I will start by saying that, unlike some liberals, I think America was founded as a Christian nation. Not as a theocracy, but a political embodiment of Christian values.
This assertion needs a lot of explaining. The founders of the United States of America were products of The Enlightenment. The Christianity they practiced was vastly different from what many people practice today.
Modern American Christianity seems to be more focused on Old Testament values. The battle over displaying the Ten Commandments in public spaces is a good illustration of this phenomenon.
Televangelists, with their fire and brimstone talks and ‘us versus them’ mentality, seem more informed by the Old Testament where the Israelites were punished by God for their sins.
How many times did we hear from the Christian Right that 9/11 was punishment by God? That Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment of sinful New Orleans? Like ancient Israel, we are surrounded by enemies.
We’re told the entire Muslim world is out to destroy us. We’re warned the very social fabric of our country is being undermined by the “Gay Agenda” or just plain “Libruls.”
This is not the Christianity of our forefathers.
The 18th Century Christians were more focused on the New Testament. Our founders’ worldview was informed by the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 25.
If they had had cars back in those days, I think Beatitudes bumper stickers would have been far more common that the Ten Commandments.
And not all of our founders would have even considered themselves Christian. It is fairly well known that some of the prominent signers of our Declaration of Independence considered themselves Deists.
They believed there was a God, but that he didn’t play an active role in human events. They were similar to what we might call Humanists today.
But even though they didn’t actively participate in Christian theology, they were still invested in a worldview shaped by Christian values.
A big part of those values, for our founders, was not only the separation of church and state, but also a tolerance for people of all faiths – or no faith at all.
Despite decades of brainwashing by televangelists and political activists in shepherd’s clothing, I think much of America still has a worldview closer to that of our founders than that of the neo-Christians.
Sadly, this worldview isn’t reinforced from most pulpits, and it certainly isn’t in the mainstream media, but the power of Christ’s true message of grace, forgiveness and compassion is difficult to completely expunge.
I think we’re seeing the beginnings of a second reformation though. The cognitive dissonance between the example of Christ’s actions, as found in the Bible, and the messages being delivered in churches is forcing a quiet shift.
President Bush, who was initially hailed as a Christian hero after 9/11, is seeing rock bottom approval ratings and the highest disapproval rating recorded by any president in our history.
People are beginning to understand the catastrophic consequences of his neo-conservative policies based on that neo-Christian worldview.
Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, domestic spying, endless war, corruption and no-bid contracts are all a symbolic albatross hanging around Bush’s neck. None of these things seem appropriate for a Christian hero.
But decades of right-wing propaganda by the right and a pathetic response to these attacks by the left have created a sense of confusion in the American people.
They don’t know whom to turn to.
Republicans have lost the trust of a good chunk of America, but they still manage to frame debate about Democrats. Democrats spend more time running around in circles holding their fingers up to the political winds, than they do defining their ‘real’ values to the American people.
The American people are left with the definition of liberal values provided by Republicans. Which is clearly inaccurate, though enough prominent Democrats are so motivated by greed and ambition they provide perfect examples to reinforce the right-wing frame.
But these self-proclaimed Democrats do not represent Democratic values. They have gained a disproportionate amount of influence in the party, and that needs to be fixed before America can trust them again.
In the short-term, Democrats are at least benefiting from being considered the lesser evil by a growing number of voters. But these short-term gains can lead to long-term disaster if they don’t get things straightened out quickly.
It’s been said time after time, but it’s still completely accurate, “When faced with the choice of a Republican and a Republican-lite, voters will invariably choose the actual Republican, even if they don’t agree with her policies.”
In 1992, when Bill Clinton won the presidency thanks to a third-party candidate siphoning off more Republican votes than Democratic ones, we all heard about the adage repeated among Clinton’s campaign staff, “It’s the Economy Stupid.”
They credited that folksy bit of seemingly common sense wisdom for their victory. But I think they owe more to Ross Perot than a behind-the-scenes slogan.
While it may have seemed like Democrats were ascendant with his landslide re-election in 1996, Republicans were actually gaining political strength. They controlled both houses of Congress and Democratic values had nearly disappeared from public policy.
If the Democrats want a slogan that might actually do them some good, I would suggest, “It’s VALUES stupid.”
Forget all the wonky details, paint a picture of what society will look like when Democratic values are actually shaping public policy.
We don’t need to imagine the results of decades of Reaganomics and neo-conservative foreign policy. We’re suffering through that right now. But Americans aren’t convinced that Democrats have anything better.
It seems to me that Americans are ready to be convinced, but so far few Democrats have stepped up to the plate, and when they do they’re marginalized by the party establishment.
Have you ever witnessed a car wreck?
Red State Blues 