Free Republic

Nov. 9, 2006 - Until recently Lisa Greening didn’t know a stem cell from a jail cell. But earlier this year, the bookstore owner from University City, Mo., spotted a new hardback by her former U.S. senator, John Danforth, titled “Faith and Politics” in which he bemoans the influence of evangelical Christians on the GOP and the country. Greening, 36, went on to see Danforth speak and emerged incensed by what she considered the religious right’s distortions on the issue of embryonic stem-cell research. “The extreme right is going around scaring people that [scientists] are going to steal women’s embryos,”...

John Danforth - an Episcopal priest, former Republican senator from Missouri, and former U.S. Ambassador to the UN - has recently urged conservatives in the U.S. Episcopal Church (TEC) and the U.S. Senate to back off from their fight over gay marriage and openly-gay bishops. At the June 13-21 Episcopal General Convention in Ohio, he topped it off – at Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold’s “reconciliation” forum – by taking a swipe at Continuing Anglicans. Danforth, also a former U.S. envoy to Sudan, told the Presiding Bishop’s forum, “Toward a Reconciled World,” at the convention on June 15 that “Virtually all...

Danforth: Ban on Gay Marriage a Silly Idea WASHINGTON — Former Sen. John Danforth says a conservative push to ban gay marriage through a constitutional amendment is silly, calling it the latest example of how the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the GOP. Danforth, a Missouri Republican and an Episcopal priest, made the comments in a speech Saturday night to the Log Cabin Republicans, which support gay rights. He said history has shown that attempts to regulate human behavior with constitutional amendments are misguided. "Once before, the Constitution was amended to try to deal with matters of human...

Earlier this year, the New York Times published two opinion columns harshly critical of the Republican party. The author bemoaned the passing of a time when, he argued, Republicans stood solidly for a handful of core principles: limited government, a strong national defense, light taxes and regulatory burdens, and free trade. Pointing to recent high-profile fights over issues like Terri Schiavo and embryonic stem-cell research, he accused party bigwigs of promoting a cynical alliance with socially conservative, and primarily evangelical, Christians. This partnership, he wrote, threatened to turn the party into "the political extension of a religious movement." Fears about...

A recent Washington Post profile on Jack Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and an Episcopal priest, doesn’t pull any punches. “Jack Danforth,” it begins, “wishes the Republican right would step down from its pulpit. Instead, he sees a constant flow of religion into national politics. And not just any religion, either, but the us-versus-them, my-God-is-bigger-than-your-God, velvet-fist variety of Christian evangelism. . . . Danforth [says he] worships a humbler God and [he] considers the [religious] right’s certainty a sin.” This judgmental tone is all too common these days. And it’s unfortunate that Jack Danforth is going along with...

  Partial Birth RepublicanNovember 3. 2005 Former Senator John Danforth is another country club Republican duffer.   Danforth, a grandson to the founder of, and an heir to the fortune of, Ralston Purina has all the credentials.  A Princeton undergrad with Yale graduate degrees in both divinity and law, Danforth has been: a Missouri Attorney General; a U.S. Senator; the head of Janet Reno’s investigation into the FBI's role in the Waco, Texas/Branch Davidian disaster of 1993; a special envoy to Sudan and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Danforth has benefited from, and eagerly accepted, the support and votes of Conservatives...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Former Sen. John Danforth said Wednesday that the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the Republican Party and dividing the country. Danforth, a Missouri Republican and an Episcopal priest, commented after meeting with students at the Bill Clinton School of Public Service, a graduate branch of the University of Arkansas on the grounds of the Clinton presidential library. "I think that the Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives, by the Christian right," he said in an interview. "I don't think that this is a permanent condition, but I think...

The "Danger" of Christianity - by Lores Rizkalla (FReeper 'Just A Woman') Upon rolling out of bed this morning, I was awakened by the delightful aroma of Hazelnut Creme brewing in my coffee maker. After savoring every sip of the warm comfort-in-a-cup, praying and reading out of my Bible, I bounced out of bed to jump start my day. While I confess I failed to pray for my president and other government leaders today, that is part of what I do as a Christian. Whether a conservative or a liberal is in office. While I have yet to look at...

Danforth Criticizes Christian Sway in GOP Oct 26 8:51 PM US/Eastern Email this story By DANIEL CONNOLLY Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK The influence of evangelical Christians in the Republican Party hurts the organization and divides the country, former U.S. Sen. John Danforth said during a visit to the Bill Clinton School of Public Service on Wednesday. Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and an Episcopal priest, met with students during a seminar and held a luncheon talk at the graduate school. "I think that the Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives, by...

