ReillyT
Senior Member
ScreamingEagle said:ReillyT:
If you and so many of the Democrats in your party are religious as you seem to claim in your post#23, then why does your party support issues such as homosexual marriage, abortion, and euthanasia?
I can see how you might be convinced into thinking religion and government should be "separated" the way you do, however, I cannot see "religious" men supporting these other things as the major religions of the world do not support them. Which religion do the Democrats belong to that supports, say, homosexual marriage, as a "right"?
That wasn't the point of my posts, but what the hell. However, I want to point that most democrats don't support gay marriage and nearly none of them support euthanasia (although I support an individuals right to decide via a living will, etc.). I also can't point to a specific religion that recognizes gay marriage. It might exist, but I really am not that familiar with the myriad of religions in the U.S.
First, democrats belong to the whole panopoly of religions, and we treat them pretty much like everyone else does. Most people disagree with some of the things their church tells them. Plenty of Catholics in the U.S. use contraception even though their church says it is a sin. That doesn't mean that they aren't Catholic and not religious. They just disagree with this tenet or are willing to accept the consequences of defying the church doctrine.
Some of us belong to churches that support our convictions. There are actually quite a lot of very liberal churches in the U.S. The first that comes to mind are the Universal Unitarians, but the Episcopalians just appointed a gay clergy member and they are a rather large sect. In addtion, the other protestant churches tend to take a more liberal approach in some areas of the country than others. Lots of variety in churches.
Finally, some democrats believe that they must walk the walk, but that they can't make others walk it with them. Some democrats would never have an abortion and would consider it a sin. However, they believe that this (on both the religion and the abortion) is a personal decision that every woman has to make for herself. They want woman to have the freedom to act according to their own consciences.
Anyway, these are few of the reasons that people can be both religious and a Democrat. I won't go in depth into one other reason, because it will just get people excited. I will just say a word on it. Some people think that the Republicans who spend all of their time railing against gay marriage and upholding specific religious rules (to them at least) tend to fall a little short on some other Christian values - namely when it comes to caring for the poor and under-privileged, valuing life (death penalty), and doing no harm to others if it can be prevented (war and reports of torture by the U.S. government).
I am not writing this to start an argument or debate the issues individually. It is however, what many people feel.
I have to go, but have a nice day.