An Open Letter to All Republicans From a Former Religious Right Activist

Dear Republicans: This election all Republicans who love America must vote for Obama. A vote for business-as-usual and a continuation of the Neoconservative/Religious Right/ party of corporate American alienation is a vote against America. As a former Republican activist, I appeal to your patriotism and honor.

Unless you haven't been paying attention to the recent history of the Republican Party you will know that today Republican ideology and energy is derived from three sources:

* The Religious Right,

* The Neoconservative Movement,

* Corporate business interests.

You also should know that when it comes to the Religious Right my late father and evangelist, Francis Schaeffer, was the intellectual voice that made it happen. As his young sidekick (in the 70s and 80s) I helped take his message to a huge evangelical audience.

I mention this by way of saying that even if you hate my guts -- for having dropped out of the Republican Party, for writing novels that make fun of you, and for reregistering as an independent voter, let alone for supporting Senator Obama -- perhaps you should listen up. I happen to know what I'm talking about.

So let's look at the three power centers that drive the Republican Party today.

The Religious Right
The Religious Right came about for one reason and one reason only: it was a reaction to Roe v. Wade and the legalization of abortion in 1973. The Supreme Court essentially created the culture wars. (A state-by-state approach to legalizing abortion would have been better and resulted in much the same situation we have today in terms of the availability of abortion.) Take Roe out of the political mix and there would be no Religious Right.

That said -- certain power-hungry individuals (Dobson, Falwell, Robertson, Rove, Reed et al.) took the energy of our original pro-life movement and used it to build a hate campaign reminiscent of the early momentum that drove European Fascist parties in the mid-1920s through the mid-1940s. Fear of the "other" gays, immigrants, intellectuals, artists, the media, feminists, etc., morphed into a general critique of "the elite" which turned out to be anyone with an education or even big city dwellers. The Religious Right became a crude populist movement pitting the resentful rubes against the rest.

Take a hard look at yourselves. Play back this year's Republican convention and you'll see an all-white crowd of people screaming for offshore oil drilling -- fat lot of good that will do! more carbon! more polution! -- and essentially reacting like starved hyenas when presented with a piece of juicy carrion. At the convention Sarah Palin and others produced nothing more than a snide list of smart ass put downs aimed at the really dumb, with so little substance that former conservatives such the late William F. Buckley, for instance (let alone my late father) would simply have been ashamed to be in your company. You have become a hate-filled rabble proud of your ignorance and resentful of the rest of your own country, resentment that's exceeded only by your maudlin (and false) sense of victimhood.

People that hate half the population of their own country can scarcely be called patriots. On the contrary, people who exult in mocking as their only way to "contribute" to solving our huge environmental, energy, military and economic problems are true subversives.

The smell emanating from your convention was that of a beer hall putsch circa 1930s, not anything remotely like participation in a democracy. Now you all know what it felt like to be in a lynch mob minus the hanging. You should be ashamed. But shame is something that apparently Republicans are no longer capable of feeling, at least when you get together in a mob.

If you could feel shame there would have been a series of contrite public apologies at your convention for the incredible fiasco of non-governing that has typified the Bush administration. My pension, other people's pensions, our homes, jobs and economy are in chaos because of you. Young Americans are dying in Iraq because of you. The world is a more dangerous place because of you. America is hated because of you. Yes, that is you personally. I blame all of you.

You are the people who gave us eight years of Bush. My Marine son fought in his wars. Cowards, where were most of your sons and daughters? The President's daughters were getting arrested for under age drinking and harassing their Secret Service detail. The rest of you were shopping.

Far from saying you're sorry for the state our country is in you're trying to change the subject by reviving a culture war that has nothing to do with the principled fight against abortion of the 1970s that my dad and I began, and everything to do with simply hating people not like yourselves. The ultimate irony is that you're doing this in the name of Jesus Christ, someone, by the way, whom I try to follow as a Christian. You have become blasphemers by dragging our Lord into your political games.

