Posted on 08/18/2005 7:34:07 AM PDT by against_kerry
The Democrats turn their lonely eyes to Hillary: Give us a message. Lead us home.
Even for the Wonder Woman of the Party of JFK, this is no easy task. How to decry the excesses of the Bush administration and the GOP Congress without validating the label "The Party of No"?
How to lure enough GOP votes to win elections at a time when Democrat means liberal and liberal is a term of derision?
A Web site set up by a minister and his daughter (www.liveliberal.com) has an answer you can wear on a T-shirt: "Liberal is not a dirty word."
Retired Lutheran minister Daniel Bruch of Live Liberal gets right to the point: "I don't know if Jesus was the first liberal, but he was an important one."
Jesus taught love, tolerance, forgiveness, charity and humility. Don't take my word for it. Read the New Testament. It's not that long. And it's not about fire-and-brimstone fundamentalism, judging one another or dominating the Earth. It outlines a philosophy based on a really radical idea: Love your creator, love yourself, love your neighbor as yourself.
When it comes to following this lesson, the current administration "is walking 180 degrees opposite of the person they call their savior," Bruch said in a phone interview.
On their Web site, Bruch and daughter Sarah offer quotes and essays on liberalism that Hillary Rodham Clinton should work into her speeches. For example, "liberals support changes that increase personal freedom and tolerance, and exercise the liberty to empower government to the extent necessary to achieve those ends."
Instead of trying to make their best candidate, Clinton, into a vanilla-flavored, inoffensive centrist, Democrats ought to boldly point out that liberals provided the impetus to move society toward acceptance of civil rights, women's rights, children's rights, consumers' rights, etc.
Liberals also deserve "family values" mantle because the 40-hour workweek, laws against child labor and other protections for workingmen and women were liberal ideas of old. High-quality childcare is a liberal idea for today's working families.
They should be "for" better wages.
They should be "for" national health care.
They should be "for" being liberals. They should point out that Jesus was a liberal, too.
Somehow, Democrats let others define them as elitist snobs. That label, not the liberal label, is the one Democrats have to shake.
Can Hillary help them do it?
She has the charisma and the intelligence -- and she has infinite patience, or Bill would be toast. She needs the guts to take a proud left turn and loudly proclaim that the United States is not a "Christian nation" in any pinched or exclusionary way. It's a nation that honors the individual rights of pagans, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and others, as well as Christians.
It is also nation that acts for the common good in ways that were meticulously outlined by a radical liberal named Jesus. Linda Valdez is an editorial writer at The Arizona Republic. She can be reached at linda.valdez@arizonarepublic.com
Yeshua is a Zionist. Bible says so quite plainly.
Hillary is not of the party of JFK. No way, no how.
My favorite on this topic is by Selwyn Duke and is entitled "Was Jesus a Liberal?"
http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article2925.html
God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat.
God is an elderly or, at any rate, middle-aged male, a stern fellow, patriarchal rather than paternal and a great believer in rules and regulations. He holds men strictly accountable for their actions. He has little apparent concern for the material well-being of the disadvantaged. He is politically connected, socially powerful and holds the mortgage on literally everything in the world. God is difficult. God is unsentimental. It is very hard to get into God's heavenly country club.
Santa Claus is another matter. He's cute. He's nonthreatening. He's always cheerful. And he loves animals. He may know who's been naughty and who's been nice, but he never does anything about it. He gives everyone everything they want without thought of a quid pro quo. He works hard for charities, and he's famously generous to the poor.
Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one: There is no such thing as Santa Claus.
Pj O'Rourke
Parliament of Whores
Good job. Thanks for the ping.
Superb. Well done.
Votes.
Yeah......right.
Give me enough time and I'll find you some so-called "pastor" who will claim Allah is Jesus.
Jesus didn't spend near enough time advocating legalized marijuana to be considered a libertarian.
Ya think? LOL
Jesus will send homosexuals and abortionist to hell regardless of what democrats think.
Doink! Well there's a poke in the eye!! Should leave a mark, huh? Nice job.
And would he vote for the party that has no problem with online pornography that is accessible to children? Please.
If he had been a liberal, it would have been, "Render unto Caesar your neighbor's stuff".
The cat thinks Jesus would drive a Hummer, run Linux on his PC, and play bass in a heavy metal band, say, Jusdas Priest!
Okay, so let's apply that principle in other areas - like
giving to the poor,- wait, what's that shrieking sound???or taking care of the environment,
or educating my children
Precisely.
The problem with Republicans is that they believe they can use government, especially the federal government, to bring the right answer to the forefront in the minds of all. And contrary to their inept belief they can't. In Christ's 33 years on this earth, I can't seem to remember Him recommending to His disciples to use the state to bring about anything for His kingdom. As a matter of fact, the disciples tended to be in direct opposition to the state. Because the state will always water down, change, or outright oppose the Word. Christ was not, is not, and will not be a Republican, Democrat, or Libertarian. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Republicans have strong stances on certain issues that are just as unbiblical as abortion. Just as Libertarians do.
There are views of all the parties that one could say Christ agreed with. There are views of all the parties that one could point to Christ wouldn't have agreed with.
>> Christ did not 'force' anything on anyone.
How would you characterize Jesus driving the moneychangers out of the temple with a scourge of cords?
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