The Reemergence of the Religious Left

[danarhea]

For decades, the religious right has dominated politics in America, but for the first time since the 1960's, the religious left is making a comeback. However, like the religious right, they are also narrowly focused, and like the religious right, they exist in politics not for a truly religious purpose, but to create wedge issues, which they hope will propel them and drive their own agendas.

While the relious right is focused mostly on moral issues in order to divide Americans, the religious left is dividing through the issues of hunger, poverty, and equal rights. Although this sounds noble, the results are anything but.

Under the Liberals, we saw mass deficits unparalleled in our history, until that was itself exceeded by the excesses of George Bush. Under the Liberals, we saw money taken out of our pockets and redistributed to others. Like Bush, they have their own reverse Robin Hood plan. Instead of stealing our money to give to the idle rich, they would steal our money to give to government bureaucrats, and call those who object to this heartless. But in the end, it wont be the poor that gets the money, but deadbeats who want a handout via employment by the government bureaucracy.

The Republicans have exploited religion for its own greedy purposes for years. This, of course, is what the Democrats did before they lost power, and it is what the Democrats will do again if given the chance.

Religion and politics just dont mix. If Jesus were here today and we asked him who he would vote for, his answer would undoubtedly be "none of the above". After all, he knows a hypocrite when he sees one, and his position on hypocrites is well known. If you doubt that, then you havent read the Bible. Using religion for political ends is the worst form of hypocrisy imaginable, and it makes no difference whether that hypocrisy is coming from the religious right or the religious left. According to Jesus, they will ALL be losers of their souls.

Article is here.

 

[jamesrage]

Religious Left?Are you sure there is such a thing.I think you been smoking too much,you do know that **** fries your brain cells?

If there is such a thing as a relgious leftist here is what I believes sums up a relgious leftist.

religious leftist:Most of the OT and NT are bogus except for where we can twist the hell out of some bible verses to say that Jesus advocated socialism and there is no such thing as sin.

 

[alphamale]

With the interminable screeching about the religious right, it's refreshing to see someone here even recognizes the religious left - it has a long tradition, e.g. William Sloane Coffin, the Berrigan brothers, Martin Luther King, and very many black preachers. And mixing up religion and politics, in certain ways, is just fine: e.g., people can vote according to religious precepts. Politicians have always made taylored appeals to religious groups, and that also is no problem.

 

[tryreading]

For decades, the religious right has dominated politics in America, but for the first time since the 1960's, the religious left is making a comeback. However, like the religious right, they are also narrowly focused, and like the religious right, they exist in politics not for a truly religious purpose, but to create wedge issues, which they hope will propel them and drive their own agendas.

While the relious right is focused mostly on moral issues in order to divide Americans, the religious left is dividing through the issues of hunger, poverty, and equal rights. Although this sounds noble, the results are anything but.

Under the Liberals, we saw mass deficits unparalleled in our history, until that was itself exceeded by the excesses of George Bush. Under the Liberals, we saw money taken out of our pockets and redistributed to others. Like Bush, they have their own reverse Robin Hood plan. Instead of stealing our money to give to the idle rich, they would steal our money to give to government bureaucrats, and call those who object to this heartless. But in the end, it wont be the poor that gets the money, but deadbeats who want a handout via employment by the government bureaucracy.

The Republicans have exploited religion for its own greedy purposes for years. This, of course, is what the Democrats did before they lost power, and it is what the Democrats will do again if given the chance.

Religion and politics just dont mix. If Jesus were here today and we asked him who he would vote for, his answer would undoubtedly be "none of the above". After all, he knows a hypocrite when he sees one, and his position on hypocrites is well known. If you doubt that, then you havent read the Bible. Using religion for political ends is the worst form of hypocrisy imaginable, and it makes no difference whether that hypocrisy is coming from the religious right or the religious left. According to Jesus, they will ALL be losers of their souls.

Article is here.

I was reading about this today in the local paper. Sure, they are biased too, but I think they may be less interested in controlling others and pursuing religious encroachment into government. If they can organize well, surely they will be a countering force. I think overall this is a good thing-if we can't have moderation, then maybe two extremes are better than one.

 

[hipsterdufus]

Personally, I think if religions want to get into politics they should lose their tax-exempt status.

Jim Wallis and Sojourners sp? have been making some noise as a spokeman for the "religious left" He's in favor of all that crazy bible stuff like helping the poor. :shock:

God's Politics is a pretty good read by Wallis.

 

[jamesrage]

Personally, I think if religions want to get into politics they should lose their tax-exempt status.

If they lose their tax exempt status then it would be hard for the ACLU and other vermonous groups to try to silence them.Its one thing when a liberal democrat with bogus religious beliefs goes to a black church to sucker voters and it is a totally different thing when you see political commercials paid for by the 700 club or catholic church .Who has more money,the religious left or the religious right?

