Home > Opinion > Bonnie Erbe > Republicans, Including Michael Steele, Must Rid Themselves of the Religious Right

Republicans, Including Michael Steele, Must Rid Themselves of the Religious Right

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Super-Duper site! I am loving it!! Will come back again - taking your feeds too now, Thanks.

GeneTinsley of AL 5:46PM October 09, 2009

"This is unreal, the gall, to say the republican party has to rid of religious right. How about the democratic party getting rid of their left wing nuts!"
The 'left-wing nuts' don't define the Democratic party. If you think people are fervent for Obama, you have to be willing to compare that notion to the CPAC event, which had a roomful of people chanting 'Rush!'. That was the finest example of demagoguery I have seen in my lifetime. A man with no real credentials, an un-elected official, being hailed as the leader of the Reps.
Find someone that actually has political experience, and a meaningful voice, and a sensible demeanor, to head the Reps., then we can talk reasonably. It's one thing to be excited about your future (current) President, it is a completely different thing to be just as excited about a radio-jockey.
"Bonnie needs to stop giving personal advice and stick to her little job."
Moron, the top of the page clearly says 'OPINION'. She is sticking to her little job, and as much as I might disagree with her opinion, I don't have the gall to say that mine is better, or that she has no right to her opinion. I just post my opinion in the comment section...
That's the problem I'm talking about. You're talking about how other people should live, when you have no good counter-point to the argument. You just hate on people who aren't like you.
Find a real argument, then we'll talk.

Knurd of CA 11:51PM May 07, 2009

As an independent voter, I would love the Republican party to support a candidate that I could vote for. Unfortunately, the Reps. have defined themselves as a party of contradiction. They want rights and responsibility for the individual, yet they want to treat people differently under federal law (gay marriage). They want state's right's, but what Rep. is fighting for the decriminalization of marijuana? Prayer in school? Abortion?
All of these issues are contentious points for left and right. However, it is the right that is attempting to legislate morality. It is trying to write into law that you have to behave the way they dictate; be a Christian, don't be gay, the 'War on Everything' is a good idea...
Tell me, outside of fiscal conservancy, what is a defining principle of Republicans? I think I used to know, but these days, I just have no idea. I'm asking an honest question.
And I don't want to hear any crud about 'fighting the establishment'. The Republican party is part of the establishment, and all of that loud-mouthed blustering doesn't make it any different. Republicans aren't punk-rockers, and they never will be.
Convince me, conservative America, that you have a political opinion I should buy into. Otherwise, I'm just going to hang out with my liberal forefathers. (Hamilton is not invited, lol)

Knurd of CA 11:14PM May 07, 2009

This is unreal, the gall, to say the republican party has to rid of religious right. How about the democratic party getting rid of their left wing nuts! Get real! Bonnie needs to stop giving personal advice and stick to her little job.

bebe of OR 10:50AM May 05, 2009

It is clear that religion is taking over too much of the party. Morals & values are subjective and personal to each individual. Democrats pull more people together because they are inclusive regardless of your race, gender or sexual choice; unfortunately they are terrible at policy & fiscal responsibility.
If you think the statement is inaccurate, consider this: if liberal is to mean maximizing freedom, then liberal democrats are anything but liberal. They are about control, manipulation, regulation, limiting choice, speech code - and on & on.
Republicans can make a broad move toward governing this nation, if they get religion out of politics and gov't out of marriage, education, abortion, & a host of other issues which are social not political.

Gregory of AZ 10:20AM May 05, 2009

Bonnie Erbe Urges GOP to Abort Alliance with Religious Conservatives
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2009/05/04/bonnie-erbe-urges-gop-abort-alliance-religious-conservatives

StewartIII of MD 8:32PM May 04, 2009

The Republican party made two very serious errors in the 1980s to 2006. First, it allowed the Religious Right (a generally intolerant group stuck in 1950s ideas of morality that are increasingly out of touch with today's America) to become far to influential in the Party. The religious right started to hold more and more influence on primary picks, etc. That meant that over time, the Republicans were going to be more and more out of touch with where the mainstream of the country was going. It has, clearly, hurt the Republican party badly. Second, the Party allowed that tiny group of delusional, sudo-intellectuals, the neocons, to hijack not only Republican foreign policy, but to do the same to U.S. foreign policy when Bush was elected in 2000. They were (and still are) a delusional, fascistic, fringe group composed of elitist fools who REALLY wanted to take the country into war in Iraq. Many of them had been calling for this for years before 2001. As a group, they cooked the books to hype the threat that Saddam's Iraq posed to the U.S. All their predictions about how easy it would be to first knock off Iraq, then on to Syria or Iran, were sheer, utter, delusional nonsense. The now-discredited neocons are still out there, but they have done huge damage to the U.S. and have been an utter disaster for the Republican Party. So - if the Republicans want to dig themselves out of the hole they are in, the moderates in the Party had better get control of both the rabid religious right, and keep the neocons marginalized. If that does not happen, the Republicans will be out of power for literally decades.

John G. of VA 4:44PM May 04, 2009

Hi, I'm a black, conservative atheist and I disagree with this author's solution to shut out Christians from the Republican party. (Yes, even though I'm an atheist I agree with 99.9% of conservative thought and philosophy except for one thing, but this country was created by both secular and religious actors; I sum up conservatism as plain common sense...) Anyhow, this is just how Republicans lose elections; by moving to the center or even over to the left just a little bit we turn into Democrat-low-fat, hence people grabbing for the real thing instead of a substitute that tastes pretty bland.
There are a lot of things the Republican party stands for and trying to chase down Dems on policy is only moving us further from what our philosophy says we should do! The time for us to offer a true alternative to America is now, since the Democrats and Kingly Obama have over-reached so suddenly and lurched so far left it should be so darn easy to show the American people how much better our ideas are! For the tent to fill we should talk about individual empowerment for everyone (women, minorities, etc), national sales tax, talk about the reasons why abortion is wrong in our view, etc. Break down to common sense talk and make people think; it will destroy the myth that we Republicans are a bunch of evil, heartless, greedy, no-gooders.

D. A. of NE 4:18PM May 04, 2009

Oh, and this one from Mr Adams:
"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” John Adams, Treaty of Tripoly, article 11

Marc 5:35AM May 02, 2009

And I'm no expert on the "Founding Fathers" by any means, but it seems clear that generic deism was attractive to a few of them, and other more inclusive paradigms than Judeo-Christianity. A quick search resulted in the following collection of choice quotes: http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm
I particularly like this one: "Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson (letter to Peter Carr, 10 August 1787)

Marc 5:31AM May 02, 2009