Reply #22: I really don't see the two as incompatible

[mdhunter]

I don't think the strategy would be for the Democratic Party to become openly religious but rather for an openly religious progressive movement to back the Democratic Party.

That's a big difference in my mind, and it only requires the Party to accept the support the religious groups, like they do now anyway.

There is great merit to a progressive religious force within the party. There is a post toward the bottom of this thread titled "joking" that, unfortunately, echoes the feelings of many that religion and liberalism are incompatible. It is only in practice that it seems so in the U.S. In Central and South America the Church has been the most progressive force in all the land. Naturally, they claim it is God's work that they're doing - but who really cares? If we secular atheists want to call it a human rights issue rather than a moral religious issue, that's for us to decide. But, that doesn't mean that the religious people aren't getting things done, or that liberalism, progress, human dignity and religion are somehow mutually exclusive.

I don't believe in God, I think organized religion has done more harm than good in the world, and I think religious dogmatism is the enemy of science, progress, and freedom. But, not all religious groups are dogmatic, not all make whether or not you're gay a central issue in their lives, and not all want to turn a blind eye towards suffering. And those we should welcome, whether or not we believe. If not only because we share common goals, then for the need for something in common with religious people in the center, who want to feel like their faith can have positive expression on the left. And, I think it can without hurting us.