Young Evangelicals Abandoning GOP Over Iraq, Economy

Seattle Times:

Michael Dudley is the son of a preacher man.

He's a born-again Christian with two family members in the military. He grew up in the Bible Belt, where almost everyone he knew was Republican. But this fall, he's breaking a handful of stereotypes: He plans to vote for Democrat Barack Obama.

"I think a lot of Christians are having trouble getting behind everything the Republicans stand for," said Dudley, 20, a sophomore at Seattle Pacific University.

Dudley's disenchantment with the GOP isn't unique among young, devoutly Christian voters. According to a September 2007 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 15 percent of white evangelicals between 18 and 29, a group traditionally a shoo-in for the GOP, say they no longer identify with the Republican Party. Older evangelicals are also questioning their traditional allegiance, but not at the same rate.

Read the whole story: Seattle Times

Comments

[DeWayne]

I am a 72 year-old white male Christian that is encouraged hearing that young Christians are not yoking themselves to either political party. Also besides the wisdom and knowledge of God, have apparently understood the warning to become as wise as the serpent/snake, understood by the secular as becoming informed about the enemies strength and schemes.

I would encourage that they not be misled with teaching (error) out of context demanding they do not judge (retributively), because they as new spiritual-man are commanded to judge in all matters (discipleship).

The world and certainly this nation has watched with some anger the corruption of the (false) majority Christian church, it would be wise for the true Christian to prepare for persecution. Certainly secular America are justified to some extent that the teachings of Christ were misused by the anti-Christ (false Christians), and that leaders in the true church were to fearful to sound strong warning to all.

a warning to secular world, don't you realize the Presidential has little consequence (although purposely all you've heard), and the Congressional race is of paramount importance (and why you are being told nothing or extremely little). Don't you remember the important year 2006, when the most important election was Congress, to vote in men and women that wold return this nation to the citizens. Well, it is still the most important issue in the secular world, so your anger against Christians should now broaden to encompass also the secular America.

[djthedj]

I'd hardly call 15% "Abandoning". What a bogus story, the moron sheep will continue to vote for the destruction of America in huge numbers.

[abromber]

"Moron sheep." Is that any way to refer to your fellow Republicans? Granted, they are voting for the destruction of America in large numbers, but that all stops when Obama takes office in January.

[Rippinit]

LOL. If that happens you'll see...

Jimmy Husein Carter the 2nd. Only this time they will have nuclear bombs when they take advantage of our president/democrat congress' clueless naivety.

Who needs to listen to the phone calls of Muslim extremists? Who needs to infiltrate the governments of Middle East countries? Who needs to force mass murderers to tell where they hid their nukes? We'll talk to them... BOOOM!!!!!

Oh.

[loki]

I guess the younger evilgelicals are not satisfied with Neo Con Greed and seek a higher , more obsessive and greed driven path. I mean, if the support the greed and elitist party for this long, you know they have not all of the sudden gained a conscience. It can only be they have surpassed their party in its greed driven ways and want more bang for their vote.

[Redrover666]

I am glad that liberal commenters feel 15% is well worth celebrating. However, it would seem to indicate that 85% disdain the Democrats.

Statistically, Democrats are wealthier and more educated than Republicans.
How does that equate to the party of greed and elitism?

[BlackWidowPilot]

"Statistically, Democrats are wealthier and more educated than Republicans.
How does that equate to the party of greed and elitism?"

Care to quote your source(s) for this?

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[stagebandman]

I am Christian and an Obama supporter. I have been horrified by the "representation" of Christianity by the white house. Bush wears his religion on his sleeve, but he's been responsible for more death and destruction than any president in my lifetime, maybe ever. He has shown no tolerance for the sick, poor or disenfranchised, and anyone with a different view has been vilified. This man says he's born again, but one night of atonement after a lifetime of drunken debauchery does not make one pious. I've lost many of my friends, as they blindly followed the fundamentalist agendas that brought this administration into power. They are blinded by their perceived notions that they are following God's path, but a loving God cannot be satisfied with what has transpired the last 8 years. It's time to look toward a spiritual man, rather than a religious one. And Barack Obama is that man. He will lead with Christian ideals, but knows what the world is like, and understands that our role should not be a religious power. We believe in the individual. This country does not need faith-based initiatives, it needs people-based programs. We can start getting our American spirit back by having something people of all religions can believe in, a president who represents the whole country. A president who will govern, rather than moralize. A president who will be respected worldwide, not laughed at. The man has this Christian's vote. I hope he has yours.

