Democrats push for own religious voice

AP on Yahoo ^ | 9/4/06 | Jim Kuhnhenn - ap

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON - David Wilhelm once drew hisses when he suggested that Christians could be Republicans or Democrats.

Years later, Wilhelm is spreading that message again, and he's hoping for a better response this time.

With a leading poll showing only one in four Americans viewing the Democratic Party as friendly to religion, Wilhelm and a broad-based group of Christian Democratic activists are starting an Internet effort to organize religious voters whose views might be compatible with Democrats.

The site, http://www.FaithfulDemocrats.com, will go online Tuesday and showcase theologians, party strategists, political leaders and bloggers in hopes of conducting a national discussion on politics and faith.

"It struck me as strange that people whose political world is motivated by faith had to be Republican. Democrats need to be on the playing field," said Wilhelm, who recalls the unfriendly reception he received 13 years ago when, as chairman of the Democratic Party, he suggested to Christian Coalition members that good Christians could belong to either party.

He said the new Internet site will give religious Democrats "the moral support and some language they can use."

The nonprofit Web venture was conceived by Wilhelm and Chicago-based Democratic activist Jesse Lava. Tennessee state Sen. Roy Herron, a former minister, and Rev. Romal Tune, founder of the Washington D.C.-based Clergy Strategic Alliances, are co-chairmen.

By venturing into the unrestricted and freewheeling world of the Internet, however, FaithfulDemocrats are just as likely to find an full-throated blowback as an amen chorus.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., caused a furor in the liberal blogosphere this summer when he warned liberals and progressives in a speech that "we cannot abandon the field of religious discourse."

The Web site and its place as an alternative to Christian conservatism comes as churchgoing voters who consider themselves politically liberal have tried to link their religious values to causes such as social justice, opposition to the Iraq war and the environment.

Over the last 30 years, the GOP has found common ground among traditional pro-business, anti-tax Republicans, small government advocates and social conservatives. Democrats, on the other hand, have been influenced by a secular, liberal bloc that advocates separation of church and state. The party's disparate groups have had more trouble finding a single voice.

A poll by the Pew Research Center found that the proportion of Americans who considered the Republican Party friendly to religion dropped from 55 percent last year to 47 percent this year. But that is still significantly higher than the 26 percent who regard Democrats as friendly to religion.

An effort such as FaithfulDemocrats is an "example of the evolution of this debate," said John Green, an expert on religious voters and a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. "It could be very well be that things like this could turn that image around."

FaithfulDemocrats' debut on the Internet features articles such as "What's wrong with the Religious Right" and "Religious values, the higher ground."

[stm]

This one?

[cardinal4]

The media brainwashing continues..

[Sender]

Democrats: "We need to get in touch with this God thing. Get me a bio. Does He do campaign speeches? I want His agent in here tomorrow. Make it happen."

[A Citizen Reporter]

"said John Green, an expert on religious voters and a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life."

Gee how religious do you think this fellow is?

"Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., caused a furor in the liberal blogosphere this summer when he warned liberals and progressives in a speech that "we cannot abandon the field of religious discourse."

discourse......why mince words, Ohama. Why not just say it.....we must pander to the religious voters.

[MAD-AS-HELL]

The best person to head the Democratic Party's push for religious people would be Bill Maher. He really understands religious people very well.

[A CA Guy]

Democrats push for own religious voice

How far can they get with Hail Satan?

[Free Baptist]

I thought the Dems had their religious base in the civil rights-preaching churches and the modernist liberal churches (mainly in the north) that have largely abandoned Bible literalism and fundamentalism for psychology and Gnostic philosophy.

[freedomlover]

Democrats: "We need to get in touch with this God thing. Get me a bio. Does He do campaign speeches? I want His agent in here tomorrow. Make it happen."

---

You forgot:

"And make sure we get one of these God people in a disadvantaged minority if possible. Check each one out with focus groups first."

[Tax Government]

Sincerity is very important. If democrats can fake that, nothing will stop them.

[Nachum]

Ah and such a faithfull DemocRAT they are.

[lesser_satan]

Perhaps Ahmedinejad could do the job for them. He's already the de-facto leader of a crackpot group of death-worshipping fringe millenialist crackpots.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

How about the Reverend (Adulterer) Jessie Jackson. He is the perfect example of a religious democrat - cheat on your wife, getting some young thing pregnant, extort money from companies using lies about discrimination and illegally use churches as political tools.

[jrooney]

The donks and the MSM must be trying to ignore Pew's Annual Poll on Religion and Politics because it contains very bad news for them:

The Pew Research Center's annual poll on religion and politics , released last week, shows that while 85 percent of voters say religion is important to them, only 26 percent of Americans think the Democratic Party is "friendly" to religion. That's down from 40 percent in the summer of 2004 and 42 percent the year before that—in other words, a 16-point plunge over three years. The decline is especially troubling because it cuts across the political and religious spectra, encompassing liberals and conservatives, white and black evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Jews.

From - http://www.slate.com/id/2148547/

[KC_Conspirator]

What a joke! Not this crap again. They have been trying this charade for years now. The democrat party is openly hostile to Christianity and Judaism. In fact, I believe the DLC person who was to head the courting of of religious people back in the democrat party was no other than Joe Lieberman. Furthermore, it always seems that these people they find to speak for democrats advocate real liberal religion where there is tolerance for any deviant behavior.

[Rome2000]

Devil worship is a religion they can wrap themselves around pretty easily.

[RichInOC]

Democrats push for own religious voice

[cue Mercedes McCambridge in The Exorcist]

[Aetius]

Talk is cheap. In the end, Democrats are still the party of judical assaults on the Judeo-Christian heritage of the nation and its people. They are the party of judically-imposed abortion on demand, and gay marriage/civil unions. They are the party of banning prayer before a highschool football game, removing the word 'Christmas' from shool calendars, and banning nativity scenes outside City Hall in small-town USA.

So long as the Dems favor judicial activism and the absurd 'living Constitution' doctrine, then all of thier talk is meaningless and empty. In fact, its actually deception.

[Godwin1]

This can't work. Americans know that the democrats' auxilliaries and allies--the ACLU--will search out the most distant schoolhouse in rural Texas or Alabama to insure that the word "God" does not pass the students' lips. And Americans remember the sneering tones of the bigots Schumer and Feingold, suggesting Supreme Court candidates who were practicing Catholics would be vetoed by the democrats. A party totally owned by the abortion industry cannot hope to attract religious people. A party dependent on the money of the foreign anti-Christian bigot Soros cannot attract religious people. A party in bed with the morally and culturally decadent Hollywood Left cannot attract religious people.

[garjog]

"DemocRAT they are."

Maybe the Dems should consider the Hindu tradition. They worship rats:

"Well fed rats (called kabas) reside here and receive homage. The high priests have gone to great length to protect the rats whose bodies are believed to house the souls of Karni Mata's departed devotees."
http://judypat.com/india/karnimata.htm