Electa Draper, apparently, The Denver Post’s dedicated religious writer (which itself says something), reports:
A coalition determined to change the face of faith in the public square met Thursday night in Denver.
“We Believe Colorado” is a diverse group of faith leaders seeking to broaden the values debate for 2008, according to organizers. The group is challenging the political agenda set by social conservatives and the religious right in the 2000 and 2004 elections.
Thursday’s event combined worship and training for effective advocacy on moral issues such as civil rights, the environment and economic justice. …
Issues this year include lifting people out of poverty, equitable public education, affordable health care, a just immigration policy offering paths to legal status and families’ reunifications, progressive taxes and government budgets that embody the common good.
Here’s the group’s official web page, by the way.
There’s an important difference between the religious left and the religious right. The religious left is the same as the regular ol’ left. It advocates the same socialist policies that have been tossed around since FDR and Johnson. The religious left is an outreach program of the left to the Christian community.
The religious right, on the other hand, promotes an agenda of banning abortions, censorship, and state promotion of religion that others considered to be on “the right” (particularly the libertarian right) oppose.
I side with the new group on matters of civil rights and immigration (though I’m sure we differ on what constitutes a right), but what’s distinctive about those issues is that they are neither left-wing nor religious in nature.
What worries me is the distinct possibility of ending up with a combination of the worst policies of the religious left and right: theocratic socialism.
Objectivists often speak of the “Right” but I wonder if we really need to define what we mean by that. Consider that there are all of these under the Conservative Big Tent:
NeoConservatives
PaleoConservatives
Fundamentalist Conservatives
Cultural Conservatives
Traditionalist Conservatives
Racialist Conservatives
Libertarians
Paleo-Libertarians
Anachro-Libertarians
Free Market Conservatives
South Park Conservatives
Classical Liberals
Is there anything in common with all of these other than they don’t agree with the Left? The Term “Conservative” increasingly confuses me.
Bob Sanders
What worries me is the distinct possibility of ending up with a combination of the worst policies of the religious left and right: theocratic socialism.
It’s not a “possibility”, Ari – it’s a certainty. For all practical purposes, we’re there; a squishy EcoTheology GaiaGod who demands Sustainable Public-Private partnerships in support of the GoddessMotherChrist, and will gladly sacrifice everything you thought you owned to achieve that Nirvana.
Put your guns on the altar and show us your biometric ID, bitte.