Conservative Columnist: "Religion Is Killing The Republican Party"

Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, who received piles of hate mail during the Presidential campaign for questioning Sarah Palin's credentials, has written a column for the Washington Post which also seems likely to court internecine criticism. The piece, entitled, "Giving Up on God," makes a sustained argument that the GOP's courting of the religious vote above all has led the party dangerously astray.

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I'm bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

Keep reading.

Comments

[barackobama4prez]

i was raised in a religious family, so that's not the problem. the problem is the WING NUTS...that take it too far. THEIR God speaks to them and no one else.

[dessertsfirst]

...yes, and THEY are the only ones who KNOw anything.

[rabiddog6708]

Give me a dime for every time a religious person told me that their faith was a "personal" thing and I could take as much vacation time as Bush did as POTUS. If they would only keep it personal and keep it out of other people's lives and our ploitics. But they can't do that. The Repubs needed to replenish the southern racists who were dying off....and here came the bible-toting wingnuts. They wanted lower taxes and smaller government, too, except for the really important issues....like a woman deciding whether or not to carry a child to term.....a brain-dead lady in a coma having the right to die.....if homosexuals could get married....then they wanted gvernment to do the Lord's work. You could invade other countries and kill thousands, spend billions of borowed money, as long as scientists did not use stem cells to cure diseases....or they could have their assault weapons. They have poisoned the GOP.....it's a slow death, but the party is a goner.

[RHCNYC]

Religion Kills Brains.

[tydicea]

Watching the GOP operatives and its candidates in action, one has to wonder what god do they embrace, Baal?

[dessertsfirst]

It's called holding everybody to the "letter of the law".
The love of God has nothing to do with it, which is too bad, since Jesus actually said that the first commandment is to "love your neighbor as yourself". Theirs sure isn't a very attractive religion.

[nomoreofthesame]

The party of hate, guns, anti-gays, and god have made their choice. The rest of us are tired of all the screaming, lies and anti-patriotic c.r.a.p spewing from their unholy alliance.

[jeffp26]

If only people would read our constitution.

We, here, in this country, believe in the separation of church and state. But try telling that to the less rationale, hallucinating bunch.

[tinarm]

Religion is a personal issue. The GOP has used it as part of their platform to dehumanize, anyone who doesn't agree with them. People like Palin, Huckabee, and Gingrich are horrible people. If there is a GOD, I hope he rakes them over the coals when it's all over with.

[nellieh]

I think the Right wingnuts of the Republican party have turned their strict version of Christianity into marketing God on bumpestickers/billboards/illuminated signs. I guess they have a hard core of people who think it is the way to go and keep God/Jesus in every discussion of anything especially politics. People like Rove, Dobson, Falwell, Perkins and their ilk have duped them and they are so far gone it isn't possible for many of them to find their way back because they expect the Apocalypse any minute. These people are brainwashed from birth and become more repressed as they get older. Thank God for athiesism.

[bobdob]

Kathleen Parker is offering the Republican Party salvation. She is 100% correct. The Republicans' decision to go dumpster diving for the votes of intolerant, bigoted evangelicals has nearly destroyed conservatism. The Republicans courted these idiot cretins and now the cretins control the party. If the Republicans don't find themselves a new base, they will be forever condemned to the perdition they have built for themselves. Not that I care. They can all go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

[liberalsrheros]

gop is gonna find it hard too walk away from a block of voters too dumb to know they're being used. let'em burn ;)

[NationalTreasure]

religion is not killing the republican party

the republican party is distorting relgion in their quest for political gain and in doing so they are loosing the hearts and minds of people who of faith -- even the evangelicals who are capable of rational thought and sound reason have seen the light and voted for Barack Obama

[dessertsfirst]

NationalTreasure: very good post; very well said. Thank you.

[midwestblues]

The truth of the Bible never destroys ... It's FALSE religion that destroys as practiced by the GOP.

[CSull2005]

LeiftheLucky - If God is shaking his head at anything - it is the presumptuopus arrogance in your post.

[NeoLiberal]

Ms. Parker is on to something.

The best thing to do is to leave religion in the church, temple, mosque or synagogue where it belongs. It does well there.

It does not do well in the halls of government or the public classroom.

Then politics could actually become a juxtaposition of policies and governing strategies--as it is supposed to be.

There is a large majority of Americans that does not want religion mixed with government.

[CSull2005]

I totally agree.

Belief in a high-power, by whatever name, can be a positive force in one's life. Unfortunately, humanity's "take" on God - as expressed through organized religion, has been a mixed-blessing at best. Instead of humility, compassion, patience and communication - we have large, powerful and long-standing institutions that offer up "negative motivation" to the masses - content to "play God" as they rule through guilt and fear. They offer "after-life insurance" - with the sales pitch, "you can't prove you need it but you can't prove that you don't".

Add to this the atrocities that have been and continue to be committed, supposedly in the "name of God". Death, hatred, division. From the obviously sick like "suicide bombers" to the more passive but highly destructive "preachers" who use their dogma to demonize whole sections of society - for having a different religion, a different skin color, a different sexual orientation or not conforming to their personal beliefs. These people have absolutely nothing to do with God. Their religions, little more than a testament to the power of brainwashing. Their "holy books" reduced to mere propaganda.

I don't know how much destruction it will take for humanity to come around and end this game of "my God's better than your God" - but if history is any indicator, the people claiming to do the most good will in fact be doing most of the harm.

[LeiftheLucky]

Do tell! Do tell!

Maybe the Republicans don't have enough religion, and maybe liberal secularists have too much fear of religion, and that's why they play the theocracy card on the one hand, and claim Christians have destroyed Republicanism on the other. Either way, the appearance is liberal victory, and all the while, God shakes his head.

http://allanerickson.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/theophobia-and-persecution/

[tomjones44]

?

what on earth are you talking about?

try not to generalize so much

[ManwithaParachute]

I remember those who liked to say Jesus is a Republican....
Does this make Jesus a loser or did he switch party affiliation?
If he is not a loser does that mean he supports choice?

[Luschnig]

If the GOP gives up on the god stuff, who's going to vote for them? After a whole generation of espousing nothing more than fetuses and despising gays, they are now inextricably stuck with those savages who dance around their bonfires on Sundays praising ghosts, gods and goblins. Their supercharged Southern strategy managed over the years to alienate the last remnants of respectability in the Republican party. So now who, is a Republican? Either a criminal capitalist or a deluded Christian; McCain and Palin are the only Republicans. And any thoughts of reviving the grand old party by tinkering with its cosmetics is as futile as trying to reanimate a corpse.