 

[hipsterdufus]

If they lose their tax exempt status then it would be hard for the ACLU and other vermonous groups to try to silence them.Its one thing when a liberal democrat with bogus religious beliefs goes to a black church to sucker voters and it is a totally different thing when you see political commercials paid for by the 700 club or catholic church .Who has more money,the religious left or the religious right?

I don't know about your ACLU statement, but other than that - I would like to get both parties out of the church.

The religious right lost me when they chose not to focus on peace, equality, healing, and compassion for society's outcasts.

THere's a nice excerpt from Hijacking Jesus here:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060424/wakefield

 

[Red_Dave]

For decades, the religious right has dominated politics in America, but for the first time since the 1960's, the religious left is making a comeback. However, like the religious right, they are also narrowly focused, and like the religious right, they exist in politics not for a truly religious purpose, but to create wedge issues, which they hope will propel them and drive their own agendas.

While the relious right is focused mostly on moral issues in order to divide Americans, the religious left is dividing through the issues of hunger, poverty, and equal rights. Although this sounds noble, the results are anything but.

Under the Liberals, we saw mass deficits unparalleled in our history, until that was itself exceeded by the excesses of George Bush. Under the Liberals, we saw money taken out of our pockets and redistributed to others. Like Bush, they have their own reverse Robin Hood plan. Instead of stealing our money to give to the idle rich, they would steal our money to give to government bureaucrats, and call those who object to this heartless. But in the end, it wont be the poor that gets the money, but deadbeats who want a handout via employment by the government bureaucracy.

The Republicans have exploited religion for its own greedy purposes for years. This, of course, is what the Democrats did before they lost power, and it is what the Democrats will do again if given the chance.

Religion and politics just dont mix. If Jesus were here today and we asked him who he would vote for, his answer would undoubtedly be "none of the above". After all, he knows a hypocrite when he sees one, and his position on hypocrites is well known. If you doubt that, then you havent read the Bible. Using religion for political ends is the worst form of hypocrisy imaginable, and it makes no difference whether that hypocrisy is coming from the religious right or the religious left. According to Jesus, they will ALL be losers of their souls.

Article is here.

Are hunger poverty and equal rights not moral issues then?

I dont think the religious left is about exploiting religeon for political ends, just putting it into practice by speaking out against social injustice.

Jamesrage: I would argue that there is such a thing as a religious leftist being one myself. I dont see christiality and left-wing politics as incompatable. On the contary if i belive i should love my neighbour as myself it would be hipercritical not to speak out against the political and economic roots of alot of the worlds problems.

 

[jamesrage]

Jamesrage: I would argue that there is such a thing as a religious leftist being one myself. I dont see christiality and left-wing politics as incompatable. On the contary if i belive i should love my neighbour as myself it would be hipercritical not to speak out against the political and economic roots of alot of the worlds problems.

Thats the biggest load of crap I ever heard.Religious left my ***.Left wing politics is totally anti-religious.It seems like an attempt to currupt religion even further with more gay ministers and to indoctrinate socialism into the minds of gullable people and so that cafeteria christians(leftist pretending to be chrisitians)can be the left's token religious people that want religious monuments torn down,communism,gay marriage in churches,further discreting the bible to allow more sin and to support abortion. I just do not buy the whole religious left,I think it is a scam to currupt moral/religious values.

With all these RINOS and cafeteria christians running around,the right needs to start sending in people to be DINOS(democrats in name only) and to pretend to be for abortion.

 

[Iriemon]

Religious Left?Are you sure there is such a thing.I think you been smoking too much,you do know that **** fries your brain cells?

If there is such a thing as a relgious leftist here is what I believes sums up a relgious leftist.

religious leftist:Most of the OT and NT are bogus except for where we can twist the hell out of some bible verses to say that Jesus advocated socialism and there is no such thing as sin.

That's funny. This is exactly the same thing I would say about the religious right and how they twist the hell out of the Bible to say it proscribes abortion and other things in their conservative political agenda.

 

[Iriemon]

Thats the biggest load of crap I ever heard.Religious left my ***.Left wing politics is totally anti-religious.It seems like an attempt to currupt religion even further with more gay ministers and to indoctrinate socialism into the minds of gullable people and so that cafeteria christians(leftist pretending to be chrisitians)can be the left's token religious people that want religious monuments torn down,communism,gay marriage in churches,further discreting the bible to allow more sin and to support abortion. I just do not buy the whole religious left,I think it is a scam to currupt moral/religious values.

With all these RINOS and cafeteria christians running around,the right needs to start sending in people to be DINOS(democrats in name only) and to pretend to be for abortion.

