Liberal religion is our way forward

superrific

Inconceivable Member
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The Pubs are the party of religious extremism. The Dems are the party of ordinary Americans who want to improve ordinary life with common sense, not strange texts unearthed from Opus Dei. We should be linking and expressly working with moderate and liberal Christian organizations to contrast healthy religious life to the craziness from the right-wing. This is, of course, not a wholly new idea. But it's been on the fringes, so to speak. It needs to be more central. This is our answer to the GOP "they"

1. Absolutely play into the Da Vinci code stereotypes of Opus Dei. Republicans will complain about religious insensitivity and anti-Catholic bias. Lean into that. Let them amplify our message the way we've amplified theirs.

2. Muslim activists are, of course, mostly religious extremists in the eyes of Americans. They voted for Trump and they are the GOP's problem now. Connect sharia law to the GOP's embrace of religious extremism. Also Jews in the West Bank. They are all religious extremists.

3. Every weird antic from religious extremist leaders needs to get played up in the media. Every single one.

4. Our new coalition will be secularists, common sense Americans who just want prosperity, conservative and reform Jews, Christians from liberal denominations, professionals and educated people, and safety net organizations

When things get bad in a couple of months, Dems should be prepared with a messaging campaign of "take shelter from the storm." This should highlight the open, welcoming attitude of liberal churches, who will offer shelter to anyone who shows up asking for it. The emphasis here should be on churches as community institutions, rather than on the religion per se -- but we shouldn't run from religion. If people want to join liberal churches, go for it.

The way forward is to reclaim Christianity from the right-wingers. We laugh at the fact that today's Christians are enemies of New Testament Jesus. Stop laughing and start reclaiming that intellectual space. That is where we will pivot and reframe our identity. Liberal churches as community organizations. I don't necessarily mean theologically liberal. Maybe there are others who can contribute to filling in the details from the religious side. I merely mean churches who see social justice as connected to their mission -- whether it's my wife's UCC church or the black churches that have given so much to the liberal cause. And sure, any liberal Muslims who want to hop on board, but this isn't about multiculturalism. We will have standards and principles -- no more including people just because. They will be included to the extent that they include themselves.

5. Muslims and especially Arabs are now a huge political liability. Supporting Islam was never worth it politically. They have always hurt us electorally more than they have helped us, but we did it because it was the right thing to do and we try to run a big tent party. But now that we aren't even getting their votes, they are terrible coalition partners. Destructive -- especially this new SJP, pro-Hamas collection of extremely loud idiots. Basically, either the Arab community makes amends or they will find new friends.
 
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