[Rippinit]

So you are Obama who voted to allow blenders to be put in the brains of full term babies that are half born???

[BatMasterson]

babies that endanger the life of the mother jackass...

[myersms]

You religious people need to go to your churches ,and worship your lord,and keep it a private matter between you and your God,because I for one am sick and tired of your pious hypocritical condemnations of others that don't share your "SILLY SUPERSTITI­ON".Furthe­rmore the Republican voting right-wing evangelicals truly show they are only pseudo christians ,simply for the fact they vote for the most unethical,ill morale,political party there is.Does this ring a bell for you "BRINGING IN THE SHEEVES".

[Rippinit]

This is a free country and I don't have to keep my beliefs quiet.

Calling the Bible "silly superstition" and persisting in that belief is wrought with inherent risk. Ever hear of Hell?

There has been more attention lately given to the real Mt Sinai site found in Saudi Arabia since multiple Biblical archaeologists have jumped the fence erected by the Saudi Government and taken pictures. Egypt has also confirmed the existence of Egyptian army remnants on the underwater land bridge found in the middle of the Gulf of Aqaba/Red Sea.

http://www.wyattmuseum.com/red-sea-crossing.htm

http://www.bibleplus.org/discoveries/mtsinai.htm

[myersms]

Yes ,I believe I have heard of it,I think it was threatened against me when I was only a small child going to church years ago.But now that I think about it I believe I remember some other fictional characters and places during my childhood,like Santa Claus,The Easter Bunny,Toothe Fairy,heav­en,hell,et­c.So whats your point???Have you ever seen or been to any of these places???
I believe urban legend has alot to do with the beliefs you have mistaken to be facts.In the days of your scripture I'm sure the majority of the population was'nt very educated,so it was easy to control and rule by the all mighty interventi­on.Sound familar??maybe the Republican party in modern days.
Also I don't want my laws and legislation to be based on superstition,I want it based on merit,integrity,and morale and ethical values,not cult like fantasy.

[myersms]

Its obvious you're pretty much brainwashed to put it as nicely as possible.A­nd since you are such a devout religious person I would think you might be interested in maybe moving to the Middle East,I hear they are devoutly religious over there also.I would assume the mandatory calls to prayer 5 or 6 times a day would just be your thing.I hope you have a "REALLY GOOD TRIP" over there,so be good and keep your head in the sand as long as you live.
BYE NOW

[KHAAANNN]

Which Hell? (Lets just deal with the Abramic religions here to keep it simple for you;)
The Catholic one(s)
The Greek Orthodox one(s)
The Coptic one(s)
The Protestant one(s)
The Anglican one(s) (though they are a little vague on the subject)
The Baptist one (most of them are not bright enough to handle more than one)
The Mormon one(s)
The Pentecostal one (see Baptist above)
The Shia Islamic one(s)
The Sunni Islamic one(s)
There isn't any Hell per se in Jewish dogma, so I guess they are exempt since they are God's chosen people. (How does that work?)
Be specific now. As a secular humanist, I need you to speak clearly and rationally since I am not deeply versed in Bible-babel.

[jeremydbrooks]

Golly, any Indiana Jones sightings?

(dances around kicking sand and singing "Je-HO-Vah! Je-HO-Vah!")

By the by, if you're going to link to "research", you may want to find something a little more credible than Bible Museums...

[loki]

I would agree with some of what you say. The bible says God gave mankind free will. So you can believe in organized religion out of your personal free will. But that does not give you the right to go against others inherent free will by trying to shove your personal beliefs down everyone elses throats.
If you think it does, then it also gives others who do not believe the same as you the free will to fight back against you until you stop.

[Redrover666]

What has been being forced down your throat?

[GoodwithWood]

Good. They can go form a third party and call it the 6,000 year club.

[loki]

Pat Robertson tried it, so did Huckabee. They tried to reach the white house by surfing the bible. Kind of like Bush did, and he only became a Christian to get the votes. Just like he only bought his texas ranch about 1 year before he ran for Gov of Texas. Before that he lived mostly on the East Coast.
But back to the point, almost overwhelmingly , religion does not sit well among the voter who actually elects the president. And I do not mean voters like you and me who pretend to vote for president. I am talking about the corporations and elitist who actually decide who will run, and most of the time, who will win.

