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Thread: The religious left in the USA?

  1. #1
    Administrator CatInASuit's avatar
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    Default The religious left in the USA?

    Over the pond, we get to hear lots about how the Republicans are all God-fearing fundamentalists who want to drag the USA back into the Dark Ages of anti-science. Slight exaggeration perhaps.

    However, given the liberal left decrying religion, but wholly endorsing the Democrats, I did find myself asking does this mean the Democrats are not religious and in fact athiestic/agnostic. Or is this something that certain sections of people are doing their best to ignore.

    So, how religious are the Democrats, do they have the same crackpot outliers as the Republicans and what would be the difference in the way they worship, or not as the case may be, and how it effects the people they represent?
    In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.

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    Prehistoric Bitchslapper Sarahfeena's avatar
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    There are a lot of religious Democrats in the US...Catholics have traditionally been Democrats, and there are many more liberal (mostly mainline) Protestant denominations that are leftist, as well. I think it's just that their religious philosophy mirrors their ideas about government...that it's more important to help people than to police personal morality or attempt to evangelize through the government. I live in a town that's very very liberal, and there are active congregations all over the place...many with the rainbow flag prominently displayed on their grounds.

    Also, the African-American culture is generally religious and also vote Democrat...although they tend to be conservative on social issues, they are quite entrenched in the Democratic party. So, I think the Democrats are far from a "godless" party, it's just that as much as certain factions of the right-wing want to make American politics about religion, there is a lot more nuance to how religion and politics intersect than they are willing to concede.

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    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    I think Sarah explained it beautifully. Liberals and conservatives come in all shapes and sized, so to speak. My dad, a Methodist minister and retired Army chaplain living in the Deep South, is incredibly liberal both financially and socially, and he's gained a lot of respect from the people around him for speaking openly as a Liberal Christian. During the last Presidential election, I worked with more atheist/agnostic/non-Christian/not-very-religious pro-war or fiscal conservative types who planned to vote Republican and more liberal, anti-war Christians who loudly proclaimed their plan to vote Democrat.

    A lot of what we hear about on the news (which would probably be most of what's carried over the pond) is the dichotomy. They want a battle, and they want to show how different Liberals and Conservatives are. So, we don't see a lot of gay Conservatives or Christians, and we don't see people with bull horns reading the parts of the Bible where Jesus specifically talked about treatment of the poor. And, because what we see are the people who are as far apart as they can possibly be, ideologically speaking, we get a sense of the "'God and country' everyman" Republican and the 'Godless liberal elitist" Democrat, even if most of the country falls somewhere between the two.
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

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    Administrator CatInASuit's avatar
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    Thanks for the answers both of you, it certainly clears up a few misconceptions between what gets reported and what is far more likely to be real life.
    In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.

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    my god, he's full of stars... OneCentStamp's avatar
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    My dad, who was a devout Mormon for basically my whole life, was a pretty liberal guy - extremely liberal for a Mormon. He generally voted Democrat in local and state elections (and this is Maryland, where the Dems are Dems and the Pubs are...well, Dems.), but Republican in national elections, because reversing the legality of abortion outweighed all other planks in the platform put together.
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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