DO THE DEMS HAVE A GOD PROBLEM?
By
William J. Skinner
Political
campaigns bring out the best and the worst in some people. Listeners make up their minds about political
promises based on their own understanding of what the candidates are saying
during the political campaigns.
Listeners evaluate whether what is said based on their own experiences
and learning, including their own religion.
Whether a politician’s promise is “good” or “bad,” will be at least
partly dependent upon what the listener’s beliefs are at the time the promises
are made known.
The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress
of grievances.” The part of this
amendment that deals with religion contains the “establishment clause” and the
“free exercise” clause. This clearly
says government cannot make laws that affect religion.
In 2012, the Democratic Party had a debate and a vote at
the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia about putting God back in
their national platform and a sizeable part of the hundreds of delegates booed
the result. In the 2016 platform, “God”
was named in “God-given potential” in the preamble and by inference in the
section on LBTG people. It is not clear
how many times the Democratic delegates booed at what provisions in 2016.
Democrat candidates for President in 2020 have expressed
views that present religious questions.
We as individuals or voters cannot stop them from having these views,
but we can ask them to clarify those views and take those views into our own
account when deciding whether we want to support or vote for a candidate
office.
March 15, 2017 in the New York Post, the author writes,
“The Democratic Party has a God problem. And over the last couple of decades, as its
base became more educated, less religious and more urban, this problem has only
grown.
“Some of this has to do with lower church attendance in
cities versus rural areas, and the Democratic Party’s increasing reliance on
urban voters. Some of it is the divisiveness of social or cultural issues like
abortion and gay marriage. And the divide has seemingly sapped Democrats’
ability to communicate to religious Americans.
“Especially if those people of faith are white, according
to Brad Chism, a longtime and respected Democratic strategist based in
Mississippi.
“And that problem extends to the national media, who by
and large are mostly Democrats, meaning you have these powerful forces who do
not understand more than half of the people in this country,” he said.
“Chism makes a crucial point about what this means for
American politics: Some of the greatest moral advancements in our country’s
history have been accomplished largely through the influence of the church and churchgoing
people, especially through the 20th century.
“You look at women’s suffrage, civil rights, the
abolition of slavery and all of these massive other changes — religion and
religious people have played a role in moving society toward a higher plane,”
said Chism.
“We’ve seen that recently as well, but a lot of
progressives and liberal Democrats don’t see the role of religion in society,
and that is a big mistake,” he said.
In a more recent article by Caleb Parke for Fox
News,, the author states,
“Political pundits said Democrats have a God problem and their
latest move shows they are taking steps to solve it.
“President Trump solidified the evangelical vote in 2016
but Democrats hope to make up for the sins of Hillary Clinton's campaign, which
was criticized for its lack of outreach to faith groups in the last election.
The Democratic National Committee recruited a far-left religious
outreach director and is launching a round of listening sessions with faith
leaders leading up to the 2020 election.
“The DNC hired former Washington, D.C. anti-Trump pastor, Rev.
Derrick Harkins, who held a similar position in 2012 and has been the senior
vice president of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, which
recently celebrated "rejoicing in the queerness of God."
“We take seriously the relationships that we have with faith
communities around this country," Harkins told Religion News Service,
adding that faith "will be a priority going into 2020, but even more
importantly, beyond 2020.”
“Over the past few elections, Democrats have alienated
themselves further from religious voters, partly in due to stances it takes on
social issues like abortion and gay marriage, not to mention its focus on urban
communities that tend to have lower church attendance than their rural
counterparts. While Trump took 80 percent of the white evangelical vote,
Democratic presidential hopefuls are gearing up for more faith outreach,
especially in historically black churches and within minority communities.”
See https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2020-election-faith-democratic-party-religious-left
The D. James Kennedy Ministries newsletter, Impact, for
March 2020, discusses the Hallmark of American Freedom which is the consent of
the governed. Executive Frank Wright says the progressives have refused to
accept the result of the 2016 election and they are planning to steal your vote
in 2020. Wright goes on to list the
Leftwing tactics they will use.
Starting
with get rid of the electoral college, they move to spoiling the integrity of
voter registrations, to manipulation of the election ballot, to risks of
recounts, and with ballot harvesting.
All of these efforts will be coordinated.
These
same tactics are mentioned by the American Civil Rights Union, the Public
Interest Legal Foundation, and Judicial Watch among many non-profit groups who
spend some of their resources and time on protecting the consent of the
governed. The 2020 election will be a
turning point for upholding the American experiment.
It
may help to know the difference from right and wrong. Do you?
Are you supporting the efforts of these groups or ignoring them?
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