No Room at the Democratic Inn?
September 05, 2012 - Wednesday
"The same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God." These words weren't spoken by Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan, but John Kennedy in his inaugural address. Since their inception, both the Republican and Democratic parties have affirmed what our founders clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence: That man's rights come from God, not government, and that our primary duty is to our Creator, not the state. You have to wonder if the leadership of the present day Democratic Party still believes this. There is no mention of God--none whatever--in the entire platform passed earlier this week in Charlotte.
This is the natural evolution of an administration eager to push God out of the public square and squeeze Him only into the four walls of our churches. We are going from religious liberty as our central freedom to freedom of worship within the confines of designated buildings. This is a profound abandonment of the principles of our founding and the practice of religious liberty they have made possible. When government claims itself as the source of our rights and liberties, as the Democratic Party's platform asserts, it usurps the place of God, and it can deny any right just as easily. And although the Democratic platform says, "There is no conflict between supporting faith-based institutions and respecting our Constitution, and a full commitment to both principles is essential for the continued flourishing of both faith and country," this assertion would come as a shock to the Christian colleges and hospitals now suing the Obama administration for its effort to compel them to provide health plans that include abortion services. As recently as 2004, the Democratic platform mentioned God seven times. Today, He is missing from it altogether.
Commenting on the absence of God in the Democratic platform, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan (whose party's platform refers to the Almighty 12 times) said yesterday, "I guess you have to ask the Obama administration why they purged all this language from their platform ... I would put the onus of the burden on them to answer why they did all the purges of God." Last month, FRC and our allies at the Liberty Institute issued a new report cataloging 640 cases of anti-religious activity in the "land of the free." Now, the Democratic platform speaks of "faith," but not of Him in whom true faith must be placed. In a nation whose motto is, "In God We Trust," this is a sad commentary on the mindset of our present political leadership.
UPDATE: Just as we were hitting "send" on this email, news broke that Democrats would reconsider their decision to drop God from the platform tonight. Stay tuned!
Marriage: A Bridge, Not a Wedge
This morning, pollster John Zogby released a new survey that runs contrary to a lot of the conventional media spin about the role of social issues in this year's election. Zogby asked likely voters for their opinion on a range of policy positions taken by President Obama including marriage, immigration, bailouts, energy, and foreign policy. Out of four policy areas that were tested, likely voters find the strongest area of disagreement with President Obama on the importance of marriage between a man and a woman.
Fifty-one percent agreed with the statement that "The family is the basis of a strong community and culture. The ideal family is built around a stable marriage between a man and a woman." This compares with 40.5% who found more agreement with the statement that "Many socio-economic and demographic factors have caused our society to redefine the structure and composition of family. A family can still be a stable unit of a good society if it is headed by a single adult, a same-sex relationship, or grandparents." While voters by an 11-point margin embrace the Republican Party platform's support for marriage, the same was not true for the GOP's position on taxes and foreign policy, both of which failed to break the 40% threshold level of support.
Despite what many pundits say, social issues continue to be bridge issues--not wedge issues. Polls continue to show deep opposition to same-sex "marriage" among African Americans--with just 40% in support. More than 3,700 black pastors have called on President Obama to retract his statement that "gay marriage is a civil right." Millions of voters clearly feel abandoned by President Obama, who once told Pastor Rick Warren that "I believe marriage is the union between a man and a woman." In the 2004 election, results clearly show President Bush carried the pivotal state of Ohio because of his support for the marriage amendment on the ballot. With marriage referendums on the ballot in four states and continued backlash to President Obama's same-sex "marriage" endorsement, marriage may once again emerge as the decisive rather than the "divisive" issue of this election.
The Next Endangered Species? Pro-Life Democrats
Pre-convention polling has shown the President's personal popularity flagging among some of his key demographics--most concerning, among potential women voters--and last night's convention line-up was nothing short of an attempt to woo them back into the fold. Their strategy to close the enthusiasm gap? Same-sex "marriage" and taxpayer-funded abortion. In a big tent moment, Rep. Jared Polis, an openly homosexual congressman from Colorado, called on all Americans to respect each other, and as if speaking to the abortion cheerleaders present, to respect, "the very difficult decision of a single mother to bring a child into this world because of her heartfelt beliefs."
But the notion that anyone could possess a "heartfelt belief" in carrying a child to term, even when it's inopportune or difficult, ended there. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, followed him with a blistering celebration of unrestricted access to abortion and the "courage" President Obama possessed to stand with Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student who has become the face of the conscience-bashing demand for "free" birth control. Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, followed up Keenan's statements claiming that because of Barack Obama, "being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition."
The big question is: will it work? According to the Democrats for Life, a group slowly going extinct, "In the 2008 election, about one-quarter of Obama's supporters self-identified as pro-life. Those numbers are not trivial..." But this year, they couldn't even sway the DNC Drafting Committee to recognize that a "diversity of views" on abortion could even exist within the party. So much for being pro-choice!