Christians and Democrats/Same Sex Marriage

Dave Southern is wrong; being a white Christian is not a bad thing. Indeed, most Democrats are white Christians and most Democratic politicians are white Christians.Harry Reid, John Kerry are all white Christians. Virtually every member of the Democratic congressional delegation is a Christian. So, the Democrats aren't anti-Christian.
The difference in the brand of Christianity between Democrats and Republicans on the whole is that the former is less literal and fundamentalist driven than the latter.Second, Mr. Southern is wrong, Christians aren't a minority religion. More than 80 percent of Americans view themselves as Christians, be they white, black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. Does Mr. Southern mean only fundamentalist Christians, who would then be a minority of Americans if considered solely?

If so, then his view of what is a Christian seems very limited. To compare the Democrats to the Nazis - anti-Semitism is over the top, indeed. One, being the fact that Christians aren't a minority and even if we consider only fundamentalist-type Christians, no one is arguing their churches should be broken into, their property confiscated or that it be mandated they wear crosses on their shirts as Jews had to wear Jewish stars on theirs.Now, does Howard Dean oppose the Christian right? Yes, he does. He opposes their opposition to allowing states to have same sex marriage or civil unions if they so choose. He opposes the essential view that the Bible should be the basis for the civil law that covers all Americans.
I urge the Republican Party to reach out to minority groups, non-whites and non-Christians. Heck, even atheists.The first President Bush stated "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots." Is this still how the modern GOP still views atheists? I hope not.


I will not get into the rhetoric of comparing atheists as attacked and abused as was done to the German Jews in the 1930s, as Mr. Southern chooses to do so for his brand of Christianity. Lastly, I wonder if Bush I thinks that Ted Williams, baseball player, fighter pilot in two wars and an atheist, wasn't a patriot?


Same Sex Marriage

Thomas Jefferson stated he "trembled for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever." He stated that (although he was not referring specifically to the God of the Old Testament in his reference to God) in his opposition to the institution of slavery.Slavery is the denial of rights and liberty to one group of humans, although the denial of gays the right to marry the individual that they love is not the same level of moral outrage that slavery was, it is still an encroachment on liberty. Just as the Constitution and Bill of Rights did not outlaw slavery, as it does not guarantee gay marriage, the very spirit and ideals of the Bill of Rights gives weight to the idea that slavery is fundamentally wrong and so is a ban on gay marriage; just as a ban on interracial marriage was and a ban on interfaith, interage marriage would be, too.
We, as a nation, shouldn't be looking for ways to limit rights and freedom, that was an idea that our founding fathers found abhorrent and so was a reason for the Ninth Amendment, which guaranteed rights not explicitly mentioned in the Bill of Rights.If the 14th Amendment and its' "Equal Protection Clause" does not guarantee a right to marriage for gays, then it does not guarantee a right of the tall to drive a car or brunettes to own a computer. Our laws should not serve to enforce the religious beliefs of any one group.

I, as an atheist, do not want the state to tell a church that they have to perform a gay marriage if they don't wish or that the government shouldn't recognize a Catholic marriage with a state-issued marriage license, just as I wish not for religious conservatives to use their political muscle to tell gays who they can't marry under our laws. Government is an institution for all the people: heterosexuals, homosexuals, Christians, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics etc. That shouldn't be forgotten.