Ernie :
Well, this is something I don't begin the understand.
Maybe intellectually I do, but not viscerally.....
I recall my Baptist years well enough to remember how
strongly I identified with Protestant Christian faith.
Didn't have to be Baptist, I was also favorably disposed
to Lutherans, Methodists,etc, and had general respect
for Catholics, not to mention Jews, but being VERY
favorably disposed to Protestantism was part of
how things were for me.
True enough, these days half of "Protestantism" is
"post-Christian"
ersatz Christianity, but that still leaves the other
half, which is
actually more like 55%, viz, somewhere around 25 % of
the
electorate, even 30 % since some others don't vote
at proportional rates.
There is, after all, a lot at stake, and serious
Christian believers
are best able to assume leadership in bringing about the
kinds of
public policy decisions that many, many people think are
essential
for the common good.
Today, of course, my religious affiliation is also
"Independent,"
but I continue to have genuine sentiments that can best
be described
as pro-Protestant. Among my heroes Martin Luther remains
at
or near the top. In other words, there is a helluva lot
worth fighting for
and there is plenty in the NT that tells people that if
they are true
to their faith they will, with no hesitation, make that
fight
It is expected of us. How I read the NT anyway even if,
after all this time, some of my interpretation comes from
sermons by Baptist preachers quite a few years ago now.
The Evangelical - Catholic alliance is now more than a
decade old.
Seems to be (mostly) working out. And about a number of
issues
this includes Orthodox Jews and Eastern Orthodox
Christians and
Mormons. There is a major demographic here, adding it
all up.
But at least half of that population is Evangelical
Protestant.
At a minimum, and people --you'd think-- would want
more then a minimum, there should be such Protestant
voices
at the table of political and judicial authority.
What is going on ? Not that in terms of the big picture
Rhode Island
is a prominent factor, but maybe it is a harbinger of
things to come,
with church closings all over the state, more and more
all the time,
and not all of them mainline. Evangelical growth, with
exceptions
like your Church / denomination, has mostly ceased. Here
and there
you can see slight declines. Looks to me like there is
some kind
of crisis brewing.
Billy
========================================
I think part of the reason is that nobody
self-identifies as a part of a "Protestant" bloc anymore.
Evangelical Baptists feel more affinity to conservative
Catholics like Santorum than a liberal Protestant.
Why bother mourning the defeat of a group you no longer
remember you belong to?
Hi Billy,
This is not an anti-Mormon comment ; I can
vote for a Mormon without experiencing
any kind of trauma. However, there
certainly are questions I have with a number
of LDS beliefs generally and with Romney's
understanding of Mormonism
in particular. But there is another point :
The collapse, even if it turns out to be
temporary, of the "Protestant Establishment"
in politics / government has been
spectacular. No more Protestants on the
Supreme Court despite Bush having two
selections, and no Protestant
who was a serious contender for the GOP
nomination by the time
that Iowa rolled around. Result , a Mormon
candidate for president.
You would think that various Protestant
leaders would be concerned.
So far no sign of any such thing. You
would think that there would be
some serious soul searching about
Protestant political failures
but I don't know of any such thing, either.
I think part of the reason is that nobody
self-identifies as a part of a "Protestant" bloc
anymore.
Evangelical Baptists feel more affinity to
conservative Catholics like Santorum than a liberal
Protestant.
Why bother mourning the defeat of a group you no
longer remember you belong to?
-- Ernie P.
No conclusions at this time but an
observation worth making.
Billy
--------------------------------------------------------------------
With Santorum
suspending campaign, some religious
conservatives wonder how to proceed
Dan Gilgoff ("CNN," April
10, 2012)
USA - Evangelical activist Michael Farris
was not exactly surprised that Rick Santorum
suspended his campaign on Tuesday. But that
doesn’t mean that Farris, a longtime
political organizer, knows what he’s
supposed to do now.
“Right now my choice is to sit on my hands
and do nothing or to actively try to find
some alternative” to Mitt Romney, Farris
said in an interview shortly after
Santorum's announcement.
“Some of us just have a hard time
supporting a person who said he was going to
be more liberal on gay rights than Ted
Kennedy,” said Farris, chairman of the Home
School Legal Defense Association, referring
to remarks Romney made in a 1994 letter.
Farris’ reaction is a stark emblem of the
disappointment among religious conservatives
over Santorum's announcement, and a reminder
that Romney’s enthusiasm deficit among the
conservative evangelicals who form the GOP’s
base hasn’t gone away.
“There are two kinds of disappointment
today,” said John Green, a religion and
politics expert at the University of Akron.
“One is felt by people who care a great deal
about social issues, especially white
evangelicals, who are uncomfortable with
Mitt Romney.”
“And there’s another group who really liked
Santorum,” Green continued, “and were quite
excited about him not only because of the
social issues but because they saw him as
representing this positive role for faith
and values in a society.”
The conservative and largely evangelical
Family Research Council said in an email to
supporters Tuesday night that Santorum's
announcement "was clearly disappointing news
for those looking for a nominee who
understands and articulates the connection
between the social and fiscal challenges
facing America."
"His historical run for President achieved
remarkable success because his campaign was
based not on money spent, but on the
pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-freedom message
he carried," the Family Research Council
email blast said.
Religious conservatives were the key to
Santorum’s unlikely rise as a serious
presidential candidate. Conservative
evangelicals and Catholics were drawn to
Santorum as much for his personal story – he
is a conservative Catholic and homeschooling
dad of seven – as for his outspoken advocacy
against abortion rights and same-sex
marriage as a U.S. senator.
While polls showed him at the back of a
seven-person pack just weeks before
January’s first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses,
Santorum won a plurality of Iowa
evangelicals, who accounted for nearly 60%
of the electorate. That support laid the
foundation for a first place Iowa finish.
After Santorum’s primary loss in New
Hampshire to Mitt Romney - and days before
Santorum would lose to Newt Gingrich in
South Carolina - conservative religious
activists convened in Texas and congealed
behind the former Pennsylvania senator.
With strong evangelical support, Santorum
went on to win primaries and caucuses in 11
states, even as Romney racked up more than
twice as many delegates.
Not all conservative religious activists
are as dead-set against Romney as Farris,
who is also chancellor at Patrick Henry
College, a school for homeschooled youth.
“Barack Obama will unite conservatives and
people of faith more so than any single
Republican candidate can hope to do,” said
Mat Staver, an evangelical Christian who
leads the conservative legal group Liberty
Counsel.
But Staver said Romney would have to work
hard to excite social conservatives.
“He’s going to have to make some
intentional steps to reach out to
evangelicals and religious conservatives,”
said Staver. “It would be a mistake to
assume he has every vote from evangelicals
and religious conservatives locked up.”
At the moment, plenty of other conservative
activists say they’re still in wait-and-see
mode about the primary season.
“It’s very likely that he’ll end up the
nominee, but he’s not he nominee yet,” said
Steve Scheffler, president or the Iowa Faith
and Freedom Coalition, about Romney. “He was
never my first choice, but I’ll support him
because the alternative is something we
can’t live with.
“But I’m not ready to throw my support to
him yet,” Scheffler said.
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist
Community <[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
