June 28, 2006
Late to the Party
Democrat Obama urges response to religious right
Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:47pm ET7
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats must shed their reluctance to talk about faith and reach out to evangelical Christians and other churchgoing Americans, a leading new voice in the party said on Wednesday.Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois said Democrats need to respond to the religious right, which has increased its clout in recent years and twice helped elect President George W. Bush.
"If we don't reach out to evangelical Christians and other religious Americans and tell them what we stand for, the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons will continue to hold sway," Obama said, naming two outspoken right-wing Christian figures.
Conservative religious leaders have put Democrats on the defensive by pushing such divisive issues as opposition to abortion and gay rights.
In a speech to conference on poverty hosted by Sojourners, a progressive faith-based group, Obama said Democrats should be willing to explain themselves in moral terms while respecting the separation of church and state.
"I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people.
"After all, the problems of poverty and racism, the uninsured and the unemployed, are not simply technical problems in search of the perfect ten point plan," Obama said.
I've been blogging about this for four years and the Dems are just starting to get the message now? Jesus, don't they pay people to pay attention for them between fundraising events?
Posted by Melanie at June 28, 2006 07:37 PM | TrackBackAs a liberal who is an active member of her church, I have to say I find Obama's remarks profoundly offensive.
"I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people." What democrat has committed this failure? Name one elected democrat official who denigrates the power of faith in people's lives. You can't. Such persons only exist in the rhetoric of the right.
Isn't the real issue the role of religion in the public sphere? Didn't the Founders have a notion after centuries of slaughter in the religious wars of early modern Europe that the preferred solution was to foster the greatest amount of religious freedom to citizens in their private lives, but to preserve the public sphere as a secular space - precisely to prevent the disruption of political discourse by sectarian passion.
Democrats need to stop pandering to the Falwell's of the world. Obama's just lost my vote. The guy/gal who will get it will be the democrat who says to the hateful christian, "you have a perfect right to pray to a god of fear and hate. I prefer to pray to a Savior who encourged us to love one another and be not afraid. Neither of us has the right to use the institutions of government to impose our religious faith on others."
