An Open Letter to All Republicans From a Former Religious Right Activist (Blunt!)

An Open Letter to All Republicans From a Former Religious Right Activist
by Frank Schaeffer
The Huffington Post
September 19, 2008

This is really good!!

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...

The Religious Right
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...

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...

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...

More here.

This is the way I wish Obama supporters (in the Congress, on talk shows, on the campaign trail, and in writing) would discuss what's at stake by cutting to the chase. At least email this one around. Time's a-wastin' & we need to "pull out all the stops".

You know the Republicans will!!

Thanks whoever you are for the 4 recs!

...is not just "any" former fundagelical.

His father and then he were two of their leading intellectuals.

"Whatever Happened to the Human Race?" by Francis Schaeffer and C. Everett Koop was a seminal work of the religious right, and what landed Koop in the Surgeon General's office.

More on the content of his article:

It hadn't occurred to me until now that there's such a parallel between regulation within the economy and checks and balances in our government. Both serve to limit pure selfishness and myopia that eventually destroy our society.

For 6 years while we watched our democracy go to hell in a handbasket because checks & balances disappeared (and somewhat came back a few years ago, but not enough), we thought a lot about our Consitutional Balance of Power. (At least I did, hence my online name here.)

Now - finally - the words "deregulation" and "regulation" are being heard over the airwaves, albeit after the damage has already been done.

Therefore,

Regulation for capitalism = Checks & Balances for democracy

Even if you didn't agree with him, Francis Schaeffer was a very gifted and intelligent man.

This is extremely powerful, imo.

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, New York: Carol & Graf Publishers, (September) 2007.

Fascinating read.

I'll have to check it out!

confirmed most of what I feel I know about the religion industry. I think his parents meant well but were a bit blind when it came to raising their children.

I'll just add this to the list!

I gave it to my sister and asked that she give it perhaps to an officemate that needs an education.

He's well-known and loved amongst us evangelical-to-Eastern Orthodox converts. He's a good man, too.

For as much as evangelicals like to dump on Catholics, they are pretty quiet about the original church.

Most Protestants have no idea we exist and think we're just some weird Catholic church. They are surprised when I tell them that some of the things they had the Reformation over we did several hundred years earlier. ;)

from my living room. B.R.A.V.O.!

Wonder how much a full page ad in the freakin USA Today coasts?

and recommended

:kick:

but so very true!
He really nails their character here:

"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 pollution! -- 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."

the bs present in the religion industry but folks like the ones that NEED to read it probably didn't. I'm sure it will get emailed around...hopefully to the right people

He is ruthlessly spot on with every point he addresses. I can relate to everything he says, with venom to match his. He has every right to be angry, we all do. However, this letter is just too insulting to change the minds of the people he is addressing, if that is his aim.

I just sent it out to the last 3 republicans I can still barely speak to. Change their minds? Perhaps not, but they need a mirror handed to them and if they get angry, then fuck 'em.

I wouldn't send it to any fence-sitters hoping they'd change their votes, but by all means, the hard-core assholes this piece is referring to deserve to be called out for their idiocy.

but the misspelled words need to be corrected, polution=pollution, etc...