That Confusing Morality Thing
It's been seven weeks since Ohio was declared for Bush and Democrats started trying to figure out what was wrong with the god within them. Some of them are starting to shake off their rants and wails and are looking to the God above us.
Writing solidly for that group today is NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof, in a column titled "When the Right is Right." (here)
Kristof has looked behind the boogeyman -- that belief many on the left have that conservative Christians are hate-mongers -- and has discovered that we own the human rights issue today. He mentions sex trafficking, Dafur and the Sudan, North Korea and "immigration reform, prison reform, increased funds for AIDS and malaria, construction of an African-American history museum and even an apology to American Indians" as areas of conservative Christian leadership, speaking specifically of the work of Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS).
Brownback's position may not always align with the majority of Republicans, so if you're inclined to remove any of those items from your "support" column, you can also add China, the UN and the war on terrorism to the list.
By realizing that America is a liberal democracy founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and that those who believe in the fundamental truth of those principles also understand God's desire that we reach out to the oppressed, Kristof is starting a rough pencil sketch showing Democrats how they might embrace the entire morality vote issue. He urges them to "hold their nose and cooperate" on issues that are about both human rights and morality, and concludes:
Frankly, Democrats aren't going to accomplish much on their own over the next four years, but by working with the likes of Mr. Brownback they might register real progress on sex trafficking, an African-American history museum, malaria and immigration reform. That would be a much better use of the next four years than sulking.
On the way to that conclusion, though, he wades through some muck. His slams on Christian conservative positions on abortion and AIDS are straight old-school rhetoric, and avoid a lot of compelling reality. For example, he pushes the tired and deathly "condoms stop AIDS" argument, ignoring the only success in Africa on AIDS, Uganda's "abstinance and monogamy stop AIDS" solution.
It's evident that the Democrats are still at the pencil sketch stage, and have a ways to go before they build a bridge to the morality vote.
Writing solidly for that group today is NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof, in a column titled "When the Right is Right." (here)
Kristof has looked behind the boogeyman -- that belief many on the left have that conservative Christians are hate-mongers -- and has discovered that we own the human rights issue today. He mentions sex trafficking, Dafur and the Sudan, North Korea and "immigration reform, prison reform, increased funds for AIDS and malaria, construction of an African-American history museum and even an apology to American Indians" as areas of conservative Christian leadership, speaking specifically of the work of Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS).
Brownback's position may not always align with the majority of Republicans, so if you're inclined to remove any of those items from your "support" column, you can also add China, the UN and the war on terrorism to the list.
By realizing that America is a liberal democracy founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and that those who believe in the fundamental truth of those principles also understand God's desire that we reach out to the oppressed, Kristof is starting a rough pencil sketch showing Democrats how they might embrace the entire morality vote issue. He urges them to "hold their nose and cooperate" on issues that are about both human rights and morality, and concludes:
Frankly, Democrats aren't going to accomplish much on their own over the next four years, but by working with the likes of Mr. Brownback they might register real progress on sex trafficking, an African-American history museum, malaria and immigration reform. That would be a much better use of the next four years than sulking.
On the way to that conclusion, though, he wades through some muck. His slams on Christian conservative positions on abortion and AIDS are straight old-school rhetoric, and avoid a lot of compelling reality. For example, he pushes the tired and deathly "condoms stop AIDS" argument, ignoring the only success in Africa on AIDS, Uganda's "abstinance and monogamy stop AIDS" solution.
It's evident that the Democrats are still at the pencil sketch stage, and have a ways to go before they build a bridge to the morality vote.
posted by Laer at 1:09 PM
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