Democrats Find Controlling Religious Progressives Isn’t So Easy

The Wall Street Journal ^ | July 29, 2008 | Steven Waldman

[Alex Murphy]

The Democratic Party for years has yearned for an energetic religious wing. Seeing the power that the religious right brought the Republicans, Democratic leaders realized that if they wanted to build a majority they would need to attract people of faith.

Party leaders wanted a religious left and they're beginning to get one – new grassroots organizations, vocal spokesmen, and a candidate conversant in the language of faith.

They’re also getting a bit of a surprise: religious Democrats aren’t so easy to control:

*The Democratic Party created a Faith in Action unit to help organize religious Democrats. According to the New York Times Magazine, the Alabama Democratic Party used Faith in Action funds to print a voters guide that pledged to “require public schools to offer Bible literacy as part of their curriculum” as well as pass a constitutional amendment banning abortion, and defeat efforts to provide marriage benefits to gay couples. All these positions run counter to the national party’s approach.

*When Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo and other progressive evangelicals pressed Barack Obama to endorse an abortion-reduction initiative, pro-choice activists were furious. Two leaders declared this approach to be “condescending and sexist.”

*Among the first posts in the new progressive religious blog at Beliefnet (where I work by day) was one from former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn advocating that Democrats advocate “tuition tax credits for non-public school parents.”

Another post, from liberal Catholic writer David Gibson, proposed that progressive religious leaders push much harder for gun control, especially in the aftermath of the shootings at the Unitarian church in Knoxville. “Most faith groups have statements endorsing some form of gun control, but insiders will tell you that ...

[Flycatcher]

There's faith in God. There's faith in Big Government.

And never the twain shall meet.

[max americana]

Either worship God or Mother Gaia. It’s that simple.

[quintr]

How in the world do they expect to start a religious “wing” when they don’t honor the sanctity of life. Maybe they’d have a better chance if they took the right to abortion on demand out of their party planks and come back to the Word of God

[SwankyC]

Democratic leaders realized that if they wanted to build a majority they would need to attract people of faith.

I believe these are the people that proudly claim the tripe, "I'm spiritual, not religious"