[vandegrasse]

Maybe they see the GOP leading us quickly to the end.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tbpyQkfIg7o

[lungfish]

If Christians are against abortion, thats great. That does not give them a mandate to tell everyone else how to live.
The GOP, however, has decided that the Christian vote is worth pandering to so they patronize by offering an anti-abortion plank to attract their vote. Then they get them riled up to go out to vote GOP.
The truth of the matter though is that while the GOP is anti-abortion it is also against social services, health care, etc... it does not care about that mother that will no longer have the choice to raise the child or not. It leaves that to the "faith based institutio­ns".... The GOP truly doesn't give a damn about her or their Christian constituents beyond getting their vote. Further, the Christian right wing doesn't care about her either... they are fanatically motivated to shove their beliefs down everyone's throats and unless she is Christian herself she is very, very unlikely to get any help raising the child she was forced to bear even if that child is a product of rape or incest....
They call it "Compassionate Conservatism". I call it just another GOP ploy to stay in power for their corporate masters by manipulating people's beliefs.

[Rippinit]

Ever think that people sincerely think that killing half born babies is utterly wrong???

[klmebane]

i think killing half born babies is wrong. i also understand that those kinds of abortions make up LESS THAN 5% OF THE TOTAL ABORTIONS PERFORMED IN THIS COUNTRY! and they aren't used as birth control. they are far too expensive for that. people who use abortion for birth control want the cheap ones. which means before 10 weeks gestation. partial birth abortions are only used if absolutely necessary.­.. and they don't generally wait for labor to begin, they induce labor. because the pregnancy continuing any farther will kill the mother. you want abortion to end? how about supporting policies that make it easier to have and care for a child? or you could invent some kind of porta-womb, where a woman can have the cells removed and placed in it. then a machine can gestate the baby and the woman who didn't want it doesn't have to be bothered.

[Rippinit]

Or how about this?

We don't need more oil, we need alternative energy sources. Uhh? Hello? What do trucks run on? That's right, DIESEL! The infrastructure of our economy runs on DIESEL! There is no such thing as an economical way to fuel trucks or trains on solar power, hydrogen, or nuclear power. We need oil!

Are Hybrid cars the answer? NO! They still need oil! Are electric cars the answer? NO! They still need coal! Tough decisions need to be made. I would love to see hydrogen powered cars become mainstream, but we are a long ways off from that. We need oil or our country will suffer more and MORE!

[530Rose]

One answer for ya. Trains. Trains can ship hundreds of tons of freight on a fraction of the energy (of whatever sort). Freight trains also make the highways safe from exhausted truckers who drive for hours with little sleep (maybe a little help from methamphetamines) not even stopping to pee, as evidenced by the numerous bottles of urine littering the sides of our freeways. Freight trains will eliminate hundreds of accidents every year. Shipping by rail will stop the destruction of our highways by 16 wheelers with chains on tearing up the concrete. The country is crisscrossed with train tracks that would require very little to get them useful again. At least in the western states, these tracks are rarely used. Shipping by train is like using a carpool for freight. Yep, trains is the way to go. We need to think about eliminating the need for diesel, not how best to get more of it.

[TheBlackCat]

Oil is an intregal part of our lives that is involved in every facet of our existance. It is also a fact that there will be no oil left in the world in another generation. And in much less than that, the only countries that will have oil will be OPEC nations like Saudi Arabia or Venezuela that have no problen witholding it from the rest of us if they see fit.

Oil has served us well as no other energy source has, but it's RUNNING OUT. Even the biggest oil optimists in the world think 2035 is the absolute latest oil will peak, and it could peak as early as 2015. We have to start looking for alternatives now. If we just wait until it's gone, there will be a world crisis unlike anything we've ever seen.

[TheBlackCat]

Rip- there ISN'T more oil. It's a finite resource. If you don't want to look for alternatives to oil NOW, what do you think is going to happen when it's gone?

Or maybe you just don't care, hey, your kids will have to deal with it, not you!

[loki]

You can run trucks trains and buses on coal oil. The germans did it for year to keep the war going. Its possible, its not that hard to do, and they say we have a couple hundred year supply of coal sitting under our lands. So you could remove a lot of the oil. Its just how you treat change that is the problem. Along with environmental and since most of the oil comes from other countries , we dont care as its not destroying out back yard. Like Iraq, most people are not very upset as they should be, and would be if the same thing was happening here. But as its thousands of miles away and we only see what were allowed to see on TV for 5 minutes each night, we dont really care. Out of sight , out of mind. We are only upset about oil now because it has cut into our pocket books. If it was still a buck 25 a gallon, we would never even be considering alternative.

