The Unremarkable Middle
The middle is mad as fiddlesticks and is not going to take it anymore. So it seems as reported bythe Chicago Tribune in the article Chrisitan Middle Seeking a Turn at the Bully Pulpit.
Former U.S. Senator and current Episcopal Priest John Danforth wants the silent middle to be silent no more.
Seems incredibly dissonant - the unpassionate are more passionate in their anger towards the Religion Right than they are for poverty, environmentalism and the like. How do you motivate the middle in a bi-polar political world? Do these so-called moderates not understand that while they may be upset with the Republicans over abortion and traditional marriage, they will find little "tolerance" in the Democratic Party? Unless there is more behind this "moderate movement"?Predicting a backlash against the increasing political consonance of faith with conservative Christianity and the GOP, Danforth said, "I think the antidote to all of this is for a lot of people to speak out. Beyond people writing about it, the key is for the ordinary citizen to engage with this issue of the use of religion as a wedge to divide the American people."
Danforth said he is convinced the majority of Americans are religious moderates or centrists but that, in line with the very definition of the word moderate, they have not been as vocal or as driven by passion as their conservative counterparts.
"I think that honest, rational people have begun to understand that not everybody who uses the language of religion is religious. . . . They're beginning to see that, in some instances, religious rhetoric and relationships to [religious] institutions have been more about campaign strategy than they have been about the high principles of morality," Gaddy said.
Exactly! The campaign strategy of the Left is to demonize the political reality of the Right - that is - that more of the conservative faithful are motivated and active in voting than the mushy middle of faith. The other fact is that, in the end, movements need candidates. The Left is hoping to capitalize on the ascendence of a great mushy middle moderate for the 08 elections. Now who could that be?
Comments
I've usually considered myself a conservative, but over the past several years am realizing that while I tend to agree with the conservatives on most of the issues, I am increasingly horrified at the attitude that seems to manifest in that camp. Not that I've seen much better in the liberals' tents, either, to be fair and honest. I'm no political activist by a long shot, but I can definitely identify with feeling caught between two extremes without anyone to accurately represent my hopes and preferences in government.
Thanks for your comment. If you believe in conservative principles, I would say you are a conservative. Don't let the predictable stupid behavior that occurs in both parties disuade you from your principles. Rather, argue that others are leaving the principles to follow the political winds and challenge them to come back and reform their attitudes to become more winsome.
I have found that many are apathetic when they do not have a candidate that inspires them and reflects their values. This is shortsighted politics and one reason why party invovlement is so critical. Political cycles field good candidates and bad candidates. But it is a lot like that story about the two campers running from the bear. It doesn't matter how fast they run just as long as you are faster than the other guy.
I would encourage anyone to stand on principle and work within the party of your choice to draft good candidates, help them win and advance your ideals in the party.
Its been my experience that no candidate can be or even should be everything to everybody. You have to decide which principles are most important and stick to your guns and advocate for candidates who hold those principles too. You will disagree in other areas, that's a fact of life. The worst thing you can do for the principles you hold dear is to give up and allow others to set the agenda for you.
I also always remember that I'm voting for ideas, not people. If you put your trust in humans, you will 99.99% of the time be more than disappointed. Candidates like Reagan or other political icons only come around once or maybe twice in a lifetime. That's why they're icons. Public policy still gets made even after our icons have moved on in life to something else. Its up to "we the people" to continue to be engaged. That's the responsibility our Founders left us with.