Quote countering
WASHINGTON -- God does not side with the Republicans, Sen. John Kerry said in a fiery speech last week, accusing Republican leaders of politicizing religion to further their agenda.
This week, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy quoted Jesus from the Bible. It was a rebuttal, he said, of Republicans' claims that Democrats are "against people of faith."
Rep. John W. Olver, an Amherst Democrat, said he's considered buying an "anthology of good Biblical quotations" that he'd use to neutralize Republicans' religious references.
Some observers and lawmakers say the Democrats' use of religious language reflects an adjustment following their electoral losses last fall. President Bush, who ended a speech on Wednesday with "God bless you all," successfully mobilized the evangelical right in the November elections.
"I think there's certainly been a sense in the Democratic Party that they've allowed the Republican Party to be perceived as the religious party," said Alan Wolfe, director of the Center for Religion and American Life at Boston College. "And that's a mistake."
Although the parties generally attract different denominations, neither can be described as more or less religious, Wolfe said.
Still, to counter the perception, there's been talk among Democrats about emphasizing values, morals and religion, some lawmakers said.
"Most of us do not think we are godless people, and there are many people of good faith," Olver said in an interview. "It may be that we have not carried that on (our) sleeve."
Olver, who lists his religion as "unspecified," admitted that his internal catalogue of biblical references is thin. That led to the anthology idea.
"What I hear every once in a while is a Republican making a righteous statement and citing the quotation, and thinking there's a quotation that offers quite the opposite," he said.
Pretty funny someone saying they are not godless and then lists their religion as "unspecified" and has some nebulous belief that there must be some quotations somewhere in the Bible to counter with. Needing an anthology of scriptural quotations will really prove his case that religion is important. Important that is when you want to counter a political foe. But their needing help with scripture quotes is not surprising when their own party head's favorite New Testament book is Job. True that they may not wear their religion on their sleeve, but Congressman John W. Olver has had no problem wearing abortion support on his sleeve, pantleg or any other article of clothing. They are just looking for those value voters whose values include abortion, homosexuality, destruction of marriage, radical secularism.
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"What I hear every once in a while is a Republican making a righteous statement and citing the quotation, and thinking there's a quotation that offers quite the opposite."
That's the hallmark of an unserious mind. If you have bought into the idea that the Bible "contradicts itself," then you're for all practical purposes not a Christian. In which case, quit posing. "Unspecified" is right. Try "nonexistant."
Hi,
I wonder where the vice president, Dick Cheney, fits in with all of this, or the president, for that matter. Cheney couldn't come out against homosexual marriage, and the president denied Jesus in his press conference last week. Then there is Arnold "The Baby Terminator" in California. The republican party is on a VERY slippery slope. I like what Alan Keys says, he is a Catholic, and in the republican party by a thread.
This country was founded on "Protestant" Christian values, and they forgot the one word in the constitution that would have changed everything, Jesus.
John
God does not side with the Republicans,
No, but he does side with little innocent babies.
Sen. John Kerry said in a fiery speech last week, accusing Republican leaders of politicizing religion to further their agenda.
This from the man with "deep personal faith" who's faith "meant so much to him in the trenches of Vietnam" and who carried around his rosary on the campaign trail? What am I to make of this:
http://tinyurl.com/8zsm4
and this:
http://tinyurl.com/benxw
and this:
http://tinyurl.com/7pe2x
and all these:
http://tinyurl.com/docgf
So they will continue to act under the notion that all they have to do is say the right things and people will flock to the Democratic Party. Well, maybe the people who are easily led by pretty words will do so.
The Democrats are already using plenty of religious imagery in their political language.
Why, just last week, Al Gore said Republican attempts to end the filibuster on judicial nominees was "heresy", and Sen. Ken Salazar referred to Focus on the Family as "the Antichrist".
But somehow I don't think calling your opponents "heretics" and "the Antichrist" is going to get the results the Democrats are hoping for.
You may want to read more carefully, especially before impugning a man's spirituality or lack thereof.
Olver made no claims to the importance of religion. Nor did he make any claims about his own faith which, incidentally, is beside the point.
Olver doesn't need to believe in the literal accuracy of the Bible in order to use biblical quotations to challenge Republican positions. What matters is whether the Republicans in question believe in the Bible as revealed truth. To do so is no more opportunisitic than Republican cherry-picking biblical passages to support their legislative opinions.