[MajorKong]

Unless you think that God's going to put more oil in the ground, we're going to hit peak production sometime, if we haven't already. The most optimistic estimates are that we will hit peak in 25-30 years, and I repeat that those are the optimists.

So even if we assume that peak is going to hit in 25 years, that's not a very long time to start switching over to other sources.

Note: in Europe they have trains that run on electricity generated by nuclear power plants. So yes you can (indirectly) run a train on nuclear, solar or wind power.

[Tyrione]

Unbeknownst to the patrons the Son of a Preacher Man sleeps in a nightshirt that says, ``Bros before Hos,'' on it. It makes him feel guilt free.

[Riker]

What is missing from this forum is in asking what the Bible says about abortion - which is that it is acceptable. The Temple priests gave pregnant women a potion that would abort a fetus if the baby wasn't the father's (should the father doubt the woman was faithful). If the fetus survived, it was the husband's. If it died she was screwing around on him. It is also stated that the fetus is not a person until it is outside of the woman's body. Outside of that, there is nothing said in the Bible (Hebrew scripture or New Testament) about abortion. So we can surmise that abortion is approved by scripture. And the commandment: "Thou shalt not kill" isn't applicable here, since the priest approved eliminating the fetus and they didn't consider the unborn a viable person yet. If we were really following that line of thought, then Bush wouldn't have gone into Iraq to eliminate so many innocent people - Iraqi AND American (and British, and....) The Bible has an abortion teaching - it is acceptable. Go ahead - ask your priest or minister; they'll tell you this is a fact - if they are truthful.

[Rippinit]

Ridiculous.

Sticking a blender into the head of a half born baby is murder. Nowhere in God's word is the murder of babies condoned.

If the Jewish priests aborted babies (I seriously have my doubts) they did it agianst the will of God like so many other things they did.

[530Rose]

These arguments against abortion argue for an individual life. Consider the butchers who took this country into a war to steal someone elses oil - as John Mc Cain admitted the other day. That amounts to killing tens of thousands of baby's, born and unborn, not to mention their mothers and fathers, as well as ruining their environment, forcing them to live in fear and poverty, and putting US citizens in danger of retaliation. Sorry, but if you vote for a republican (or a Clinton/Leiberman democrat), you are supporting the killing of many more lives than you are by voting for a pro-choice candidate. Providing adequate contraception for everyone is the best way to end abortion.

I can never believe it when I hear about pro-war groups feeling they have the moral high ground by opposing abortion. There is plenty of murder in the bible and plenty of war and killing. It cannot exactly be held up as a moral compass when it comes to life and death and more than the republican party can.

How can you value a born person's life less than an unborn person's life? Dead is dead.

[loki]

Your against abortion, which I can understand , but I still believe in Free Will and it is the right of the mother and her doctor to decide in cases where the health of he mothers and unborn childs life is in danger.
But I dont agree with people being anti abortion, and then turning around and supporting a war that is killing thousands of innocent people. Even if Iraq had anything to do with 911, which we all know they did not, but even if they did, it does not give us the right to take their lives like we have, and we are. But yet overwhelmingly the religious have supported Bush and rethuglicans time and time again. Dont preach one thing and support another. rethugs are the party of greed and killing in the name of personal profit. They worship the dollar and nothing else. Not even life. I dont think many will get through the pearly gates for supporting Bush, rethuglicans, Neo Cons and their killing machine.
What happened to helping the poor, sick and being kind to your fellow mankind? It was replaced by " whats in it for me!"

[klmebane]

so if i say i believe in god, and accept his blood or whatever, i could do ANYTHING and still get into heaven? don't know if thats a place i'd actually want to be.

[Rippinit]

the Bible says nothing about priests killing babies so I surmise if it ever happened it would be found in the Talmund which is considered to be apocryphal.

[Barbarossa03]

It doesn't talk about priests killing babies but it talks about the deaths of the first born.

[GoodwithWood]

I masturbated last night and killed thousands of unborn babies.

[KHAAANNN]

Actually, the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill" is a mis-translation of the Latin, which was translated from the Greek, which was translated from the Hebrew (no chance of errors there eh?)
In the original Hebrew, it translates as "Thou Shalt Not Murder".
It is not only alright to "Kill", it is the demanded punishment for things as heinous as;
Eating shellfish.
Working on the sabbath.
Speaking the name of Yahweh out loud.
Eating Pork.
So, anyone working at or eating at, Red Lobster on Sunday MUST BE KILLED!
After all, it's in the Bible isn't it?