From the Episcopal Propaganda Ministry News Service.  Let's see - a revisionist "family values" conference draws 150 people to a vastly empty cathedral, while those who still believe Jesus as Lord came by the thousands to the Plano conferences.   Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama fills NatCat to overflowing.   Do the math.   Link: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_68559_ENG_HTM.htm   --------------------------------------------------------------------- Danforth holds mirror to religious-political right, left By Dana WilkieENS 101405-1Friday, October 14, 2005 [WASHINGTON] While underscoring the importance of keeping the Episcopal Church an “inclusive” body of believers, former Sen. John Danforth on Thursday cautioned National Cathedral conference-goers against becoming a “mirror image” of the...

The Rev. John C. Danforth, an Episcopal priest who previously served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and U.S. senator from Missouri, recently told a political gathering in St. Louis he was open to performing rites for the blessing of same-sex unions, but would not officiate at a gay “marriage.” Speaking to the St. Louis chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans (which describes itself as “the leading voice for fairness, inclusion and tolerance in the GOP”) Fr. Danforth rejected calls for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, saying it was “nothing more than gay bashing.” He told The Living...

ST. LOUIS - Retired Republican Sen. John Danforth expressed concern Thursday that his party is too closely aligned with the religious right. Danforth, 68, who represented Missouri for three terms in the Senate and resigned earlier this year as U.N. ambassador, spoke during a lunch sponsored by the St. Louis chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, a national gay Republican group. Also an ordained Episcopal minister, Danforth told the group that he believes marriage is only between a man and a woman. "On the question of civil unions, I believe that we should attempt to work out some kind of...

"I feel sorry for the poor devil who will be nominated," said former Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.), referring to anyone chosen to succeed Rehnquist. Danforth shepherded the nomination of Clarence Thomas through the Senate in 1991 and called it "the worst thing I ever lived through. Just awful."When historians trace the origins of how Supreme Court nominations became a flash point of culture wars and how brutal, bare-knuckle politics came to dominate the confirmation process, their search will lead them to Missouri. In the steamy trough of the Mississippi River valley, the seeds of the current culture wars were sown--court...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The controversy over John Bolton would not affect his performance as the new US ambassador to the United Nations, even if President George W. Bush is forced to sidestep Congress and appoint him directly, the last person to hold the job said. "I don't think anybody at the United Nations cares whether Bolton is supported by 60 senators or 50 senators," John Danforth said. Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri who stepped down as Washington's UN ambassador in January after seven months on the job, said UN diplomats only want to know if Bolton has the...

Former Senator and U.N. Ambassador John Danforth has performed a valuable service between elections by writing about a Christian's role in contemporary American society. In an op-ed for The New York Times last Friday, Danforth, an ordained minister, observed: "Many conservative Christians approach politics with a certainty that they know God's truth, and that they can advance the kingdom of God through governmental action." He writes that the "only absolute standard of behavior is the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves." One can quibble over where Danforth's "absolutist" position may lead politically (and I do, given the position of...

In the decade since I left the Senate, American politics has been characterized by two phenomena: the increased activism of the Christian right, especially in the Republican Party, and the collapse of bipartisan collegiality. I do not think it is a stretch to suggest a relationship between the two. To assert that I am on God's side and you are not, that I know God's will and you do not, and that I will use the power of government to advance my understanding of God's kingdom is certain to produce hostility. By contrast, moderate Christians see ourselves, literally, as moderators....

DANFORTH [Ramesh Ponnuru] Here's what the man writes in today's Times: "During the 18 years I served in the Senate, Republicans often disagreed with each other. But there was much that held us together. We [Republicans] believed in limited government, in keeping light the burden of taxation and regulation. We encouraged the private sector, so that a free economy might thrive." MORE DANFORTH [Ramesh Ponnuru] Danforth was, as he notes, a reliable anti-abortion vote during his time in the Senate (although he came out in support of funding research on tissues taken from aborted fetuses toward the end of his...

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR St. Louis — BY a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians. The elements of this transformation have included advocacy of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, opposition to stem cell research involving both frozen embryos and human cells in petri dishes, and the extraordinary effort to keep Terri Schiavo hooked up to a feeding tube. Standing alone, each of these initiatives has its advocates, within the Republican Party and beyond. But the distinct elements do not stand alone. Rather they are parts of a larger package, an...

THE TERRI SCHIAVO TRAGEDY has been seized on by long-time critics of the "religious right" to launch attack after attack on the legitimacy of political action on the basis of religious belief. This attack has ignored the inconvenient participation in the debate--on the side of resuming water and nutrition for Terri Schiavo--of the spectacularly not-the-religious-rightness of Tom Harkin, Nat Hentoff, Jesse Jackson, and a coalition of disability advocacy groups. The attack has also been hysterical. After Congress acted--ineffectively, it turned out--Maureen Dowd proclaimed that "theocracy" had arrived in the land. Paul Krugman warned that assassination of liberals by extremists was...

