Posted on 10/26/2005 6:29:55 PM PDT by jern
Danforth Criticizes Christian Sway in GOP Oct 26 8:51 PM US/Eastern Email this story
By DANIEL CONNOLLY Associated Press Writer
LITTLE ROCK
The influence of evangelical Christians in the Republican Party hurts the organization and divides the country, former U.S. Sen. John Danforth said during a visit to the Bill Clinton School of Public Service on Wednesday.
Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and an Episcopal priest, met with students during a seminar and held a luncheon talk at the graduate school.
"I think that the Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives, by the Christian right," he said in an interview after his talks. "I don't think that this is a permanent condition but I think this has happened, and that it's divisive for the country."
He also said the evangelical Christian influence would be bad for the party in the long run.
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracy Schmitt declined comment.
Danforth, who recently served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made similar criticism of the party in an opinion article published by the New York Times in June. In that article, he called for religious moderates to take part in public life.
People of faith have an obligation to be in politics, he said.
"I think the question arises when a political party becomes identified with one particular sectarian position and when religious people believe that they have the one answer, that they understand God's truth and they embody it politically," he said.
"Nothing is more dangerous than religion in politics and government when it becomes divisive," he said. "I'll give you examples: Iraq. Northern Ireland. Palestine."
Danforth, considered a conservative on social issues, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and served three terms. In his final term he played a key role in defending Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas against claims of sexual harassment during bitter confirmation hearings. Thomas eventually was confirmed.
Under Democratic President Bill Clinton, Danforth was appointed special counsel in an investigation of the deadly 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas.
The current President Bush appointed Danforth as special peace envoy to Sudan and later as ambassador to the United Nations.
Danforth was sworn in as ambassador in July 2004 and resigned in January. Wednesday, Danforth cited his age _ now 69 _ and his desire to move back to his St. Louis home as his reasons for leaving.
He most recently has worked for the Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis. Former U.S. Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark. and dean of the Clinton School for Public Service, invited him to visit the school.
The school, housed in a remodeled red brick train station on the grounds of the Clinton presidential library, opened in August and currently has 16 students enrolled in its two-year master's degree program. It is a branch of the University of Arkansas.
"I thought that the students were bright and highly motivated and it was encouraging to have the opportunity to spend some time with them," Danforth said. "I thought the physical facilities were wonderful."
The school plays an important role, he said.
"I think it's important to encourage and inspire people who have an interest in public service and to equip them for public service," he said. "But in my view more important than any particular curriculum item is to be encouraged and strengthened as somebody who wants to participate in public service."
This should be an interesting thread.
So much for a big tent, huh? Maybe it's time for E. Christians to have their own party.
So much for a big tent, huh? Maybe it's time for E. Christians to have their own party.
Yeah, the nerve of those evangelicals, they belong in the back of our bus.
yea the christian segment of the republican party is a very big tent </sarcasm>
This is a joke,isn't it!
Danforth isn't a Christian anyway. What would he know about it.
Its looking that way doesnt it?From every direction E. Christians are getting hit. How does the Christian Republican Union sound for a party name?
No. Seriously, why would someone want to be part of a party that doesn't want them.
Really? Try and win the next election without them. Good luck. Hello President Hillary.
Wants us to embrace gay marriage, abortion for minors without parental notification, etc.
I agree completely. And Danforth is an ordained minister! Bravo!
In my opinion, the hard-core religious right is an embarassment to the conservative movement.
Their job is to sit still, keep their mouths shut, and pay! All the others win the elections.
To me this just goes to show you that we need term limits and GOP voters should vote out every Senator after one term. They just all go native.
Anything with the word union in it, makes me cringe:')
Okay, we'll leave.
Have fun.
WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- A new study by the Cato Institute says that the final official government report on the 1993 Branch Davidian disaster in Waco, Tex.-- which exonerated federal officials from wrongdoing-- is "not supported by the factual evidence."
In "No Confidence: An Unofficial Account of the Waco Incident," criminal justice scholar Timothy Lynch, director of the libertarian Cato's Project on Criminal Justice, analyzes the legal implications of certain undisputed events and concludes that the official investigation into the incident -- led by special prosecutor former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri -- was "soft and incomplete." According to Lynch, many obvious crimes have gone unprosecuted.
Danforth obviously has carried his theological opposition into the political arena.
Note that it was not the conservative Christian republicans who did this.
That said, it's still America and he can work to displace the Christian Conservatives. Then that 2 million Episcopal voting bloc, most of it radical liberal, will do exactly WHAT for the republican party?
If all of the mainline Protestants joined forces today, they would barely equal the size of only the Southern Baptist Church. How many more conservative Christian denominations are there in addition to the SBC?
Also, the Catholic Church has its shared of traditional, pro-family, pro-morality, pro-life conservative Christians.
Go ahead. Trade us for the Episcopals.
LOL now what you said is a embarrasment to any movement.
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