God & Country

Gingrich's First Advice for GOP: Fight for Nation's Religious Heritage

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June 9, 2009 RSS Feed Print
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By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

When's the last time you saw a Republican say that the GOP's first step back to power relies on it fighting to recover the nation's religious heritage? Check out this clip from Newt Gingrich's keynote speech at last night's Republican Senate-House Dinner. He discusses the need to restore America's religious heritage ahead of economic and national security issues.

It's fascinating that religious conservatives are on the outs with the GOP's Washington-based leadership but that Republicans possibly running for president in 2012—Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee—all have very strong ties to that segment of the party's base.

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Huckapedia of OH 7:32PM June 10, 2009

Someone said that the republican party needs to rid itself of what it doesn't stand for and more on what it does stand for. That is exactly what Mr Gingrich was saying. At this point in time, the republican party does not stand for anything! It has no backbone and it has no solid platform. It is no more than wishy-washy and rolls whatever way the media tilts it. The way forward is to back off on principles? The party needs to stand UP for its principles, not abandon them. People aren't leaving the party because of religious beliefs, they are leaving the party because the party has not stood up for core conservative values. Responsible economic policies, smaller government, less intervention, etc.

When principles are abandoned, liberals win.

Mike of WY 6:03PM June 10, 2009

Listen to the message. Are the spoken words true? Did he invent the quotes, or are they accurate? Why attack the man? Is it because there are significant moral problems with one's own political position? Is it to divert attention from one's own shortcomings? While the founding fathers may not all have been pious, they did guarantee religious freedom in the Bill of Rights, and in closing, the Declaration of Independence states, "...And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." Thus the founding fathers recognized the importance that religious beliefs and faith held for the American people.

In fact, as Mr.Gingrich states, we are the first country to give the people the sovereignty vice a sovereign set over the people. They did this through the creation of a republic founded on the idea of representative democracy. This was a conscious choice in response to desire to protect minority views from the despotism of absolute democracy. A strong sense of morality also guided the founding fathers.

Have we perverted the meaning of individual freedoms so much that one, or a few individuals, can protest the word God be used in public forums, or as part of our legal system? The evidence would seem to say yes in a society that bans, or attempts to ban, the use of religious statements in public discourse, and that pursues abortion and other acts that contribute to the tyranny of the individual rather than the protection of the inalienable rights of all mankind.

So, I say to all in this instance, Mr. Gingrich has touched on issues and matters that are critical to the foundations of our nation, and he is right. For those who wish to attack his personal shortcomings I say, address your own shortcomings before you attack others. If Mr. Gingrich's statement is wrong attack the position and not the man. Point out what is wrong with the statement. Too often, both parties have resorted to personal attacks rather than handling the debate on the merits of the positions themselves.

God Bless America, one nation Under God!

J. Brence of CO 3:07PM June 10, 2009

God & Country

Dan Gilgoff covers religion for U.S. News & World Report. He is the author of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War, and is a former politics editor at beliefnet. E-mail Dan at godandcountry@usnews.com.

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