The Republican Party and the Religious Right have become "Christian" warmongers who applaud the use of torture, start needless wars, fight against civil rights for gays and other disadvantaged Americans, and perhaps worst of all, in terms of the long-term impact, have literally turned your hands against God's creation.

You have a little fool for a vice presidential candidate who says she doesn't believe that human beings have anything to do with the phenomena of global warming and the endangering of all human life on this planet. Dream on. This fool claims to know what she knows because of an absolute "I don't blink" confidence in herself. So on top of everything else this fool who says she is a Christian, proves she is not. She lacks any shred of decent humility, the most basic biblical virtue.

The Neoconservative Movement
Let's be honest: the Neoconservative Movement is nothing more than an kill-all-the-Arabs, pro-Israel-at-any-cost, morally bankrupt lobby that actually turns out to be anti-Israel. Why? Because taken to the logical conclusion the neoconservative's position on everything--from illegal West Bank settlements, to making war on Iran, not to mention the absolutely useless waste of life that's taken place in Iraq, warlike preparations against Syria and just about every other Middle Eastern country, no, scratch that, every other country in the world--puts Israel in worse jeopardy than ever before.

Fortunately for everyone, it seems that most Israelis "get" this, as well as most Jewish Americans (who vote Democratic) even if a few Neoconservative Jews, most Evangelicals and all the other Republican zealots don't. (Most Jews also know that the idiot fringe so-called Christian Zionists like Rev., Hagee, are no friends to Israel, rather they are perpetuating a doomsday nineteenth century Armageddon/ "Rapture" cult that wants to use the Jews as cosmic "End Times" cannon fodder.)

Get it through your thick heads: a state of permanent war between the West, including Israel and the United States, and the Muslim world is a war that Israel will eventually lose. Do the demographic math!

Republicans: You have been tricked and misled by; Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, John Bolton, Elliott Abrams, Robert Kagan, Michael Ledeen, William Kristol, Frank Gaffney, Jr. Dick Cheney. These neofools have unwittingly set in motion the destruction of Israel (probably in our lifetimes) and have maybe killed America too. Bastards! Republicans: It will be remembered that you embraced these world-hating self-deluded paranoid blabberers and made their twisted sound-bite polemics your own.

Those who, like me, actually believe that Israel has the right to exist should look on the Neoconservatives listed above with the same loathing that we look back on the idiots who goaded Europe into World War I, also in the name of "nationalism," "democracy" and "freedom."

Belligerent posturing is not a policy, it is idiocy. You Republicans have become the party of perpetual fear and aggressive non-provoked war, seeing enemies where there are none and/or provoking former friends to become our enemies, and/or faking reasons for war and/or wasting our soldier's blood in places such as Afghanistan, where our cause was just but you fumbled the ball.

Your moron vice presidential candidate is still at it! While turning her son's deployment to war into a flag-dishonoring political circus stunt she repeated the Bush lie and said that her son was going off to fight the perpetrators of 9/11. This is a barefaced lie and you all know it. Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack. The only reason we attacked them is because the fools listed above decided it would be good for Israel and our stupid "president" went along.

Now you belligerent asses are supporting the same idiot (McCain) that helped bring us Iraq. He is now champing at the bit to revive the cold, and maybe a hot war with Russia! Have you gone mad? Can't you see you have an old foolish semi-senile man mired in the bathos of post-Vietnam "we were denied victory" psychosis for a candidate? Don't you know that Bush has made us weak?

You Republicans did to our military what the USSR could not do: demoralize it, stretch it beyond breaking and set it back decades. And now you want MORE wars?!

Corporate Business Interests
The Republican Party claims traditional values. It has propagated a laissez-faire attitude toward corporate interests and has -- literally -- stood back and encouraged the rape of the earth. You are the party of the earth-hogging SUV. You have literally sowed the wind and reaped the hurricanes.

