Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans

Religions > Atheism > Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans

LINK TO THIS PAGE

rating : 0 | 0

Page 1 of 1

Topic:	Religions > Atheism
User:	"johac"
Date:	16 May 2006 01:32:23 AM
Object:	Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans

Dubya's getting it from all sides these days. Now the Superfundies are
saying that he's no fundy enough. (Fortunately)
---
Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
WASHINGTON, May 13 Some of President Bush's most influential
conservative Christian allies are becoming openly critical of the White
House and Republicans in Congress, warning that they will withhold their
support in the midterm elections unless Congress does more to oppose
same-sex marriage, obscenity and abortion.
"There is a growing feeling among conservatives that the only way to
cure the problem is for Republicans to lose the Congressional elections
this fall," said Richard Viguerie, a conservative direct-mail pioneer.
Mr. Viguerie also cited dissatisfaction with government spending, the
war in Iraq and the immigration-policy debate, which Mr. Bush is
scheduled to address in a televised speech on Monday night.
"I can't tell you how much anger there is at the Republican leadership,"
Mr. Viguerie said. "I have never seen anything like it."
In the last several weeks, Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the
Family and one of the most influential Christian conservatives, has
publicly accused Republican leaders of betraying the social
conservatives who helped elect them in 2004. He has also warned in
private meetings with about a dozen of the top Republicans in Washington
that he may turn critic this fall unless the party delivers on
conservative goals.
And at a meeting in Northern Virginia this weekend of the Council for
National Policy, an alliance of the most prominent Christian
conservatives, several participants said sentiment toward the White
House and Republicans in Congress had deteriorated sharply since the
2004 elections.
When the group met in the summer of 2004, it resembled a pep rally for
Mr. Bush and his allies on Capitol Hill, and one session focused on how
to use state initiatives seeking to ban same-sex marriage to help turn
out the vote. This year, some participants are complaining that as soon
as Mr. Bush was re-elected he stopped expressing his support for a
constitutional amendment banning such unions.
Christian conservative leaders have often threatened in the months
before an election to withhold their support for Republicans in an
effort to press for their legislative goals. In the 1990's, Dr. Dobson
in particular became known for his jeremiads against the Republican
party, most notably in the months before the 1998 midterm elections.
But the complaints this year are especially significant because they
underscore how the broad decline in public approval for Mr. Bush and
Congressional Republicans is beginning to cut into their core
supporters. The threatened defections come just two years after many
Christian conservatives most notably Dr. Dobson abandoned much of
their previous reservations and poured energy into electing Republicans
in 2004.
Dr. Dobson gave his first presidential endorsement to Mr. Bush and held
get-out-the-vote rallies that attracted thousands of admirers in states
with pivotal Senate races while Focus on the Family and many of its
allies helped register voters in conservative churches.
Republican officials, who were granted anonymity to speak publicly
because of the sensitivity of the situation, acknowledged the difficult
political climate but said they planned to rally conservatives by
underscoring the contrast with Democrats and emphasizing the recent
confirmations of two conservatives to the Supreme Court.
Midterm Congressional elections tend to be won by whichever side can
motivate more true believers to vote. Dr. Dobson and other conservatives
are renewing their complaints about the Republicans at a time when
several recent polls have shown sharp declines in approval among
Republicans and conservatives. And compared with other constituencies,
evangelical Protestants have historically been suspicious of the worldly
business of politics and thus more prone to stay home unless they feel
clear moral issues are at stake.
"When a president is in a reasonably strong position, these kind of
leaders don't have a lot of leverage," said Charlie Cook, a nonpartisan
political analyst. "But when the president is weak, they tend to have a
lot of leverage."
Dr. Dobson, whose daily radio broadcast has millions of listeners, has
already signaled his willingness to criticize Republican leaders. In a
recent interview with Fox News on the eve of a visit to the White House,
he accused Republicans of "just ignoring those that put them in office."
Dr. Dobson cited the House's actions on two measures that passed over
the objections of social conservatives: a hate-crime bill that extended
protections to gay people, and increased support for embryonic stem cell
research.
"There's just very, very little to show for what has happened," Dr.
Dobson said, "and I think there's going to be some trouble down the road
if they don't get on the ball."
According to people who were at the meetings or were briefed on them,
Dr. Dobson has made the same point more politely in a series of private
conversations over the last two weeks in meetings with several top
Republicans, including Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser;
Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader; Representative
J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, the House speaker; and Representative
John A. Boehner of Ohio, the majority leader.
"People are getting concerned that they have not seen some of these
issues move forward that were central to the 2004 election," said Tony
Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, who attended the
meetings.
Richard D. Land, a top official of the Southern Baptist Convention who
has been one of Mr. Bush's most loyal allies, said in an interview last
week that many conservatives were upset that Mr. Bush had not talked
more about a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
"A lot of people are disappointed that he hasn't put as much effort into
the marriage amendment as he did for the prescription drug benefit or
Social Security reform," Dr. Land said.
Republicans say they are taking steps to revive their support among
Christian conservatives. On Thursday night, Mr. Rove made the case for
the party at a private meeting of the Council for National Policy,
participants said.
In addition to reminding conservatives of the confirmations of Chief
Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the
Supreme Court, party strategists say the White House and Senate
Republicans are escalating their fights against the Democrats over
conservative nominees to lower federal courts, and the Senate is set to
revive the same-sex marriage debate next month with a vote on the
proposed amendment.
But it is unclear how much Congressional Republicans will be able to do
for social conservatives before the next election.
No one expects the same-sex marriage amendment to pass this year.
Republican leaders have not scheduled votes on a measure to outlaw
transporting minors across state lines for abortions, and the proposal
faces long odds in the Senate. A measure to increase obscenity fines for
broadcasters is opposed by media industry trade groups, pitting
Christian conservatives against the business wing of the party, and
Congressional leaders have not committed to bring it to a vote.
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and another
frequent participant in the Council for National Policy, argued that
Christian conservatives were hurting their own cause.
"If the Republicans do poorly in 2006," Mr. Norquist said, "the
establishment will explain that it was because Bush was too
conservative, specifically on social and cultural issues."
Dr. Dobson declined to comment. His spokesman, Paul Hetrick, said that
Dr. Dobson was "on a fact-finding trip to see where Republicans are
regarding the issues that concern values voters most, especially the
Marriage Protection Act," and that it was too soon to tell the results.
---
http://tinyurl.com/zj6gv
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
Contact - Throw a .net over the .com
.

