Posted on 10/05/2007 4:24:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Conservative evangelical leaders have long openly expressed dismay over the prospect of being forced to choose between two pro-choice presidential candidates. But now, a coalition of evangelicals has gone as far as to threaten to pull their support for the Republican Party if such a candidate is selected for the last stretch of the White House race.
Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family who recently emerged from a controversy over a private email he sent criticizing Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson says he and others in the social conservative coalition will not support Rudy Giuliani or any pro-choice candidate that the Republican Party picks for its presidential nominee.
Polls dont measure right and wrong; voting according to the possibility of winning or losing can lead directly to the compromise of ones principles, Dobson wrote in an Op-Ed in The New York Times on Thursday.
In the present political climate, it could result in the abandonment of cherished beliefs that conservative Christians have promoted and defended for decades.
Dobson said a candidate should support the the sanctity of human life, the institution of marriage, and other inviolable pro-family principles.
Giuliani, on the other hand, supports abortion and gay rights.
Some Roman Catholic leaders have also opposed Giulianis stance on abortion. An archbishop from St. Louis this week said he would withhold communion from Giuliani, a Roman Catholic.
Giulianis personal life is also another red flag for some conservative Christians. The former New York mayor has been through three marriages, two divorces and is estranged from his two children.
Yet despite these moral obstacles, Giuliani is said to have reached out, with some positive response, to more than a dozen pastors of large evangelical churches and Christian leaders including Jonathan Falwell, the son of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson, according to the New York Times.
A recent Gallup Poll also found that the former New York City mayor had an overall favorable rating from churchgoing Protestants. Among the top tier Republican candidates, Giuliani rates third after Fred Thompson and John McCain among religious Protestants.
As the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, Giuliani has repeatedly stated he can beat Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton an appealing statement for those who see Clinton as a larger threat.
But to Dobson and others in the coalition, Winning the presidential election is vitally important, but not at the expense of what we hold most dear.
The coalition met Saturday in Salt Lake City after a larger meeting of the Council for National Policy an exclusive conservative networking group. The smaller group included Dobson, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and dozens of other politically concerned conservative Christians.
Bump to your post.
I can’t figure why Fred isn’t a good fit since he is for traditional marriage, a man and a woman. Also because the president does not do a constitutional amendment all by his lonesome. Seems like they ought to be jumping on the Congress more than anyone else. Dobson needs to be trying to get more good people in Congress instead of bashing presidential candidates. Seems like all this is a wasted effort for what he wants done.
At the risk of telling you something you already know, the rest of the country is a tad to right of NY. In fact, Republican Presidential candidates have been successful without winning NY for years.
Of course, I'm not suggesting you vote for a democrat.
“You probably wont have to. Rudy isnt a done deal.”
Thank God for that.
The liberal who promote increased abortion, or the liberal who'll simply tolerate what we have now.
Guiliani represents the old Rockefeller Republicans trying to take control of the party. Dobson is right to do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening. It would be better to endure four years of Hillary than letting that vile wing take over the party again.
Interesting analysis and I can’t say I disagree.
“The liberal who promote increased abortion, or the liberal who’ll simply tolerate what we have now.”
Which one is which? I get my liberals confused.
Do his "values" include losing the War on Terror, and sacrificing thousands of Americans (born and unborn) to Al Qaeda? If so, the boy needs a values adjustment.
That wasn’t my point at all. My point was Rudy vs. Hillary, not the venue.
I won’t be choosing between one pro-infanticide candidate and another.
I think Rudy would be good for national defense, but with Supreme Court Justice Stevens in his 87th year of life, a couple of justices in their early 70’s, and Rudy’s lean toward amnesty I really don’t want to vote for him.
Frankly, now I'm not sure what your point was, but I'm sick and tired of self-appointed "evangelical leaders" who think they own the GOP. The Democrats can act like the filthiest heathens who ever lived, and put the country's safety at risk to boot with not so much as an audible peep from the Dobsons of the world ("oh, they're Democrats, of course they're going to act that way"). Let one Republican suggest that pro-choice people should be included in the "big tent", and these paladins of pious palaver will be heading for the nearest MSNBC microphone to announce that they're bolting the GOP.
I believe that no real practicing Catholic will vote for Giuliani. Period. I have faith that real practicing other Christians will refrain as well.
And no Evangelical, worth the name "Evangelical" should do so either. Their vote on this one will tell whether they're really an Evangelical or not.
Regards,
Star Traveler
LLS
A country which would choose between Hillary and Rudy probably doesn't deserve much.
PISSANT GHOULIANI pretends to be a conservative.
You guys need to vote for me...
Platform:
Bomb the sh!t out of the Islamics.
Put abortion providers in jail (or under the jail).
Deport ALL illegals.
Mine our southern border.
Impeach about half of the Supreme Court.
Isolate gays and aids victims.
I’ll think of more...
Yoy seem to have no sense
I meant to say yoy!:’>
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