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With GOP Split on Religion, Could Bush Provide a Blueprint?

November 30, 2009 RSS Feed Print

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

A Washington Post poll out today finds that roughly a quarter of Americans who lean Republican say the GOP puts too much emphasis on abortion and gay marriage. The only other issue that comes close in the list of items that Republican-leaners say their party overemphasizes is gun rights.

That's not to say that the hot buttons aren't key issues for Republicans. The poll reports that a third of those who lean Republican say the GOP gives too little emphasis to abortion and gay marriage. Roughly 4 in 10 Republican-leaners say their party gets it about right on those issues.

On a related matter, half of Republican-leaners said they want a greater role for religion in politics and public life, while half said they want religion's role to be the same or less.

The numbers underline the challenge facing the GOP as it figures out how to excite its base, which is driven largely by culture war hot buttons, and win over moderates, who are queasy about such matters.

The last national Republican figure who figured out how to do that was George W. Bush. He appealed to his base with opposition to abortion and support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, but he packaged those positions in a way that avoided scaring off moderates.

Rather than championing an abortion ban, for instance, Bush signed a law that narrowly outlawed "partial-birth" abortion, a procedure that most Americans frown on. He gave lip service to a federal gay marriage ban but did nothing to move it through Congress. And instead of framing his religious conservativism as that of a Sarah Palinesque culture warrior, he introduced the phrase "compassionate conservatism" to the American political lexicon.

Today, most Republicans would prefer to put the Bush era behind them. The Post poll finds that nearly 70 percent of them blame Bush "some," "a good amount," or "a great deal" for the party's current doldrums. But in mapping a strategy to excite its religious base while growing the Republican tent, the party would probably do well to resurrect some his political tactics.

See full results form the Post poll here.

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Tags:: religion,; politics,; republican party

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Micah Rhett
Show me God's law that refers to any of your gripes about the flaws of humanity. Show me the commandment that tells us to honor the sexually frustrated teenager. And you can go ahead and blame tv and video games all you want, but youth entering and passing through puberty become sexually aware which naturally moves into sexual curiosity.
Show me the commandment that tells us to avoid seeking inebriation. Sure, you may call drug use a sin, but no where in "god's word" is there a caption stating drug use is sinful.
Show me the commandment that demands us to be compassionate, and considerate - the one commandment that was never there but probably would've been if any type of everlasting, and timeless god were involved.
The moral "family" has not broken down "everywhere", but because we are constantly pegged with "news" of immoral acts, you assume it's everywhere, and nearly uncontrollable.
Now, if the creation of humanity is the work of God(s) then you must blame it, or them, for creating a creature with such imperfections that render us helpless to AIDS.
The problems do not stem from the breakdown of humanity's moral codes, but from our sole reliance upon the acts of gods. If humans would stop giving God all the credit for the good things in life, and start seeing that it is our own will, completely set apart from god(s) and the supernatural, which elevates the human status, maybe modern society would feel more empowered to better judge right from wrong. When you believe whole-heartedly that you are in god's hands, and all is good for your future because you only have to apologize privately to your god and all will be forgiven, then it creates a giant loophole with which to fill with immoral behavior. If we teach our children to hold themselves accountable for their own ethical and unethical behavior, and engrain that message into them, we'd see that we never needed gods in the first place. Then maybe you would stop judging others and their behavior - since it may differ from what you consider moral, but does not necessarily make their action immoral in the eyes of others. Judge not Micah Rhett, lest ye be judged.

Mudfishin of IL 1:31PM December 01, 2009

because there was no clear definition provided as to what was to be "compassionate" about his conservatism.
We found out on our own, of course, too late. The idea was to oppose abortion and gay marriage and otherwise give the store to corporations. That's why we had a financial crisis, remember?
Are we still that dumb to buy it again?

Muser of NM 10:27PM November 30, 2009

REGARDING the issue of God's right to rule, what has been the result of all these centuries of human rule independent of God? Have humans proved to be better rulers than God? If we judge by the record of man's inhumanity to man, surely not.
When our first parents rejected God's rule, disaster followed. They brought suffering upon themselves and all the human family that came from them. And they had nobody to blame but themselves. God's Word says: "They have acted ruinously on their own part; they are not his children, the defect is their own."—Deuteronomy 32:5
In addition, consider the overall condition of the human family today. Crime and violence are rampant. Drug abuse is epidemic. Sexually transmitted diseases are pandemic. The dreaded disease AIDS is affecting millions of people. Tens of millions of people die of hunger or disease each year, while a small number have vast riches. Humans pollute and pillage the earth. Family life and moral values have broken down everywhere. Truly, life today reflects the ugly rulership of 'the god of this world,' Satan. The world he is master of is cold, ruthless, and thoroughly corrupt.—2 Corinthians 4:4.
Because Jehovah has permitted wickedness and suffering at this time, it will already have been amply proved that nothing that is out of harmony with him can prosper. It will have been shown beyond doubt that no independent scheme of men or spirit creatures can bring lasting benefits. Hence, God will then be fully justified in swiftly crushing any rebel. "The wicked ones he will annihilate."—Psalm 145:20; Romans 3:4
more info at watchtower.org

Micah Rhett of NV 8:43PM November 30, 2009

With GOP Split on Religion, Could Bush Provide a Blueprint?

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