This is as self-defeating as it is embarrassing for those claiming the moral high ground, particularly those who say that their philosophy represents traditional Judeo-Christian values. We all live here for crying out loud! Will you now fight our God and Creator too for the "right" to burn the last drop of oil while on a weekend jaunt to nowhere in your all-terrain piece of garbage?

Conclusion
The Republican problem is a systemic disparagement of government, community, faith in our institutions, family, God's creation and the mitigating institutions that put a check on something any party aligned with a religious movement should know all about: sin. Greed is not the only problem. Human weakness and stupidity (i.e., "sin") is the problem! And the genius of the American system is supposedly that we have a system of checks and balances to mitigate our fallen state. You have destroyed those checks and balances.

Bush felt no guilt about promoting completely unqualified people to high posts merely on the basis of social, ideological or political connections. I'll take that a step further: I don't think Bush ever wanted the government to work. You Republicans hate our government as bitterly as our terrorist enemies do. You have been trying to deconstruct it. Since the government is seen as the enemy of freedom by you, if it doesn't work so much the better!

We have met the enemy and he is us! When Islamists tried to destroy our country by flying planes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Towers, we rightly called them terrorists. When the Republicans in the Congress and the White House set about destroying our country, our standing in the world, our military and our economy, but much more effectively, you called them statesmen. It is time for all Americans -- including all you who are patriotic Republicans -- to sweep away these putrid earth-consuming, family killing, government bashing "me" worshipping individualistic fools--that or to watch our country be swept away by them. We can't afford eight more years of this willful ignorance. Obama in 2008!

Frank Schaeffer is the author of CRAZY FOR GOD-How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back.
NOW IN PAPERBACK

Follow Frank Schaeffer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/frank_schaeffer

Comments

[Fightnmad]

Thank you, Frank. I share a similar story, and I learned the Truth of the neocon agenda around the '04 "election". On a personal whim, I studied 9/11 for over 8 months, daily. I was introduced to the PNAC, which has changed my life forever.

I have contact with Repub family members who were shanghaied into voting repub based on the GOP claims of being the "Party of Compassion" (nothing could be further from the truth), the "Party of Morality" (disgustingly laughable in the face of their public sexual indiscretions), and "God's Own Party" (yeah, riiight, Jesus is a Republican). I share my personal situations as an RN that have left me in tears since the Bush Admin has come into being--namely the economic reality of how the most ill, the elderly, the downtrodden are barely able to exist. They KNOW I speak the Truth, as several of them are going through Bush's Economic Horror Show in real time.

IMPORTANT POINT: You MUST be registered as a Democrat to have your vote count for Obama, otherwise it falls to the wayside as statewide "electoral college votes", as these are based on voter PARTY registration alone. The presidential elections have nothing to do with popular votes.

Thank you, Frank Schaeffer, and thank God for you.

[ceu]

Fightnmad, your "important point" is UNTRUE. The electoral college votes are based on the popular votes in each state - the party affliation of the voters has NOTHING to do with them. (The requirements for the general election are based on the US Constitution, which makes no mention of political parties.) The majority of voters in the US are not associated with a political party - we don't disregard their votes based on that. Your party affliation counts ONLY in the primaries.

[Sporadicus]

*SIGH*

As evidenced by the knowledge level of some low-information voters, our educational system has some glaring deficiencies, doesn't it?

[bdaved]

I believe I understand something of what Mr. Schaeffer must've felt writing this. I try to stay civil, to not judge, to not be a mocker, to mind the beam in my own eye, and too often fail. But all those words I read and heard all my life about humility are always in the back of my mind. I think writing this must've been a solemn task for him in that respect, if cathartic and even exhilarating in other respects. So I won't celebrate or congratulate him for having done it. But I'll thank him heartily for speaking what I agree is the truth. Maybe this will help me find the balance, and the way, to speak more of this truth myself. Thank you, Mr. Schaeffer.