Links not updated yet, this was just announced on 97.1 Talk FM. The Chief of Police and his assistant/deputy are in FBI Custody. There is to be a press confrence at 2:30 to announce the details. All indications is that this is in regard to an investigation into Voter Fraud that began immediately after the November presidential election.

REUTERS Filed at 6:36 p.m. ET UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - John Danforth, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has resigned after less than six months in the job, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday. Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri, wanted to give President Bush a chance to move in a different direction now that a new team was coming in following Bush's re-election on Nov. 2, U.S. sources said. Some former colleagues noted that Danforth, a moderate in a conservative administration, had expressed frustration in recent speeches in his home state about not being more of...

FNC reports Danforth resigns as Ambassador to UN.

American foreign policy will soon have a new face—and much of the world is already doodling in red horns and a curled moustache. President Bush's nomination of Condoleezza Rice to succeed Colin Powell as secretary of state sent shudders down the world's spine. With his soft-spoken manner and moderate image, Mr. Powell was widely seen as the voice of sanity in American foreign relations. His successor, on the other hand, is viewed as a presidential clone, a hard-liner who believes America should run roughshod over the international community. "Among the most pessimistic conjectures made when George W. Bush gained reelection...

If Bush is reelected Rice to become Defense Secretary With nine days to the US presidential elections, the Washington Post is already predicting who will be holding which office in the new administration if President George W. Bush is reelected. According to the Post, Bush is planning a major reshuffle in his administration if he were to win a new term: Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, might well become the first female Pentagon chief, replacing Ronald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary. Rice on the other hand, is most likely to be replaced by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D....

Stem-cell 911 By Robert Lanza and Wendy Goldman Rohm Worcester, MA, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- In an unprecedented move, the Royal Society -- Britain's National Academy of Science -- this week asked the United Nations to ignore President George W. Bush's call for a ban on all forms of human cloning, including stem-cell research. What hangs in the balance, on the cusp of the U.N. vote and the upcoming U.S. presidential election, is not only the plight of millions of patients, but also the future of one of the greatest medical advances in the 21st century. It is alarming that...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - 1008un-terror Facing a surge of attacks around the globe, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to step up its campaign against terrorism but backed away from authorizing a new list of terrorists that could be subject to sanctions and punishment. The resolution states that hostage-taking and other acts against civilians aimed at provoking "a state of terror" can never be justified on political, philosophical, ideological, racial, religious or ethnic grounds. It calls on all nations to prosecute or extradite anyone supporting, financing or participating in these terrorist acts. The 15-0 vote ended weeks of negotiations...

Today in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, President Bush attended the swearing in ceremony of the new representative of the United States to the United Nations, Senator John Danforth. Later in the East Room of the White House, he addressed those attending a reception commemorating the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights bill into law in 1964. Enjoy your trip to Sanity Island on the Daily Dose!

President Bush’s nominees to represent the United States at the United Nations want to roll back the body’s anti-Israel bent. John Danforth, a former Missouri senator slated to take over John Negroponte’s U.N. ambassadorship, said Thursday in Senate confirmation hearings that he wanted to end the international body’s treatment of Israel as a “verbal punching bag.” “Our position is that that certainly is not helpful to progress and Middle Eastern peace, so that the United Nations should have a balanced approach and not just pass resolution after resolution by a vote of 187-4, or whatever, lambasting the State of Israel,”...

May I speak in the name of one god, who created us, who redeemed us, who comforts us. Amen. This is a service about Ronald Reagan, and it is a religious service. We've gathered to celebrate the life of a great president in a church where believers profess their faith. So this is not only about a person, but about faith. And the homily is the place to connect the two. For President Reagan, the text is obvious. It's from the Sermon on the Mount: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be...

ROME (AP) - President Bush said Friday he had chosen former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. If confirmed by the Senate, Danforth, a Republican who is a popular figure among both Republicans and Democrats, would succeed the current ambassador, John Negroponte, Bush's choice to be ambassador to Iraq. Since 2001, Danforth has been Bush's special envoy to war-torn Sudan. He served in the Senate for 18 years. Bush made the announcement in a statement released while he was in Rome on a three-day European trip during which the U.N.'s role in post-occupation...

<p>American voters will make a momentous decision in the next election.</p> <p>News reports of American casualties and shifting public opinion polls about our presence in Iraq point to the most important issue voters will decide next year: whether our nation has the resolve to stay the course and enforce the rule of law against the rule of chaos.</p>