[blueshift]

Not all (of us) evangelicals have for one minute bought into the tooth fairy promises of the 'christian' right, which depends on the unchristian principal of linking politics with theology. Jesus himself separated church and state when he said 'render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's.' What higher authority does one need that exposes the political preachers of the 'christian' right for the money lusting frauds that they are. Wake. Up. America.

[Rippinit]

True, but your not going to vote for a leader who approves of killing half born babies are you???

[MajorKong]

McCain voted to kill Iraqi babies!

[Barbarossa03]

To answer your question below, he and the Majority of Congress were thinking about their the oil wealth and taking care of their corporate constituents like Halliburton.

[saltpeter]

Reverend Wright's comments are as ludicrous as your assertion that somehow "abortion" (which is on the wain, btw) is THE MOST important crisis that our country faces. You're going to have to dig deeper with your argument and prove a) that the Republican Party has done anything to prevent anyone from getting an abortion and b) to acknowledge that there are far greater economic, political, environmental and social concerns that are consistently neglected by the Republican Party in favor of supporting the truly most important special interest of the RIGHT, the corporatists who PAY for their campaigns (not the blind goons who can easily be conned into voting for them). Really, find me ONE quote from the mouth of Jesus that says ANYTHING about abortion and homosexuality (two things that existed in his lifetime). If these issues weren't terribly important for him to run his mouth off about, then why do you think it should be yours? Maybe he was able to see the bigger picture and perhaps you should try as well. Then maybe you'd realise the number that the Republican Party has been pulling on evangelical for over 20 years. Get the sheep to the polls and then hide them back in the closet so that the big boys can do their job of building an empire.

[myersms]

You silly religious people have truly lost all sense of reality .This obsession with this childish superstition,has left you completely daft to the day to day life you lead.You'r­e so concerned about the unborn,but yet its pretty obvious so many of the living are repugnant to you,and you have no compassion or tolerance for people that think differently from you or live lifestyles that are ethical and morale by any reasonable measure,but does'nt conform to your narrow vision of the world.Furt­hermore theres no Republican values that could even be considered to be your so called christian values.

[TheBlackCat]

Rip- I am a Christian and pro life, but don't you understand Republicans kill MORE babies than Democrats.

I am independant for the main reason that I agree with just about every Democratic platform except abortion, but I always vote Democrat because...

More children are killed in Iraq and by the Republicans taking away health insurance for impoverished American children than by abortion.

Both parties kill babies. Republicans kill more.

[ChristianEcon.com]

At some point Christians are going to have to face the fact Jesus was not a warmongering, capitalist (predicated on utter selfishness, selfishness as a "virtue"), nor profiteering promoter of materialism, consumerism, and greed.

But also liberals need to face the fact that killing the unborn is murder.

[Rippinit]

Jesus was a tradesmen as a young man yet he remained sinless.

He also whipped the money changers and remained sinless.

[tsloan]

if he died for all our sins....ho­w could he be sinless?

[summerlight]

In your humble religious opinion.

[saltpeter]

Maybe it's because this generation of YOUNG FUNDAMENTALISTS are finally figuring out that the Republican party only ever courted the religious right in order to secure votes of the easily misled by the use of rhetoric not by actually delivering on any of the promises. At last, evangelicals are finding out what most liberals knew all along, that the Republican Party's main objective is to deliver policies that support the corporate control of the federal government, not to legislate morality. Issues like anti-abortion legislation or anti-gay marriage amendments were not ever going to be delivered by the RNC because a) their unconstitutional b) they deal with laws that are typically under the jurisdiction of state and local legislature and c) they're against the will of the majority of Americans.

There's a reason why Republicans never follow through on these policies once they get elected. If they did, they would have no more ammo to lure evangelicals and they would alienate all other voters. Republicans want to keep these issues unresolved so, in their hour of need--ie. a midterm or Presidential election, they can pull out a state referendum on made up issues like "partial-birth abortion" or "same-sex marriage" that gets peoples to the polls to stop the onslaught of ungodly acts. And while these fundie voters are at the polls, oh yeah, they can vote for that Republican Senator or President who will go on to ignore their issues for another 4-6 years.

[Rippinit]

Young fundamentalists are their own persons. It does not surprise me that a few will go over to the dark side. Jesus said that most people will go down the wide road to destruction.

