Posted on 11/29/2005 11:33:16 PM PST by goldstategop
What do you do if you are devoted to the Democratic Party, which has spent years defining itself as the party of secularism, and you suddenly discover that Americans are becoming more religious? Answer: You learn how to sound spiritual.
America's third great religious awakening, about which I started writing 10 years ago, is well under way. Magazines like Business Week, Fortune and Forbes have all carried articles speculating on the growing buying power of America's evangelicals. Yes, Henry, they really do spend over $7 billion a year just on religious articles. Time recently ran a cover story about the country's 25 most powerful evangelicals. Some of them were Catholics, but who cares. The important thing is that they are very powerful. And very religious. And very conservative, too.
Dec. 9 will see the opening of Disney's adaptation of C.S. Lewis's Christian classic, "The Chronicles of Narnia." Before filming began, Disney checked the religious symbolism with Lewis' stepson to make sure the movie didn't portray anything un-Christian. Gosh, even the ABC Television hit, "Desperate Housewives," features a character who seems to be returning to his religious Catholic roots. And then there was the unanticipated impact of Mel Gibson's "The Passion."
The marketplace is a pretty good place in which to spot trends, and business clearly has spotted this one. Christianity, after decades of disrespect, is back. Christians can now come out of the catacombs. They are finally on the front edge of the wave. It is now chic to be a Bible-believing Christian or Jew.
But what do you do if you're not in business? What if you are a Democratic politician trying to figure out how to run for president in 2008? You have a problem.
Americans are rejecting the secularism of the left. That secularism gave us abortions by the millions and this has started making many Americans, including the daughters of the women who marched for Roe v. Wade a little squeamish, to say the least. That secularism gave us deteriorating downtowns where so-called compassion for drunks defecating in doorways trumps concern for taxpaying citizens.
The Democrats can no longer hide. Too many Americans know, or have come to suspect that policies rooted in secular doctrine have brought us to a place we no longer recognize and certainly don't like. In spite of hysterical outbursts from the high priests of secularism – too frequently self-anointed Jewish leaders – Americans are rejecting the lie that fervent Christianity is the problem. This rabbi, along with most Americans, knows it to be the solution to America's growing problems.
So what is an ambitious Democratic politician to do these days? The answer is easy. Talk spiritual and, with any luck, enough Americans to elect you will be bamboozled into believing you are sounding religious.
Let me offer some specific tips for any such ambitious Democratic candidate. For a start, talk about how "family values" really means:
Providing health care to every child and that God cares about the 12 million children without health insurance.
Valuing a child with diabetes over a frozen embryo in a fertility clinic.
Viewing the teaching of science as a primary social good.
Reserving the right for each person to prayerfully make decisions for herself about when she dies.
Believing in legal protection for gay couples. Say that you understand those who believe that the Bible opposes gay marriage, but explain that you read that text differently. (Just how many interpretations for "abomination" are there? But I digress.)
Add, in solemn tones, that Jesus healed the sick, so he might have some concern for those 45 million Americans without insurance; he was not a hater, so would surely not join in demonizing gays; and he spoke constantly of the poor and the marginalized. Sound really confident when you lie that the Bible has more to say about caring for the poor than about eradicating sexual sin. Don't worry – nobody will challenge you on this whopper.
Now here is something important: You can help destroy traditional religious morality as long as you sound spiritual. Point out piously that we should not tell our kids that sex before marriage is forbidden. Explain that since many of them will not marry for years after the onset of puberty, it is unreasonable to suggest that this traditional standard should be maintained. Still, stress that the ethical principles that apply inside marriage apply outside of marriage as well.
Finally, use the natural disasters to attack faith-based initiatives. Denounce the Bush administration for exploiting the success of religion to further fund churches and synagogues. Put it this way: The lesson of Katrina is that social service is the job of government.
See what I mean? It is quite easy to sound religious while actually being merely spiritual. That way, you can continue furthering the goals of your Democratic Party and avoid alienating the growing number of us who take biblical religion very seriously.
And talking of taking religion seriously, I have a confession to make: I plagiarized all the examples of spiritual-talk above. With only minor editing for space purposes, I lifted them entirely from the sermon given by the president of the Union for Reform Judaism at its general assembly on Nov. 19, 2005, in Houston.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
"It will be interesting to see just how the Democrats can manage to fool voters with their contrived interest in spiritual issues while at the same time being able to avoid alienating their overwhelmingly secular base."
Rabbi Lapin has written a great article with great Jewish wit and sarcasm. The Democrats have certainly gotten themselves into a corner, haven't they?
I wonder if reading a fortune cookie after pigging out on Chinese counts as spiritual.
Ironically, the democrats will try not to be "too" Christian, since the republicans have reserved that one.
I wonder what they'll pick as their opium for the masses.
The Church of Scientology?
This country has taken note of this fundemental flaw in the party. The party has adopted some very eccentric causes that don't hold up well under moral scrutiny.
I listen to Rabbi Lapin on Sunday evenings on KTTH AM 770 here in Seattle. He actually came to my church and spoke about Christianity. And he was spot on. This man, a Rabbi, knows more about what it means to be a Christian than most Christians do. He is absolutely one of the most genuinely endearing and insightful men I have ever had the privelege of meeting.
I always found the Rabbis who conducted services at the Temple where Mrs. B was organist and music director
to be men of unique perspective on Christianity. Their insights were always interesting to hear.
Nothing's easier. They only need to roll out Ted Kennedy: he's so spiritual that he's even flammable on occasion.
Democrats embrace religion while at the same time try to restrict it from public places that is unless it happens to be Christian in which case they try to restrict it from anywhere.
Rabbi as long as we have the new media and good people like you to send out the word on it, we can't lose and the Democrats can't win.
The rats are spirtual, the worship Gia all day long.
The recent survey showing that church going Christians voted overwhelmingly for Bush may have given Democrats a clue.
LOL.
The fourth estate at its finest.
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