Posted on 07/04/2004 9:57:06 PM PDT by Gracey
If GOP is one party under Jesus, what's this Jew supposed to do?
By Dave Lieber
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Aside from not supporting Gov. Rick Perry's election bid, I can hardly remember the last time I did not vote for a Texas Republican.
I'm a fan of President George W. Bush, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, state Rep. Vicki Truitt and others.
But I have a dilemma with the Texas Republican Party, something that I can't reconcile.
On this precious Fourth of July, I will share it with you.
The Texas Republican Party met in San Antonio last month and approved a 2004 platform that included these words:
"The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States of America is a Christian nation."
My dilemma?
I am Jewish.
I am a Jewish Republican.
I am a Jewish Republican in Texas.
Where does this leave me?
My belief is that the United States is a religious nation under God. We are not necessarily a Christian nation but a nation that honors many religions.
It's troubling that those Republicans who wrote the platform forgot that this nation was founded on protecting the rights of minority religions. Many of our founders fled religious tyranny. America's Founding Fathers went out of their way to make sure that there was no established national religion.
So for guidance, I called our Republican officeholders and party officials.
I would like to thank several Republicans for their calming words. But before you read those, here are some that left me feeling excluded from my own nation, state and political party.
Tarrant County Republican Party Chairwoman Pat Carlson of Grapevine asked, "How else should we have referred to the nation? Should we have called ourselves the barbaric nation? What other terms should we have used?"
She added, "I think this is a Christian nation. People that attend church are probably predominantly Protestants or of the Christian belief. Again, I believe in the same New Testament you believe in."
I corrected her and explained that Jewish people believe in the Old Testament, not the New Testament.
Later she said, "You sound like a liberal that just wants to make an argument."
Heaven forbid.
State Rep. Bob Griggs, R-North Richland Hills, said he agrees with the platform. "Wouldn't you say the United States is a Christian nation?" he asked, sounding confused by my question.
Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Sandy Prindle of Keller said, "I don't have a quarrel in saying that the United States is a Christian nation, but a Christian nation can also be interpreted as a religious nation which encompasses all religions which encourage their members to do good for the community and get along with their fellow man."
Then why use the phrase Christian nation?
Now for the calming words.
Denton County Republican Party Chairwoman Dianne Edmondson of Denton said she prefers the language in another part of the platform that states: "Our nation was founded on fundamental Judeo-Christian principles based on the Holy Bible." She said, "If the wording is confusing, then I do apologize for that. It would have been better to word it just that way."
U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Highland Village, said, "I guess as a member of the party I apologize to you for offending you individually as a member of the Jewish faith, and perhaps they ought to look at their language a little more carefully in that instance."
Tarrant County Commissioner Glen Whitley of Hurst said he disagreed with the platform plank, adding: "The United States is a nation that believes in God, and I think its citizens believe in God in a lot of different ways."
State Rep. Truitt, R-Keller, said, "I am Christian and there's no doubt that it plays a significant role, but to say it is only a Christian nation is, I believe, inaccurate."
Finally, state Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, said, "The social reform sector of our party does overindulge themselves sometimes on different folks."
He added, "I am frustrated with a motive that we have to be an exclusive party of certain sorts. That's wrong. It never should be that way, and to alienate various religions is, to me, sinful."
On this Independence Day, I am grateful that many area Republicans are willing to take a stand independent from the dictates of our political party.
Dave Lieber's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. (817) 685-3830
dlieber@star-telegram.comwww.yankeecowboy.com
Personally, I was appalled upon hearing these words at our Texas State Convention, spoken by the Texas Republican party leadership. Is it any wonder that some call these folk, the "Taliban wing of the party?"
I'm not bothered. Jesus was a Jew. So its one party under God, I can square it with my own beliefs.
Shouldn't it have been addressed as a Judea-Christian nation?
Uhh, convert?
Israel has no better friend that President Bush. ..Sharon
But what does the Sharon (Israel) Bush relationship have to do with the RPT and the comment mentioned?
This is causing a problem. The country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles but is a secular state. If Turkey and Iraq and France and India can be secular states, so can we. Really, sometimes some Rs are so provincial.
Correct me if I'm wrong but right now I think I'm right.
You can't even mention Jesus to a Muslim in Saudi. Look at all the missionaries who have lost their lives from teaching the gospel. I thank God this is a Christian nation and our friend of the Jewish faith should be also.
If I went to Israel and started complaining because Israel was a Jewish Nation, how long would I be welcome to stay there. In a Muslim country I would probably be headless.
I totally understand where you're coming from, but i don't think that statement was necessarily was an exclusion of other religious denominations. Jews constitute 2% of the US population, and while they're great Americans and a great part of our country, why not also recognize all the other religious groups if we're going to recognize Judaism?
For now, i think it's important to emphasize US as a Christian Nation. <--period
Oh sure. That's what they all say.
Yes, you are wrong.
It is a free nation, where people are free to practice whetever religious beliefs they follow or to not practice any at all, as long as these beliefs do not include denying others the same priviledge.
By claiming this a Christian nation, you relegate all other beliefs to a guest status in your nation, which is simply not true.
Every American has the exact same right as any other American, so you may not claim the nation "yours" because you are a Christian, and American Jews have the exact same claim to the nation as you do.
Oy vey!
[...trying to figure out whether I'll get in trouble for posting the lyrics to Kinky Friedman's "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore"]
The last thing on earth America needs is a theocratic government, and perhaps the best thing people are learning from the war on radical Islam is the inherent evil within theocracies.
"Shouldn't it have been addressed as a Judea-Christian nation?"
I'll drink to that. That's the theme of a book written by a Catholic (Michael Novak) that's
effusively praised by conservative Jewish commentator Dennis Prager.
On Two Wings: Humble Faith and Common Sense
at the American Founding
by Michael Novak
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1893554686/qid=1089005141/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-5847907-8671045?v=glance&s=books
As for the resolution, it's a sad case of mis-direction by the Texan Republicans.
While even some secular historians have said that the real father of the USA was
John Calvin...to just say that the USA is a Christian nation excludes a whole
other substative source of morals and philosophy that undergirds this republic.
Mr. Lieber's concerns are valid, but he needs to understand where these overstatements come from: They come from people who feel despised, and are despised, by the cultural elite. People who have sustained injury after injury at the hands of Democrats, legislators in the guise of judges, and ACLU extremists. A bit of rhetorical excess is to be expected from those who urgently need to assert their self-respect.
Mr. Lieber should look beyond these minor excesses to the far greater excesses of the left. He will not find a perfect political party. He must choose one or the other.
And his other option would be the Democrats: 'One Party Under Satan'.
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