Some of those young "fundamentalists" will actually become fundamentalists and become saved by the blood of Jesus.

[saltpeter]

Are you referring the "dark side" of the Republican Party as they cater to their most important constituency (corporatists backers) who could care less about opposing abortion, war, stem-cell research, and private prisons because they all make money and who see gay men as better than average consumers and pillaging from the environment is a capitalist's birthright? BUT, see, killing (in all it's forms), injustice, judgement, materialism, and soiling "god's" creation is about as anti-thetical to Jesus' teachings as one can get. Still, the Republicans pander to evangelicals because the mere fact that they are evangelicals and naively believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible proves that they are easily-led. It's easy to pull a con game on people who have already fallen the biggest con in history- organized religion. The fact that the dichotomy between what the Republican preaches and what the party actually does is so much more obvious now than ever before, is what is finally enlightening many amongst the younger religious voters to turn from the party of their parents. They have come to recognize that the Republican Party is not now nor has ever been the only party in America to hold a monopoly on Christian virtues. The Liberals in America who ended slavery, brought about civil rights, objected to misguided wars like Vietnam and Iraq and view themselves as stewards of the environment embody every bit as much of the values of Jesus as Republicans who have believed te opposite.

[ObamaFarmer]

Conservative evangelism's problem is that it is overly preoccupied with condemnation (us vs. them), rather than the harder task of seeking spiritual growth.

Maybe young evangelicals are realizing that as a spiritual path, "hate thy neighbor" is more or less a dead-end.

[Rippinit]

By spiritual growth you refer to the idea of being more tolerant of other's beliefs?

Like it is a new day therefore killing a partially born baby is ok???

Ignore the truth at your own peril foolish one.

[MajorKong]

Silly me. I forgot. It's only OK to kill babies by dropping explosives on them from aircraft. Especially if they're brown and live in another country.

[BlackWidowPilot]

"I have accepted that 30-40% of the Muslims in the Middle East have said in polls that they believe that the entire world must convert to Islam and that force is acceptable in making this happen. Similar numbers have said in polls that moderate Muslims who do not support Islamic Fundamentalism may face death. "

Which means as many as 60-70% do not agree with this. Sounds about right.

Rep, that you believe in American hegemony over the world's resources is transparently evident, all of your religious and anti-abortion rhetoric being merely a facade to drape over your willful support of naked aggression and conquest.

I'm a Military Historian, Rip, and I've heard this music before:

"Gott mit uns!"

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[ObamaFarmer]

There is a recurring theme from the right: younger evangelicals will become conservative with age. Conservatives often claim that conservati­sm=wisdom, and liberalism­=foolishne­ss, since older people tend to be conservative. This claim comes from a belief that age=wisdom.

In my experience, this is not necessarily the case. There is wisdom in youth as well as in age, let us not forget.

Many people think that the ability to build wealth is evidence of wisdom. I'm not going to speak ill of building wealth, except to say that it does influence people's values. The more you have, the more you have to lose. and the more you perceive threats to your wealth from others. Therefore, age has a tendency to make people anti-tax and anti-state, out of fear for their own interests.

As for social conservatism, I feel a lot of that comes from the that the world in which you grew up is no longer there. I don't call that wisdom, I call that alienation. I think that drives a lot of social conservatism these days.

I say all this as an older American who has felt these tendencies toward becoming close-minded, selfish, arrogant, and authoritarian. I think true wisdom requires you to remember humility, to remain open-minded, unprejudiced, and compassionate to all people, however different from yourself.

[Rippinit]

I think the saying goes:

If you are not a liberal democrat when you are young and naive you have no heart.

If you don't change and become a republican as you grow older and wiser you have no brain.

[ObamaFarmer]

Bumper-sticker wisdom. How cute.

Let me add some punctuation.

"If you don't, change and become a republican as you grow older and wiser. You have no brain."

[isis]

Don't crabby old GOPers complain about all of the "intellectuals"? How smart is that?

[Barbarossa03]

I always thought having no brain equated to being Republican.

Also there is a saying "Religion is the opiate of the masses".

[BlackWidowPilot]

"Redrover is right. Barbara has no brain, but she does have an ax to grind since she is self conscious about her irreconcilable beliefs."

And Ripped has only Freudian Projection Behavior, a condition endemic to the authoritar­ian-minded­.

Rip, you are predictable.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[BobEvansZombie]

If age=wisdom, why is it that the supposed adults of the world are the ones always causing the trouble?

When's the last time you saw a child start a war?