WP: Helping Democrats Bridge the "God Gap"

[DeepModem Mom]

Helping Democrats Bridge the 'God Gap'
Influential Dozen Show Political Leaders How to Connect With Religious Communities
By Daniel Burke
Religion News Service
Saturday, October 21, 2006; Page B09

...."How long is it going to take before the Samaritan says, 'Hey, maybe we ought to patrol this road,' " (Rep. David E. Price, D., NC) said. In other words, the lawmaker argued, there are some problems that individuals can't solve on their own. They require the resources of a morally responsible government.

As Democrats seek to reframe America's debate over moral values and close their "God gap" with religious communities, conversations such as these are blowing like a mighty wind through party circles.

Gone are the days when "faith outreach" meant visiting African-American churches two weeks before an election, party leaders say. Instead, Democrats are seeking -- and getting -- regular meetings with megachurch pastors T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen and Rick Warren.

Rather than cede red states to Republicans, the party is buying airtime on Christian radio stations, with the message that Democrats are indeed a party with deep moral convictions.

No longer leaning on 1960s-era preachers to guide progressive politics, Democrats are now also turning to young voices such as strategist Mara Vanderslice, 31, and writer Amy Sullivan, 33, who offer new perspectives and fresh ideas....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102001407.html

[some guy]

1. I wish them success

it's easy enough to convince left-leaning Christians, but will take a considerable effort to get the fear-the-fire-and-brimstone-of-hell type Christians to open their minds enough to even begin to think about Christianity in terms of a new covenant, and the words and actions attributed to Jesus being the "new model" for how to live and love God.

I'm not a Christian, but I do favor any sort of problem resolution that gets people to talking and thinking, rather than just attacking each other. It's hard to hear someone else when you're trying to yell over the top of their words.

[eridani]

2. What about the ethics gap?

Why can't we get on the same page ethically, without reference to faith or any specific tradition (or lack thereof)?

Consider the statement "It's just plain wrong to wage pre-emptive war against people who have never attacked you" This a statement of ethics. This particular ethical position might well be rooted in some traditional faith, or perhaps no faith at all. Maybe you feel that way because Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers" and to turn the other cheek, or because ancient Jewish prophets advised beating swords into plowshares and modern Jewish tradition directs you to engage in repair of the world, or because the Q'ran says that God does not like those who commit aggression, or because the Wiccan Rede advises you that whatever you do will come back upon you three times, or because the Buddha told you to be compassionate, or because Confucius said that the superior man should exhaust all other means of solving disputes before resorting to war. Or maybe you're just a hardcore anti-faith materialist who thinks that mass murder is a really crappy way to spend so much of the limited time of your one and only trip through life.

Who gives a flying fuck one way or another? The point is being on the same page ethically, not the various ways that we got there.

[greenman3610]

3. the biggest gap is the idiot press

who think because some cracker freak preacher talks
a big game about God, he's some kind of spiritual
big shot.
So they put this deviant on TV as a "Religious" person, and then
they go out and find an atheist to represent mainstream
democrats or liberals, and that's their version of reality.
And of course, it's a viciously distorted, retarded and
grotesque rape of journalism.

[talk hard]

4. god schmod

shouldn't have to talke about it