It wasn't all that long ago (the 1970s) that most conservative Christians shied away from politics as being too "worldly." Reagan brought them in. But after 25 years of lipservice from the Republican Party with little to show for their support, Christians may pull back into their shell and forego future political activism. I don't think the defining issue for conservative Christians is Terri Schiavo's situation. Terri's case only highlights the need to reign-in an Imperial Judiciary. The defining issue may be whether the Republicans, with a 55 seat majority in the Senate, decides to crush the Democrats' obstruction on Bush' judicial nominations. If the GOP decides the "civil" thing to do is to fold in the face of the Democrats' unconstitutional filibuster, Christians may walk.
"I don't think the defining issue for conservative Christians is Terri Schiavo's situation. Terri's case only highlights the need to reign-in an Imperial Judiciary. The defining issue may be whether the Republicans, with a 55 seat majority in the Senate, decides to crush the Democrats' obstruction on Bush' judicial nominations. If the GOP decides the "civil" thing to do is to fold in the face of the Democrats' unconstitutional filibuster, Christians may walk."
I agree with your post.
I also agree that it's not the Schiavo Case per se, but the Nuclear Option, that is the real problem.
That said, the Schiavo case has been independently devastating to Christians for the following reasons:
At the state judicial level, Judge Greer is a Republican.
At the federal judicial level, as many Republicans as Democrats have reviewed the case. Republican judges have been as prone as Democrats to kill this woman. This is deeply troubling to Christians. Will changing the composition of the Judiciary even matter, if Republicans who get there won't be pro-life.
At the state legislature level, it was key Republicans in the State Senate whose refusal caused the last vote on Terri's life to fail. The DEMOCRATS did not prevent the legislature from acting at the State level. The Republicans did.
At the national legislature level, Congress passed its law and issued subpoenas, but then made no move to enforce them when defied by a state judge.
Also, most crucially of all, key Republican Senators last week, at the height of the Schiavo case, started backing off the nuclear option. McCain is reported to have waffled.
At the Executive level, two Bush boys made it clear they understood the moral importance of the case...and then having stated it with such clarity, played Pontius Pilate.
That all of this happened during Easter Week dramatically highlighted the religious overtones of the whole thing, and kept Christians more focused than ever. (Likewise, that the Pope is also on a feeding tube brings in even more external events that bear).
The Schiavo case itself didn't do it.
But the simultaneous failure of Republicans in 6 separate branches of government, during Holy Week, on an issue of passionate Christian interest, coupled with waffling on the nuclear option, created the political "Perfect Storm".
Come over to Free Republic, and it becomes very clear that economic conservatives really have no intention of EVER giving the Christian Conservatives what they want on abortion or even judges (the two really amount to the same thing). They want Christian votes, but they do not want to actually have to cast the powerful and controversial votes to advance the Christian pro-life agenda.
Because of the Schiavo "Perfect Storm", lots of Christians are calling on the Republicans to fulfill their promises and do what they have said they would do. And the non-Christian pro-life Republicans' response here has been "STFU you babies". Nationally, it has been not just letting Terri die (and denying possession of the manifest power to save her), but giving the Christians the finger on the Nuclear Option.
The only way Republicans can recover from this is to pass the Nuclear Option. And if Terri dies, the Bush brothers are NEVER going to regain the esteem with which they were once held by millions of committed Christian "sacred lifers".
The economic right does not see the wheels coming off the train here. Or maybe they do, but truly despise pro-lifers so much that they NEVER intended to allow the pro-life agenda to really advanced, and are angry that this case was allowed to become the "Perfect Storm" for them.
Whatever the sources of the angst, the bottom line is that the Christians have only been asking for ONE thing for 30 years: overturn Roe. They understand this has to be done via the courts. Which means they've been asking for the judges. The Democrats are filibustering the judges, which means the nuclear option. If the Republicans, with 55, won't pass it, they will have betrayed the Christian right, and the Christians are not going to listen to any excuses.
Then taxes will go up and the agenda of the economic right will collapse in a resurgent Democratic country, but the Christian right will be no further behind than we are now. We're already at zero. If Republicans with the power won't actually do anything to change that, they are not preferable to Democrats just because they say nicer things to Christians.
The calculation seems to be that the Christian Right are the Republicans' Blacks: roped dopes who will vote Republican no matter what. "Where else can they go?"
The answer is home.
And that doesn't hurt them worse: they're already defeated and heartbroken.
The people who REALLY get hurt, who actually LOSE something they've got, are the economic right.
In the end, to keep your tax cuts and deregulation, you have to allow the judges who will pare back abortion. That means the nuclear option.
Yes. What does it matter if we go to Hell (figuratively speaking) tomorrow or next year.