -- but I'm no church-goer,
and I don't see any evidence of the "Religious Right" in the Republican
Party

The facts are not on your side. The Republican party has made a huge effort
to woo the "religious right", especially over the last two decades. There's
a reason that the strong push to encourage evangelical Christians to come
out and vote was backed by the Republican party. Exit polls from this
election (and any other recent elections) clearly show a strong correlation
between degree of religious conviction and voting Republican.

[...]
Are there religious people in the Republican Party? Sure! And there's a
whole bunch of 'em in the Democratic Party, too.

A true statement. But one that ignores who the evangelicals and
fundamentalists generally vote for. Not all people who consider themselves
"religious" actually share the same beliefs, but there is definitely one
core group of people who consider themselves "religious" that the
Republicans go out of their way to appeal to. And, contrary to the supposed
"conservative" nature of the Republican party, that core group would very
much have all of their religious tenets codified into law.

Oh please. The Democrats have been working hard to woo the Religous Left vote
for decades. More recently, how many did Kerry attend protestant church
services in very liberal areas and/or predominantly black churches? "If it's
Sunday, it's Kerry in the AME." Or Kerry expounding on the important lessons of
St Paul and James or preaching about the Good Samaritan and God's high calling
to an Ohio Congregation, or talking about how you reach the kingdom of Heaven.
Was that part of Kerry's own (Catholic) faith, or was he using to church to
pander for votes, or what? The cheerleading Boston Globe even ran stories about
Kerry (re)discovering his Jewish roots---Jews in the US tend to vote Democrat.
Kerry claim to base his policy on his religous beliefs, including his political
objections to the death penalty.

"Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come. . . Tis grace that
brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home." - John Kerry speaking at
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in Ohio.

"My faith affects everything that I do, in truth" - John Kerry in the
Presidential Debate (Tempe, AZ)

-=-Alexis