MyDD :: People go to church to worship - not to sign up for Republican propaganda.

People go to church to worship - not to sign up for Republican propaganda.

by Jerry Meek, Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 05:12:12 PM EST

I love the Lincoln line. Matt

As Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, I wanted to bring this to your attention: They're at it again. How many times have we heard Republicans suggest that God is on their side?

Now they want to turn churches into Republican training grounds. Recently, the North Carolina Republican Party sent a request asking people to turn over their church directories to the Republican Party, listing the contact information of their fellow church members. "I am requesting that you collect as many church directories as you can and send them to me in an effort to fully register, educate and energize North Carolina's congregations to vote in the 2006 elections," Chris Mears, the state GOP's political director, wrote in an e-mail message to North Carolina Republicans.

Let me be clear. We believe this is wrong. People go to church to worship - not to sign up for Republican propaganda. Neither the federal tax code nor sincere piety favors turning the church into a political institution.

I know from my contacts with thousands of people that many Democrats are people of deep faith. They are Democrats because of their faith, not despite their faith. But they don't believe that religion should be exploited for political purposes.

While the Republicans claim that God is on their side, we should be mindful of what Abraham Lincoln taught us. The critical question is not whether God is on our side, but whether we're on God's side.

With Very Best Wishes,

Jerry Meek,

North Carolina Democratic Party Chair

Tags: Jerry Meek, North Carolina, Church (all tags)

Permalink :: 6 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: People go to church to worship - not to sign u (none / 0)

Well, there are many liberal congregations in the US , not to mention the AfAm AME and Baptist churches.

Personally, I believe can Dems can not only match,
but exceed Republican efforts to recruit church-goers.

Democrats have been organizing in churches for a long time. Let the games begin.

by phillydem on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 06:23:19 PM EST

Re: People go to church to worship - not to sign u (3.00 / 1)

Except I think what they're doing violates their tax status. Sure, Bush's IRS crony won't enforce the rules against conservative churches - but you can bet he will against liberal ones!

If you're always playing the fear card, it's a pretty good sign you're not playing with a full deck!

by Mathwiz on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 06:39:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: People go to church to worship - not to sign u (none / 0)

Sounds like a privacy violation. If I join a church, I don't expect my name and address to be handed over to the local Republican - or Democratic, for that matter - party (or anyone else, for that matter).

Theoretically, it sounds like a violation of their 501(c)3 tax status to give a valuable list of names to a political party. But I suppose as long as Bush is around, the odds of IRS enforcement are approximately zero.

If you're always playing the fear card, it's a pretty good sign you're not playing with a full deck!

by Mathwiz on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 06:36:52 PM EST

Amen (none / 0)

We are undergoing a revival in the USA. Churches are gaining. They're kept free of bureaucracy. They're kept free of message machines. Free to enliven, and uplift. Churches thrive on freedom, and carry it with them wherever they go. The number of churches are many , because in America we can worship as we please. No anglican commitee deciding the content of your sermon - no king of england to oversee your church.

A recurrent theme to the republican message machine is fear. They invoked 911 nearly 57 times in one day on their GOP convention floor speeches. They run ads about how the patriot act is needed so badly - with big scare tactics writ large all over the ads. They took a noble senator and made an entire country afraid, with images of wolves moving in for the kill.

This is a battle between freedom, and fear.

by turnerbroadcasting on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 06:38:20 PM EST

Re: People go to church to worship (none / 0)

Now they want to turn churches into Republican training grounds.

The Southern Baptists already did it here in Louisville at a little ditty called "Justice Sunday." It was in all of the papers.

I served a tour of duty in the Army in part so that people of faith could practice their religion freely. Now, I'm being payed back for that sacrifice by chickenhawks sitting in pews taking their cues from the pulpit or the likes of Rush Limbaugh telling me I'm the one who's immoral and stuck on stupid for being a liberal.

I recently read that Repug John Danforth of Missouri, an ordained minister, recently published an article pleading with Christians to remove their faith from their politics. Little bit late there bubba after spending a career in politics defending those who played that card and guiding Clarence Thomas through his nomination proceedings but thanks for trying anyway.

There are a great many individual Christians who do great things for people on a daily basis; however, at times this is extremely difficult to keep in mind. This is especially true when Christians bring their bibles into the voting booth so to speak. I don't take being oppressed by these people lightly and, with any luck, vengence will be swift as soon as their kind are no longer in public office to protect them.

Sorry about their luck.

by Seldom Seen Smith on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 01:32:22 AM EST

Re: People go to church to worship (none / 0)

Heh. Saint Danforth, the senator who helped loose the dogs of the reactionary right. He's backing the stem cell research ballot initiative in Missouri to the dismay of the same groups. This just goes to show that his past behavior in catering to the wingnuts, like that of others in the republican establishment at the time, was based on political calculus and not a burning belief in their dogma. These republicans wanted the power that the wingnut voters could help get them, they just didn't (and don't) want to eat at their table. The problem is, that for the rest of us, we have to live in the world they created by their own stupidity.

543,895 votes

by Michael Bersin on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 09:07:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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