User: "stoney"
Title: Re: Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans	18 May 2006 08:42:20 PM

On Mon, 15 May 2006 23:32:23 -0700, johac <jhachmann@sbcglobal.com>
wrote in alt.atheism

Dubya's getting it from all sides these days. Now the Superfundies are
saying that he's no fundy enough. (Fortunately)

Superstitious assholes. [spit]

---
Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

[]
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.

User: "Mark K. Bilbo"
Title: Re: Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans	16 May 2006 05:44:54 PM

Previously, on alt.atheism, johac in episode
<jhachmann-E23CA4.23322315052006@news.giganews.com>...

Dubya's getting it from all sides these days. Now the Superfundies are
saying that he's no fundy enough. (Fortunately)

They're eating each other alive now. I figured it'd come to this
eventually. I see even Michelle "I'm white I tell you!" Maglalang has
turned on Bush.
The rats are leaving the ship...
--
Mark K. Bilbo
--------------------------------------------------
"As hip as it is for outsiders to blame New Orleans
for everything bad that happened during and after
Hurricane Katrina, the truth is that the people
who lived here were much more prepared for a big
storm than the federal government that promised
us flood protection." [Jarvis DeBerry]
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V180525DC
"Everything New Orleans"
http://www.nola.com
.

User: "johac"
Title: Re: Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans	17 May 2006 12:01:46 AM

In article <A4mdnQo90bd7yPfZnZ2dnUVZ_u-dnZ2d@megapath.net>,
"Mark K. Bilbo" <alt-atheism@org.webmaster> wrote:

Previously, on alt.atheism, johac in episode
<jhachmann-E23CA4.23322315052006@news.giganews.com>...

Dubya's getting it from all sides these days. Now the Superfundies are
saying that he's no fundy enough. (Fortunately)

They're eating each other alive now. I figured it'd come to this
eventually. I see even Michelle "I'm white I tell you!" Maglalang has
turned on Bush.

The rats are leaving the ship...

Or kicked off, or being dragged off by the special prosecutors. The end
is near.
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
Contact - Throw a .net over the .com
.

User: "stoney"
Title: Re: Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans	18 May 2006 08:43:19 PM

On Tue, 16 May 2006 22:01:46 -0700, johac <jhachmann@sbcglobal.com>
wrote in alt.atheism

In article <A4mdnQo90bd7yPfZnZ2dnUVZ_u-dnZ2d@megapath.net>,
"Mark K. Bilbo" <alt-atheism@org.webmaster> wrote:

Previously, on alt.atheism, johac in episode
<jhachmann-E23CA4.23322315052006@news.giganews.com>...

Dubya's getting it from all sides these days. Now the Superfundies are
saying that he's no fundy enough. (Fortunately)

They're eating each other alive now. I figured it'd come to this
eventually. I see even Michelle "I'm white I tell you!" Maglalang has
turned on Bush.

The rats are leaving the ship...

Or kicked off, or being dragged off by the special prosecutors. The end
is near.

But the USSC [C=cretins] are all in place to 'put things reich.'
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.

User: "johac"
Title: Re: Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans	19 May 2006 12:20:58 AM

In article <gk8q62ho4i0fnje3an25r4af6mk7d3q83g@4ax.com>,
stoney <stoney@the.net> wrote:

On Tue, 16 May 2006 22:01:46 -0700, johac <jhachmann@sbcglobal.com>
wrote in alt.atheism

In article <A4mdnQo90bd7yPfZnZ2dnUVZ_u-dnZ2d@megapath.net>,
"Mark K. Bilbo" <alt-atheism@org.webmaster> wrote:

Previously, on alt.atheism, johac in episode
<jhachmann-E23CA4.23322315052006@news.giganews.com>...

Dubya's getting it from all sides these days. Now the Superfundies are
saying that he's no fundy enough. (Fortunately)

They're eating each other alive now. I figured it'd come to this
eventually. I see even Michelle "I'm white I tell you!" Maglalang has
turned on Bush.

The rats are leaving the ship...

Or kicked off, or being dragged off by the special prosecutors. The end
is near.

But the USSC [C=cretins] are all in place to 'put things reich.'

If ever there was a place for a meteor strike...
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
Contact - Throw a .net over the .com
.

User: "stoney"
Title: Re: Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans	19 May 2006 02:35:52 PM

On Thu, 18 May 2006 22:20:58 -0700, johac <jhachmann@sbcglobal.com>
wrote in alt.atheism