In the end, cultural disputes and widespread dismay over the country's moral state overshadowed the economic optimism that was expected to put Al Gore in the White House, allowing Bush to eke out a victory.
All this goes to confirm that, to borrow a title from an earlier First Things article, "It's the Culture, Stupid" (April 1994).
As political scientist Walter Dean Burnham has suggested, such complex party coalitions are best described by geological metaphors. Today the ancient ethnoreligious bedrock of vote choice has been eroded by rising tides of disengagement, while simultaneously being fractured by the upheavals of cultural politics. Indeed, the religious formations we saw in 2000 have been developing for some time and have now solidified. This fact has vital ramifications for governance. In the future Republicans will remain solicitous of traditionalists, and evangelical traditionalists in particular, while Democrats will privilege the concerns of religious minorities, secularists, and modernists. Regardless of well-meaning admonitions to both parties to "move to the center," ignoring such large core constituencies would be political suicide.
What is needed is "bridging" social capital: activity that reaches beyond the religious group itself to work with others on causes that involve "loving thy neighbor," but are not purely sectarian in nature. Traditionalist Protestants and Roman Catholics are remarkably generous in donating their time and energy to worthy causes: we find (as Putnam did) that they are much more engaged on the whole than religious liberals or secular people. But they are also more likely to volunteer in ways that bond them with one another, serving the needs of people within the community of faith, rather than connect to the needs of others beyond the fold. In this respect, the declining number of mainline Protestants is particularly disturbing, for this group
Republicans Confident Gay Rights Issue Will Hurt DeanRichard White (search), a Republican state senator from Mississippi, said any candidate talking about gay rights might as well not even visit his state.
"The people down here, they are not going to put up with that kind of stuff," White said. "We're not prepared for all that in Mississippi or anywhere else in the southern states."
Mary Cheney ducks out of GOP gay group
Mary Cheney ducks out of GOP gay group Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, has resigned from the board of the Republican Unity Coalition slightly more than one year after taking on the largely honorary post with the gay-straight political alliance.
Cheney, who once marketed beer to the gay and lesbian community as an employee of the Coors Brewing Co. of Golden, Colo., has been one of the few key gay rights supporters with close ties to the White House.
A source close to the Cheney family said Mary Cheney's resignation from RUC will allow her to pursue business interests in her home state of Colorado, where she lives with her partner, Heather Poe. But some gay activists suggest that there may be more behind the decision, since it comes on the heels of protests from the religious right regarding pro-gay comments by GOP chairman Marc Racicot. "Leaders of the extreme right are demanding that the GOP back away from any association with the gay community," said David Smith, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington, D.C., gay rights group. "The Right is calling into question what little outreach the party had to gay voters at the crossroads of an election season. While I can't speculate on the reasons for her decision, Mary Cheney's departure definitely comes at an interesting time."
But I have noticed that when it comes to the entire issue of homosexuality, increasing numbers of banner conservatives are going soft on truth that has been commonly understood for thousands of years. That truth is this: Homosexuality is behavior that is damaging to individuals, to families and to society.
Conservatives have been scared into believing that there really is something about homosexuality that is uncontrollable or inherent in genetic or biological make-up to cause these people to behave in this manner. On this point Horowitz is dead wrong – there is not a scintilla of proof that homosexuality is a genetic or biological trait. To believe otherwise diminishes Horowitz's credibility, at least on this issue.
So let's examine the statement that has been commonly understood for thousands of years.
It is damaging to individuals. It's true – from AIDS to suicide – look at the numbers. What single group of people is more affected than any others? Homosexual men. At the "International Mr. Leather" contest held in Chicago in 2002, a man died from the "activities" of the weekend. The sex was billed as blockbuster, but what difference does that make if you are found face up in a pool of your own blood after having been given large dosages of the date rape drug?
The "gay" lifestyle does nothing to promote healthy monogamous relationships. Why? Because there is little, if anything, healthy about nihilism, narcissism and compulsive sexual addiction. Yet the community where these traits are not only seen but also encouraged is again among individuals wrapped up in the "gay life."
SODOMY : Ex-Gay Lobbyists Visit Capitol Hill The shock of Ex-Gay Lobby Day was that out of 50 appointments on the Hill, nobody had ever heard of anyone changing from homosexuality," said Linda Wall, who most recently ran for state Senate in Virginia’s Tidewater area.
"As a former lesbian schoolteacher, I realized more than ever the importance of sharing my past life as a lesbian so others know that there is a choice. I also see how vital it is that we ex-gays be permitted a seat at the table of public policy making to assure the full disclosure of information pertaining to sexual orientation," Wall said.
SODOMY : Homosexual Agenda Unrelated to Civil Rights Movement, Conservative Blacks Insist
This is called projection, the transferral of unacceptable thoughts and feelings onto others.
It's quite common in this particular discourse.
Republicans should become gay-friendly so they can possibly keep 1% of their voter base, thereby driving away huge numbers of disgusted normal people looking for someone else who will not support the radical homosexual lobby and their perverse agenda?
I don't think so, ...at least, if the GOP is smart - and that's not a "given"!
You could readily see the percent of new AIDS infections as a result of male homosexual sex (MSM as they call it today), vs. intravenous drug users, vs heterosexual rates etc.
I tried to find that report earlier today but was unable to locate it. Can anyone help point me to it?
I'm asking this question as a result of seeing my 5th grade grandaughters homework assignment last night (she attends a public government school against my wishes), and out of 15 questions about the risk factors for getting AIDS, one discussed pre-marital sexual abstinence, 0 discussed male homosexual acts, and most of the other risks were attributed to intravenous drug use and needle sharing.
Remember, these are 5th graders. A kid could look at this list and think that AIDS is caused only by needle sharing. Male homosexual acts were not listed as a risk factor.
The CDC appears to be playing along with obscuring the single major factor that causes the most new AIDS infections. Probably as a result of pressure from militant homosexual extremist groups, along with the help of DimocRAT liberals and "moderate" RINO's.
Sheesh, I guess it is all about what you do with your genitals.
We can only hope.
Uh-huh. Whatever. One guy switched, and this "could signal an accelerated trend"--this sounds like the NYT reporting.
And both groups are throwing tantrums threatening to leave the party.
I think Bush has the right position.
And that is he welcomes the support of gays when it comes to conservative values we all share and can support...but he draws the line against the gay agenda when it comes to gay marriage, gays in the military etc.
My biggest problem isn't so much the gays who might leave the GOP over one person's stupid remarks..but that our opponents will be able to exploit this issue to smear the GOP once again as the party of intolerant bigots...which will cost the GOP more than just the votes of gays..but also the votes of non-gays who have family friends or loved ones who happen to be gay, or just don't want to live with intolerance and bigotry.
The truth is when people see how the intolerant right treats gays, many wonder if they will come after them next for adultery, or sex before marraige etc.
This could definitely cost the GOP more than just the gay vote.