*That"s* the biggest load of crap I ever heard. The Religious Right claim they are religious, and they sure are "right." But they call themselves "Christians" while promoting an agenda of hate, warmongering, and enriching the rich and ignoring the poor -- the opposite of what Jesus taught.

 

[Iriemon]

Under the Liberals, we saw mass deficits unparalleled in our history, until that was itself exceeded by the excesses of George Bush.

Not true. With the exception of the WWII years, deficits during "liberal" regimes were not even close in size, percentage-wise or dollar-wise, to the deficits wrought by Reagan Bush and Bush.

Under the liberal regimes, the debt compared to GDP fell from over 100% right after WWII to 32% after the Carter administration. That percentage grew rapidly under Reagan, Bush and Bush, and now stands at about 65% -- and would be much higher but for the fiscally responsible Clinton administration.

Under the Liberals, we saw money taken out of our pockets and redistributed to others. Like Bush, they have their own reverse Robin Hood plan. Instead of stealing our money to give to the idle rich, they would steal our money to give to government bureaucrats, and call those who object to this heartless. But in the end, it wont be the poor that gets the money, but deadbeats who want a handout via employment by the government bureaucracy.

I dispute your implicit contention that conservative or liberal policies have made not difference in the plight of the poorer in this nation. I'm not saying every liberal program has worked as intended, but liberal policies have made huge improvements in poverty and for the poorer in this country. The elderly had had the highest rate of poverty in this country, now they are among the lowest.

We are seeing the results of conservative pro-rich policies again now, as we did in the 80s - corporate profits and the wealthy get wealthier, the poorer stagnate or decline.

I am not promoting a welfare state, however I do believe in a system that porvides a safetty net for the losers in a capitalist system, and one that rewards merit and effort, not position and birthright.

 

[Red_Dave]

Thats the biggest load of crap I ever heard.Religious left my ***.Left wing politics is totally anti-religious.It seems like an attempt to currupt religion even further with more gay ministers and to indoctrinate socialism into the minds of gullable people and so that cafeteria christians(leftist pretending to be chrisitians)can be the left's token religious people that want religious monuments torn down,communism,gay marriage in churches,further discreting the bible to allow more sin and to support abortion. I just do not buy the whole religious left,I think it is a scam to currupt moral/religious values.

With all these RINOS and cafeteria christians running around,the right needs to start sending in people to be DINOS(democrats in name only) and to pretend to be for abortion.

Feel free to adress any of the arguments i made in my last post. How is left wing politics anti-religious? Do you really think the powers that be in the religious right have the moral highground? On the contary i dont see how right-wing capatalism is in any way compatiable with ethical frameworks like chrisitality. Captalism encourages corporations to seek profit above everything else by ruthlessly exploiting those below them regardless of its effect on the rest of the world. Thats just quniticential christian ethics isnt it?

 

[thapcballa]

The "religious left" if you can call it that is whats demoralizing this country. They are people trying to convert everyone to atheism. Its alright for school to teach a theory of evolution but they can't even say their might have been a God who created it. Both are theories yet the liberals only let the one w/o God be taught in school.

 

[jamesrage]

Feel free to adress any of the arguments i made in my last post. How is left wing politics anti-religious?

ACLU rings a bell on how the left is anti-religious.I do not see any conservatives trying to tear down ten commandments and religious monuments or crosses on war memorials, trying to push gay marriage , trying push only atheist views in the classroom and trying to push homosexual propaganda down the throats of our kids.

Do you really think the powers that be in the religious right have the moral highground?

Considering what the left is trying to push,yes the religious right has the moral highground.

On the contary i dont see how right-wing capatalism is in any way compatiable with ethical frameworks like chrisitality. Captalism encourages corporations to seek profit above everything else by ruthlessly exploiting those below them regardless of its effect on the rest of the world. Thats just quniticential christian ethics isnt it?

Capitalism also means that a individual can be successful and improve his situation through hard work and good ideas.

 

[thapcballa]

Not true. With the exception of the WWII years, deficits during "liberal" regimes were not even close in size, percentage-wise or dollar-wise, to the deficits wrought by Reagan Bush and Bush.

Under the liberal regimes, the debt compared to GDP fell from over 100% right after WWII to 32% after the Carter administration. That percentage grew rapidly under Reagan, Bush and Bush, and now stands at about 65% -- and would be much higher but for the fiscally responsible Clinton administration.



I dispute your implicit contention that conservative or liberal policies have made not difference in the plight of the poorer in this nation. I'm not saying every liberal program has worked as intended, but liberal policies have made huge improvements in poverty and for the poorer in this country. The elderly had had the highest rate of poverty in this country, now they are among the lowest.

We are seeing the results of conservative pro-rich policies again now, as we did in the 80s - corporate profits and the wealthy get wealthier, the poorer stagnate or decline.

I am not promoting a welfare state, however I do believe in a system that porvides a safetty net for the losers in a capitalist system, and one that rewards merit and effort, not position and birthright.

