Dear Fellow Christian who Continues to Toy with Voting for the Democratic Party,
I wish I could honestly say that this fellow, a black church leader whose video is highlighted in this Big Government post , was essentially wrong.
But, alas, he isn’t.
(Yes, his use of the Bible to back a certain foreign policy standpoint on Israel is problematic. Yes, he has one argument that might suggest that gays ought to stay in the closet—I strongly disagree with the suggestion if he meant to make it.)
Face it, the essentials of his argument, which concern the relations of black Christians to the Democratic Party, and more fundamentally, the relations of all Christians to it, are correct.
Look this man in the eye, and tell me, Democratic Party-supporting Christian, why he is wrong.
For I wish I could say that the Democratic Party remained a big tent that allowed Pro-Life Democrats, Gay-Marriage-Opposing Democrats, and Christian Democrats generally, a real voice and role. I wish that the humane visions that folks like Bill Galston, Christopher Lasch, and Wilson Carey McWilliams had for such a big tent Democrat Party still were alive.
But they have been near death for some time now, and the re-election of Obama, especially if it comes with a Democratic Senate made up of the current crop, will kill them for at least a generation.
Among the 689 reasons to defeat Obama, this has to be in the top three or four reasons: the Obama-ites (regardless of Obama’s own religious beliefs) are making the dream of a Big Tent Democratic Party utterly impossible . Christian, there is more than one sort of Democrat in the world. Why are you empowering this sort?
When , oh when, will you show some spine for the cause of moderation? When do we get to hear the likes of you demanding a real representation of 50/50 America, and of religious America, in the universities, in the legacy media?
Again, look this man in the eye, and tell me where he is wrong. Tell me about the strenuous efforts going on in the Democratic Party right now to rein in things like the HHS Mandate. To make it more friendly to Christians. I’d love to learn about facts that run against the grain of my argument.
Save the Democratic Party for its proper role in our politics, and let its present crop of leaders receive the spanking they so richly deserve in 2012.
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
