Now Democrats Embrace Fundamentalism

ndbiker

Just for edification. The US is not a democracy. We are a republic and do not have referendums on every action of our government. Our referendums come when we elect those who represent us and our chief executive officer. Our government has changed in significant ways since its founding, most notably in the amount of power held by the federal government in relation to the state governments. The seventeenth amendment to our constitution allowed for the direct election of senators (they previously had been appointed by the state legislatures). While this may seem to be a good idea, its affect was to remove state governments representation in the federal government. The senators now answer and cater to constituents rather than their governments. Since this change the power of the federal government has ballooned and the states in many ways are relegated to being the administrators of federal programs. The tenth amendment has been largely ignored ("all powers not specifically given to the federal government shall be the pervue of the states - I paraphrase). Many issues which we consider contentious, abortion, social welfare, social security, health care, etc. are issues which a hundred years ago our federal government would not have considered touching as it was not power granted them by the constitution. Since it is now in the politicians interest to involve the federal government in these issues the states authority has been essentially usurped. I can't speak to the British form of government as I have only a basic understanding of your parlimentory government. Sorry for my ramble.

Carrera

No need to apologise. The post was informative and well written.

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WilliamK1974

There has always been interest in the religious beliefs of political figures in this country. Think about how it was considered somewhat noteworthy and controversial that JFK was the first Roman Catholic president. This scrutiny seems to have increased in the last 25 years. Fundamentalist Christians started taking a greater interest in politics due to such things as legalized abortion and taking prayer out of the public schools. They believed that the best course of action was to try and bring about change, so they started running for local offices, then branched out to bigger things. They gained some power and got re-elected, and discovered that their mentions of faith seemed to strike a chord with the electorate.

Because of that, it's not considered an election faux pas to talk candidly about matters of faith. From reading a book titled "Watching The English," I've found that the opposite is true over there. Mentioning religion while seeking votes would get a candidate little more than suspicious looks from the electorate. Tony Blair may be a devout Anglican Christian, but he doesn't talk about it much. Faith is a private matter over there. He's not a politician, but one of my favorite UK TV presenters is Alan Titchmarsh. He's reputed to be a devout Christian, but rarely talks about it. Unless he was hosting "Songs of Praise," I wouldn't expect to hear any mention of his faith.

The Democrats over here seemed pretty quiet last election about faith and religion. It's hard not to think that they saw themselves as too good for that sort of thing. The only thing I remember hearing from the Kerry camp was that he was Catholic, and there was a bit of attention to how he was Catholic and supported legalized abortion.

This is in no way meant to say that I don't think that Democrats can be people of faith, but their sudden attempts at Christian one-upmanship seem kind of cynical and hollow to me. Sort of like, "Well, it worked for Bush last time, so maybe we need to do that too." Even better would be, "Maybe if you mention God enough some of those Red State hicks will vote for us next time and put more Blue States on the map."

I have to disagree with the notion that Christianity as a whole is becoming stronger in the US. The politicians may talk about it more, but I think the Christian church as a whole has little influence, and what influence it has lessens every year. Church attendence figures may not be the most accurate measure, but the only time in the 20th century that saw significant increase was a ten to fifteen year period following WWII. The numbers have gone down ever since.

nns1400

If Ali's religious beliefs are so private, then why do you know what they are?

Also, perhaps you aren't being tolerant, if the voicing of religious beliefs by political candidates is "worrying" to you. It's just pandering anyway. During the Clinton years, we were subjected to watching him walk out of church every Sunday with a Bible in his hand, holding Hillary's hand, especially whenever he was in "trouble." Come to think of it, they never show Bush leaving church.

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TEXAS_NORSEMAN

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