Posted on 03/29/2009 6:45:48 PM PDT by Big_Monkey
What drove evangelical multimillionaire Howard Ahmansonthe man behind Prop 8away from the Republicans? It wasn't Sarah Palin. He talks to The Daily Beasts Kathleen Parker.
Multimillionaire Howard Ahmanson, one of the nations top evangelical Christian philanthropists and one of three funders of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage, recently joined the Democratic Party. Although Ahmansons support for Prop 8 earned him critics on the left, his many philanthropic interests funded through his Fieldstead Institute are most often nonpartisan and nonpolitical, from AIDS prevention to public transportation. In an exclusive interview with columnist Kathleen Parker, he explains why he switched political affiliations and what he thinks of President Obama, and he speaks frankly about gays.
"I dont think [I have any gay friends], but I would stand with them on my opinions. And I would be willing to tell them what I think they should do."
You are what most people would characterize as a far right Christian. What prompted you to join the enemy camp?
Ive been part of the religious right and I dont go to great lengths to hide that. I realize that a lot of people who feel as I do are in the socially conservative camp, as I am, but the Democratic Party in a place like California is so large and diverse that there are people of just about every opinion. The crusade for good things is, in the end, bipartisan.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
This guy is an heir to the H. F. Ahmanson Company, parent company of Home Savings which at one time was the largest savings and loan in California. The bank had 48 billion dollars in assets at one time.
In 1998, Washington Mutual purchased Home Savings for 10 billion dollars.
You’re correct.....this guy was born in to wealth, and a great deal of wealth at that.
Agreed ... I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt and blame senility or dementia ... but even so -- if the man is a Christian he's not going to join satan's party. He just couldn't. Homosexual marriages, abortion on demand (and funding abortions throughout the world), pornography, focus on race and class divisions ... No, I don't think so.
Democrats get to go to the front of the line for stimulus grants.
Just my guess.
All I can say is “huh?” This guy doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t clearly lay out why he switched parties, other than a mild distaste of some of the things that some Republicans did and a dislike of being seen as an independent coward (FWIW, I left the GOP in 2004 and have considered my self an independent ever since).
This is like half an interview. It’s as if he’s discussing why he switched to sleeping on the other side of the bed or something. And even after switching he endorses a Republican for President!
Is he just a provocateur or self-promoter or what?
The Critic, right? I love that line! “And nothing of value was lost!”
He's not white. Don't ever underestimate liberal, white guilt.
There are many who see Christianity as a catalyst for theocracy and using the coercive power of the state to make them adhere to Christian virtues. I think many “social conservatives” make the same statist mistake that many “fiscal liberals” make, only in different areas. That is, they want to use the coercive power of the state to achieve some end that they see as being Christian (ending drug abuse, homosexuality, poverty, greed, etc.). They are really one and the same philosophically, they just differ about how to apply this power.
Government exists to keep peoples’ rights protected, to keep people from interfering with each other’s rights. I’m a Christian but I don’t think the government ought to be involved with marriage—period. I don’t think the government should (or can) stop people from doing whatever they want behind closed doors where they aren’t hurting anyone. If somebody wants to buy porn, as long as it’s not being flaunted in public then I don’t want my tax-dollars spent on the fools errand of trying to stamp it out.
By the same token, it is up to us as individuals to help the poor, the sick, and the down-trodden. Not the government, using money that it coerced from the public. The Bible says that people ought to give freely and NOT BE COERCED, so socialism directly contradicts the Bible.
“away from the Republicans? It wasn’t Sarah Palin”
They just HAD to add Sarah in somehow. I can’t stand it how they have to use every opportunity to flame Sarah. They REALLY don’t want her running in 2012, do they?
Well, they’d better get used to it, because Sarah’s not going anywhere, she’s running in 2012 and she’s gonna WIN!!!!
Awww.... so true. I like Jindal, from what I’ve seen of him so far, but I’m noticing more and more liberals saying they like him, too. I kept thinking “don’t they know he’s conservative”?
But you’re right. If a liberal has to begrudgingly choose a Republican to “like”, it would make sense they would overlook the white male (and female) and go for the minority to show how open-minded they are.
He lives in Orange County, California. He has been married to journalist Roberta Green Ahmanson since 1986. He is somewhat reclusive and has Tourette syndrome;[1] his wife usually communicates with the media and others on his behalf.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,_Jr.
WHY I REGISTERED DEMOCRAT
By Howard Ahmanson
http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2009/03/howard-ahmanson-democrat-shock.html
Whatever he’s registered as, I hope he still funds the next prop 8 battle.
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