[fliptopbox]

and THAT'S the name of that tune!!

AMEN and thank you!!

[obamanation31]

Thank you Mr. Schaeffer. I feel the same way.

"The definition of insanity is doing something the same way... while expecting a different result." - Albert Einstein -

[erin2008]

Thank you, Frank. Great article and too scary to fathom why so many people are part of that.

Strong article for people- other than just us- to read and if it sinks in with even some of the people, that will be stupendous.

I sent the article to my mother to hand out to her friends. Maybe some one will read it and not tear it up.

[Skepticat]

Thanks Mr Shaeffer for improving our understanding of America's Taliban.

[maveman]

Bravo--pugs should take this essay to heart-when they find out they have one!!

[slc1950]

Great article. Thank you. I share your rage.

To me the best visual of those rotten bastards you described was Katrina - all wrapped up in one episode. The Bush/bastard government showed EXACTLY how great it was and what it thought of its most vulnerable people and area. No one is EVER held accountable in that group, no one.

Even now with the horrendous economic news, the CEO's will still make out. Imagine the nerve of Carli Fiorino saying ANYTHING about anything after she decimated HP and was able to contractually walk away with 42 million dollars. McCain allowed her to be his spokesperson!

You need to be ashamed Senator McCain. Very very very ashamed. I already lost all respect for you and now it's going into minus minus minus.

[RIChris]

An open letter to Democrats:

http://stoprepublicans.blogspot.com/2006_05_19_archive.html

[unite4change]

RIChris - It may have been like that yesterday but today is certainly isn't. The republicans I see and hear are hateful, divisive, disrespectful, greedy, namecaller, noneclusive and they prey on ingorance and bigotry. You can see the hate on this site. Although, I admit every republican is this way, but it seems a large part of them are.

[sceneandherd]

I'm printing this out and giving it to my grandmother.

Amazing, seriously, thank you for sharing.

[SShaw490]

I guess the most enigmatic quote from my favorite Christian personality - Rich Mullins - was, "I used to think there would be political solutions, but now I don't. So now I'm thankful to people like Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford for showing me the truth: That all governments, without exception, are anti-Christ and anti-life.­"

Power always corrupts. Always. Power always causes the powerful to lose their own ideals, and eventually even their own humanity. Power causes people to elevate themselves in their own minds and simultaneously become curiously sub-human in terms of stupidity and cruelty. I think Obama will fare better than most because he has more inherent wisdom than most, but the day after the election is won, he'll be subject to the same forces that corrupted the Republican party. He should make it his top agenda item - To look every day at the disgusting, disastrous train wreck that the Republican party became and realize that there, but for the grace of God, goes the Democratic party. And there's where the Democratic party will go unless it is treated with a heaping helping of humility.

But the first thing is to elect the person who will clearly do the best job as president - which is absolutely, positively Barack Obama, hands down, no comparison.

[missnina]

i have never said this to anyone before in my life but...bles­s you sir.

[jeffinseattle]

The Republicans (aka the Religious Right) continue to dig our Country
into the abyss. McCain/Palin preaching to the choir. I'm dumbstruck at the
poll numbers and why Obama/Biden are not wiping-the­m-off-the-­floor???
The Religious Right ( Bible Only Crowd) will never change. They are
toadies-to­-the-pulpi­t vis a vis The Republican Party.

Obama/Biden08

[NoSillyName]

Bravo! Thank you, Mr. Schaeffer. Your open letter belongs full-page in every publication in our country. Or mailed to every registered republican. Somehow they must get the message before its too late.

I plan to forward this to every republican in my family, though I doubt they will read it. I encourage others here to send it to those who need to read

The America the founders dreamed of, the America men & women have fought and died for, our America is in great danger.

[Shieldmaiden]

Finally. Someone has put the rage I hurl daily at my television perfectly. Brilliantly said.