Posted on 08/19/2004 6:36:22 AM PDT by boris
Group says Jesus Christ would vote Democrat
By Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas -- Just a few miles from George W. Bush's former office at the state Capitol, a panel of religious experts weighed a question with relevance to many people of faith: How would Jesus vote?
It's a complex topic that can't be boiled down to simple political terms, said religious leaders who attended a Texas Faith Network conference in Austin on Tuesday.
James C. Moore, renowned anti-Bush co-author of "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George Bush Presidential," drew laughter and applause when he offered his view to the moderate to liberal crowd of about 250 clergy and lay leaders.
"If ever there were a bleeding-heart liberal, it was Jesus Christ," Moore said at Congregation Agudas Achim synagogue. "I think the carpenter from Galilee was the original Democrat."
Many at the conference voiced concerns that the religious right dominates discussions of faith and morality in politics. They complained that issues such as abortion and gay marriage seem to take priority over hunger, corporate crime and even the war in Iraq.
Some research has found that white Christians who attend worship services at least once a week are far more likely to vote Republican, while less frequent worshippers and those who are not religious tend to lean Democratic. Many analysts have criticized Democrats for failing to more effectively reach religious voters.
"The sound bites and the headlines have co-opted people of faith," said the Rev. Tom Heger, pastor of St. John's Presbyterian Church in Manchaca, south of Austin. "It would be a surprise to a lot of folks to discover that there are some very faithful, regular church attendees who aren't going to vote for Bush."
Conservative pastors such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "would have us believe that morality is all about where you stand on abortion, how you treat homosexuals. I think that is simply wrong," said John D. Moyers, senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for American Progress.
JMO - but I think Jesus wouldn't vote. His efforts were directed towards a higher authority.
I'm no theologian, but somehow I just can't see Jesus Christ applauding and openly promoting the plunging of scissors into a partially born baby's skull.
I'm sure Jesus would think it was okay for women to kill their unborn children as casually as they cut their hair. (sarcasm)
""If ever there were a bleeding-heart liberal, it was Jesus Christ," Moore said at Congregation Agudas Achim synagogue. "I think the carpenter from Galilee was the original Democrat.""
This must be those that Christ speaks of that come in his name, and HE tells them to get away from HIM that HE never knew them.
Where Jesus comes from they don't have voting booths.
It has to be true. John Edwards has channeled the information.
Jesus did try to vote once, but he mistakenly voted for Pat Buchanan.
Actually, I think Jesus would probably denounce both parties as being corrupt, just as he did with both main political groups in his day...
Oh, I dunno... I'm not much of a theologian, but from what I've gathered Jesus might have loved and forgiven the party of sodomites, religion-haters and babykillers, but I doubt he would've wanted to be one of them...
What a messiah they make him out to be for the liberal causes.
Too bad they're wrong...again..like every time they make an assumption.
I think it is dangerous to attach labels to Christ. I do not know many Christians not voting for Bush. But the Christian Democrats that I know are opposed to gay marriage and abortion.
Seems like a pretty good example of the liberal media publishing Democratic Party propaganda, to me.
If ever there was an independent voter who would vote for principle or character over party, it would have been Jesus. He might have registered with a party so he could vote in primaries, but he would not have ever pulled the party lever.
They complained that issues such as abortion and gay marriage seem to take priority over hunger, corporate crime and even the war in Iraq.
Well, DUH, there's been no effort to get the courts to force a particular religious view on hunger, corporate crime, or the War on Iraq down the throats of the American People, as there have with both abortion and gay marriage.
It's not that religious people don't care about hunger, corporate crime, or the War in Iraq, it's that those issues are being handled legislatively the way they should.
For what it's worth, conservative Christian groups are at the forefront of fighting hunger. Seems they believe you should feed the hungry yourself rather than using the Federal Government to extort money from your fellow citizens for the same purpose.
I don't think there is any controversy regarding Corporate Crime. Both liberals and conservatives know that the Clinton Administration should have been more aggressive in watching Securities matters, don't they?
Shalom.
I guess I missed the sermon about the government redistribution of wealth and progressive taxation.
I've also seen people at gay pride with shirts that say "God is gay".
That's just wrong...
Yeah, I am sure Jesus is against the display of the 10 Commandments, children praying, and nativity scenes being displayed in public.
They also must think that Jesus would have been pro abortion. Or that he would have supported gay and lesbian marriage even though it is in direct conflict with their teaching.
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