I thought the biggest debt was the one FDR started with his whole Socialistic agenda. He is the Grandfather of Liberals and also a secret communist.

 

[tryreading]

I thought the biggest debt was the one FDR started with his whole Socialistic agenda. He is the Grandfather of Liberals and also a secret communist.

Ronald Reagan extended this socialist (security) agenda until 2017.

Anyway, the party that called the other tax and spend is the party of debt and spend. They have been lying to you for years, "Give us control and we will make government smaller." The other party is no better, though. We need moderates in DC, not republicans and democrats.

 

[danarhea]

I thought the biggest debt was the one FDR started with his whole Socialistic agenda. He is the Grandfather of Liberals and also a secret communist.

The father of Neoconservatism, Irving Kristol, was also a Communist before the merged the concepts of Communism and Conservatism, thus creating the Neocon ideology. In fact, there is nothing Conservative left in Neoconservatism. Kristol himself was a card carrying member of the Communist party.

 

[taxedout]

I dont think the religious left is about exploiting religeon for political ends

:funny
I just laughed so hard, I blew coffee out of my nose and all over my keyboard.

 

[Red_Dave]

ACLU rings a bell on how the left is anti-religious.I do not see any conservatives trying to tear down ten commandments and religious monuments or crosses on war memorials, trying to push gay marriage , trying push only atheist views in the classroom and trying to push homosexual propaganda down the throats of our kids.


Considering what the left is trying to push,yes the religious right has the moral highground.


Capitalism also means that a individual can be successful and improve his situation through hard work and good ideas.

Ild consider dennying the poor access to health care,Running a government at the behest of the rich regardless of its effect on the planet or humanity on the whole and destroying the plannet far more immoral then gay marriage. Its complete hipocrisy to be moraly outragged at gay marriage yet have no intrest whatsoever in preserveing human life.

Capatalism does not allow the individual to improve his/her situation through hard work if there home or farm has been destroyed by a weather conditions perpectuated by global warming. Likewise if the individual isnt payed much and cant go into education there not going to be able to improve their situation very much no matter how hard they work.

 

[justin]

<<<<<<Religious Left?Are you sure there is such a thing.I think you been smoking too much,you do know that **** fries your brain cells?

If there is such a thing as a relgious leftist here is what I believes sums up a relgious leftist.

religious leftist:Most of the OT and NT are bogus except for where we can twist the hell out of some bible verses to say that Jesus advocated socialism and there is no such thing as sin.>>>>

Martin luther King, SCLC, and the abolitionist movement were all left-wing movements that derived inspriration from Christianity.

 

[taxedout]

Ild consider dennying the poor access to health care,Running a government at the behest of the rich regardless of its effect on the planet or humanity on the whole and destroying the plannet far more immoral then gay marriage. Its complete hipocrisy to be moraly outragged at gay marriage yet have no intrest whatsoever in preserveing human life.

Capatalism does not allow the individual to improve his/her situation through hard work if there home or farm has been destroyed by a weather conditions perpectuated by global warming. Likewise if the individual isnt payed much and cant go into education there not going to be able to improve their situation very much no matter how hard they work.

And under a collectivist system, you will be able to get an education, and by dictate will not be able to improve your situation very much, no matter how hard you work.

I vote for taking my chances.

 

[Red_Dave]

And under a collectivist system, you will be able to get an education, and by dictate will not be able to improve your situation very much, no matter how hard you work.

I vote for taking my chances.

Surely being able to get an education is a good thing? Why would you not be able to improve your situation under a collectiveist system?

 

[southern_liberal]

Religious Left?Are you sure there is such a thing.I think you been smoking too much,you do know that **** fries your brain cells?

If there is such a thing as a relgious leftist here is what I believes sums up a relgious leftist.

religious leftist:Most of the OT and NT are bogus except for where we can twist the hell out of some bible verses to say that Jesus advocated socialism and there is no such thing as sin.

I'm religious and I'm a leftist and what you just said does not describe me or the members of my church at all. We don't twist bible verses. If someone quotes a bible verse to us, we read what was written before and what was written after to get the full meaning of the verse. That is something right wing Christians don't do.

I'm very fortunate to have a pastor that can read and write Greek, Latin and Hebrew. During his sermons, he tells us what key words mean in the original language, and it's obvious through hundreds, maybe thousands of translations, the original meaning of words are lost through translation.

Before you take the bible or any ancient manuscript that's been interpreted, and believe whatever a preacher tell you, try and look for someone who can correctly translate the bible.

 

[jamesrage]

I'm religious and I'm a leftist and what you just said does not describe me or the members of my church at all. We don't twist bible verses..

So your telling me that your "church" does not approve of gay marriage,abortion,polygamist marriages,adultery and other sins?