I'm sure I'm not the first to note that the left has a wonderful opportunity right now to inspire and win over the religious right. But I have not read about it yet, so I'm going to write about it! Below...
The United States is a bruised nation thanks to twenty years of Republicans conning social conservatives into thinking they share the values of the religious right. Their effort required gross polarization to prevent those lost souls from finding Christian values on the left. The left, of course, is the real home of Christian values. (I should probably disclose at this point that I am
not a Christian, but I recognize - as clear as Alhambra - that the liberal agenda has always mapped beautifully to the teachings of Jesus.)
No group of Americans is more bruised right now than the religious right. They are coming to realize that they have been used and that, in return for all their faith and loyalty and volunteer hours and isolation from the rest of Americans, they have nothing. Nothing. They were duped. Some of them are beginning to realize that, without the Republican party truly united behind their efforts to ban abortion and punish homosexuals, they are not going to achieve those goals. If they are not realizing that, then they should be, and we should be helping them to understand it.
From my vantage point, it has looked like the religious right thumbs its nose at Jesus' teachings. Their core political issues are abortion and homosexuality - Jesus was not preaching about abortion and homosexuality. They get in the way of the efforts of the left to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and generally open our hearts to humanity. That is what Jesus was preaching about.
We should be helping conservative Christians to understand that, while we cannot help them to ban abortion or to further marginalize homosexuals, we can help them get back to the teachings of Jesus and we can work together toward common goals.
I believe the time is ripe for conservative Christians to hear such a message from the left. They have been betrayed and left out in the cold with no blankets. We can offer them a warm place in a world that makes sense. A place where faith and reason can peacefully - harmoniously - coexist.
What we need right now is one or two leaders who can speak to these downtrodden folk in a familiar, comforting, understanding voice. We need one or two leaders who can inspire and reach into the better nature of these people. We need one or two leaders who can heal and unite this wounded nation. Who are these leaders? Not Hilary Clinton. Not John Kerry. Not Al Gore. I'm thinking Edwards/Obama. What do you think?