Asherman
You dead wrong on what I'm saying. I'm pointing out something that has been obvious for a long time; the religious right have an inordinate amount of influence in the Republican Party.
I am also pointing out that there are a large number of Americans who believe in that horse pucky religion that the Left Behind series of books allude to. This is evident by the number of books sold. The seventh book in the series sold 1.4 million copies before it was released.
You noticed that I said, "Here's what a lot of them fantasize about", not the majority or all of the religious right that support the president.
Quote:Next Xingu gives us an article voicing extreme views, implying that it is believed by 57% of the "practicing Christians" of America.
I'm implying? You mean I'm implying in the same manner Bush implied that Saddam Hussein had close ties with Al Qaeda by mentioning the words "terrorist", "Al Qaeda" or "Osama bin Laden" whenever he spoke Saddams name? You mean I'm implying in the same way you imply the Democrat Party is controlled by socialist and communist?
Quote:LeHay has next to zero impact on public policy in the United States, though there probably are a few Congressmen who think he's cool ... after all there are a lot of them representing virtually all aspects of American political and religious belief.
LeHay himself may have zero impact but the religious right does have impact with the Republican Party. Note the recent FMA that was recently defeated in Congress. Isn't it funny that when ever the conservatives purpose a Constitutional amendment its usually to take away someone's rights?
Quote:Evangelical Christians have been a powerful force in American politics at many points in the nation's history. They played a key role in the rise of the abolitionist movement, in the triumph of the progressive movement, and more recently in the rise of the religious right in the 1970s and 1980s. Despite considerable ambivalence about engaging in politics, many American evangelicals have come to believe that participation in politics is necessary to defend their values and promote their vision of society. Their growing solidarity on behalf of the Republican Party has been critical to the party's electoral successes of the past decade.
Indeed, in many respects, white evangelicals have become the bedrock of the GOP. In the 2004 election, they were the largest single demographic group among Bush voters, constituting fully 35% of his total. By comparison, African Americans - the most loyal of Democratic constituencies - constituted only about one-fifth (21%) of Kerry's voters.
The rising political clout of evangelical Christians is not the result of growth in their numbers but rather of their increasing cohesiveness as a key element of the Republican Party. The proportion of the population composed of white evangelicals has changed very little (19% in 1987; 22% now) and what growth there was occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
SOURCE
By the way, if the evangelicals in the Pew Report comprise 22% of America's population then at a current estimated population of
298 million we would have over 65 million evangelicals. If I take a very conservative figure of 50% that means over 32 million Americans believe in that religious horse pucky. I would say that is a significant number of people. And mind you I believe that percentage is larger than 50%.
Quote:Why is it that Xingu expends so much time and energy trying to convince the world that the United States is EVIL, EVIL, EVIL, yet so seldom has the slightest criticism of enemies who have sworn to destroy us?
Because I am an American, not a Muslim. I am concerned what my country does. Bush has harmed this country by his invasion of Iraq. He has needlessly killed thousands of Americans, created new terrorist and has produced a huge deficit that may very well come to haunt us in the future. He did this against a country that was of no threat to us. So yes, I will criticize a president that kills Americans through his incompetence, his ignorance and his ideology. And as much as you dislike it, it is my right.
Quote:Congress and the Administration are mostly elected by the people, and the people of the United States are not in mental shackles.
The people elect the president and Congress but they don't elect the people that influence and buy them. The neocons had a powerful influence on this administration. That's why we're in Iraq.
Quote:Those who are Socialists, Marxists, etc. will probably go to their graves hating the whole process of American political life, and their only allies are the left-wing of the Democratic Party. The left-wing of the Democratic Party can't seem to get beyond their hatred of the GOP and this President.
Funny. I suppose we could say the Right Wing of the Republican Party couldn't get beyond their hatred of Bill Clinton. No double standard here is there Asherman.
I see you still like to bring up the old "Marxist" word, like some old McCarthite. I guess there's a communist under every rug and in every closet waiting to scrape the Constitution, promote atheism and kill babies the minute the Democrats get into office. These days the word Marxist don't mean much. But I suppose if you still live in the 60's and 70's it's a scary word. And if you believe McCarthy was a great American than I can see why you would still be hung up on Marxist. They're everywhere!
I'm not whining, I'm making an observation.
