Posted on 04/20/2015 12:22:18 PM PDT by balch3
Tired of being duped by conservative-sounding Republican presidential candidates who secretly harbored support for gay marriage, abortion and other socially liberal issues, evangelical pastors plan to investigate the backgrounds of White House hopefuls and their top aides.
"Personnel is policy," said David Lane, whose American Renewal Project is working with 100,000 pastors to push 80 million evangelicals and 40 million Catholics who typically don't vote to the polls in 2016 to elect a conservative Republican.
"We need to bring these things up on the table," he told Secrets. "Evangelical pastors aren't as much interested in budget issues as they are social issues," he added.
Lane's group, influential in conservative presidential politics and early primary and caucus states, will vet the positions of the candidates and their top aides. He already has dispatched reports about Jeb Bush's aides supporting same-sex marriage.
He also wants to uncover the potential first ladies' positions on social issues since they can hold great sway with their spouses. The American Renewal Project is working to push apathetic evangelical and Catholic voters to the polls.
"The challenge facing faith-grounded conservatives in 2016 is that candidates, and all those surrounding them, staff and family members, say one thing during the campaign, but then govern in the exact opposite manner once in office," Lane said in a memo being sent to pastors this week.
In the memo, provided to Secrets, he wrote, "Moderate Republicans are fond of placing politics before principle-making an argument about electability. On the surface that sounds sly, but the results have been disastrous for the Republican Party-and America. Moderates flushed the legacy-and branding-of limited government, lower taxes, deregulation of business, and the attitude of 'the-one-thing-that-government-can-do-for-me-is-leave-me-alone' bequeathed to the Grand Old Party by President Reagan. Note: The Gipper won reelection in 1984 with 49 States while running on principle and moral absolutes."
Two past examples of say one thing, do another stand out to evangelicals: former first lady Laura Bush's belated support for same-sex marriage and the move by former President George W. Bush's political ace Ken Mehlman to come out as gay and push for same-sex marriage, a position Bush opposed.
"I'm not anti-gay," said Lane, explaining that "I get beat up for saying what I believe." But, he added, "I'm not going to let them redefine marriage."
His group doesn't endorse in the primaries, though it does give a boost to those like Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and current Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal who pay attention to Christian issues like marriage and life.
It is most known for the "Pastors and Pews" events Lane hosts around the country bringing together pastors and politicians to discuss major issues and for prayer.
Rand Paul wants us to evolve on social issues.
Evolve, adapt or die. That is the fate of our current Republican party. We must evolve as a party and find a way to attract millennials to the conservative movement or we will never succeed in realizing our ideals of individual freedom and freedom from government interference.
I think that the Republican Party, in order to get bigger, will have to agree to disagree on social issues, Paul advised. The Republican Party is not going to give up on having quite a few people who do believe in traditional marriage. But the Republican Party also has to find a place for young people and others who dont want to be festooned by those issues.
Ping
Those two issues are the left’s Humanist religious test.
Horrible.
Paul
” Don’t stand for anything! You might lose”
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." - Hebrews 13:8
My worldview comes from His Word. There will be no evolving.
“Festooned?” Is he a secret pirate? LOL
We are still suffering the fallout from Reagan “evolving” on no-fault divorce. Not only are countless Americans who have divorced and “re-married” living in biblical adultery, we are losing the very meaning of marriage—which is for a man and woman to jointly bring and raise new life to the world. It is not about finding true love, although if you are lucky enough to find and sustain that, more power to you. Biblical marriage is about accepting responsibility for a lifetime.
I think that he chose that word as a further mockery of social conservatism, and conservatives, and the values that we cherish and insist on.
“” the Republican Party also has to find a place for young people and others who dont want to be festooned by those issues.””
Festoon:
“adorn (a place) with ribbons, garlands, or other decorations.”
“a long chain or strip of something (such as flowers or cloth) that is hung as a decoration. “
Why doesn’t he just run against Hillary on the Left, like Elizabeth Warren, Bill de Blasio or Bernie Sanders are thinking about doing? He’d have a better shot at the White House that way.
Great, so you want blame everything on a California state law passed by their legislature in the 1960s?
Get real.
My worldview comes from His Word. There will be no evolving.
Amen!
We have so many namby pamby pastors and church leaders out there. Lukewarm doesn’t even begin to define it. . .afraid of offending the flock and/or their family members.
YES WE ARE BLAMING CALIPORNIA, SO YOU, “GET REAL”!
Ted Cruz will be the only man still standing.
Blaming 1960s California for what, Rand Paul’s 2015 liberalism?
Won’t make any difference till they acknowledge that artificial contraception makes the marriage bed a bus bench to the God-free zone. Those who try to wrest away from the Creator His power over life and death are honorary sodomites, the term by which pharamkeia was traditionally known in Christendom.
In the last election that was Romney. He plunged the state of Massachusetts into homosexuality and then was pushed by the press into the Republican Nomination.
But I wonder how Democrats here feel about VP Joe Biden pushing Homosexuality upon the states? Obama flip-flopped on this when Joe came out for it. Democrats, are you truly happy about this? Do you think the American People are happy with this?
So Rand Paul thinks opposition to homo marriage is just a show, a decoration?
I had a thought the other day - pirates should have small chickens on their shoulders instead of parrots.
The advantage is they can have eggs every day.
Something like, it seems to be a deliberate magnifying of the insult, a subtle ‘in your face’ dig at us.
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