Personal observations.


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In a clever political strategy, a minority of severe free-market capitalists formed an uneasy coalition several years ago with evangelical Christian conservatives. The alliance has produce political leaders such as Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush and policies that favor large corporations and wealthy individuals.

In return for making possible this shift away from capital redistribution, safety nets and government regulations the Christian conservatives received mediocre support for moving Christian mores into our legal code.

It has always seemed to me that this was a distinct sale of the soul of Christianity to the devil of personal greed.

However, after talking with my older sister and listening to some other conservative friends I realize that this unholy alliance was made in something of an unplanned desparation. Some Christians feel attacked by the progress of inclusion and tolerance in our society. Allowing women to choose a medical procedure some Christians view as being infanticide makes these Christians feel they are a part of accepting this practice as a moral option.

Granting normal freedoms such as protection against discrimination and the enjoyment of legal marital status to that part of society describing itself as gay and lesbian makes these Christians, once again, feel they are being forced into approving of these relationships and unions.

Many of these Christians are as appalled at the blatant greed in today's corporate leaders and the grab for money and power exhibited by corporations as companies and their wealthy officers and large investors as individuals. This financial faction calls itself conservative but they now border on fascist and at the very least should be recognized as radical individualists. They seem to believe that nothing should hinder the continued growth of personal wealth or market dominance. Though the personally wealthy and powerful form the core of this group, they are joined by a large number of people who view the government as an outside force over which they have no control. If market forces must be limited to ensure opportunity for all and to enforce safety and environmentally-friendly practices, and if that limitation must be enforced by government agents then this second group of people are automatically against it, even if their situations are improved by the regulations.

The extreme free market people don't make a national majority. They needed the religious groups that could give no more freedom on certain mores. The core group of new conservatives, this greedy bunch who fights for freedom to expand their economic dominance, has no concern at all to embed evangelical values into our secular code of law. They pretend to be concerned to maintain their weak partnership with the evangelical voting block.

On the other hand, the moderate liberals, progressives and radical liberals stand firm on tolerance of diversity and protection of the financially and socially weak and disadvantaged. Evangelicals would gladly partner with the moderate liberals, and often do, in order to apply their values of social support, but they fear that the continued tolerance of other cultures, religions and personal life choices will eventually result in a society that is decidedly anti-Christian.

In fact, my sister said they already see society as being anti-Christian, even though our country is characterized more by Christian cultural values than any other. Even within the Christian spectrum, our country is clearly more evangelical and orthodox than liberal and modern.

This unholy alliance between greedy, self-obsessed capitalists and caring but strict evangelical Christians will be hard to break. We who fear a new oppressive theocracy if we continue to put Christianity directly into our legal codes and integrate Christian expressions into every facet of our secular government can't make the same alliance. We could try to extend a hand as the business faction and wealthy did, but I don't think we could pull off the same insincerety by claiming we will seek to promote their values if they will support our efforts to protect the disadvantaged, protect the environment and force companies to be responsible for faulty products and unsafe working conditions. We can't lie like the other side did because tolerance of gays and lesbians is a part of our core values. Support for individuality and privacy in our sexual relations, our reproductive options or our world views is a plank we cannot simply turn our backs on.

We can continue to grow our partnership with more moderate and liberal Christians. These Christians still hold fast to the old traditions of separation of church and state. They may or may not approve of homosexuality and abortion but they understand they cannot always force their views on a diverse society.

I'm sorry that the more severe factions of Christianity have chosen to make this alliance with people who don't support some of their most traditional values, but they have. We will have to continue fighting for tolerance and personal freedoms without them.

posted by Unknown at 11:21 AM