05.21.06
Democrats Really Have Spirit
It is rumored in Washington that God-fearing voters prefer Republicans. So, in an effort to siphon off voters by “infus[ing] God into their politics”, the Democratic Party unveiled their spiritual covenant with America last week (a summary of the covenant is available here). Making mention of God only when addressing the separation of Church and State, the covenant is centered around embracing others as “embodiments of the sacred” (sacred with a little “s” – I’m not sure exactly what that is) and “responding to the universe with gratitude”, apparently, for all the universe has done for you.
The covenant was introduced at the Spiritual Activism Conference which was held at the All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington. It is all too fitting that the Democratic Party – a party who, like Unitatians, have no use for absolutism – should make the introduction of the covenant in a venue where God has been replaced by the more inclusive “reverence of life” (that is straight off of the UUA FAQ page). The aim is to create a movement of spiritual progressives and in doing so entice “values voters” away from the right. Their talking points include, among other things, embracing homosexual marriage/families, affirming the humanity those with antithetical views, redefining entitlement programs as manifestations of love and the government as the means by which love can be administered. Despite quite a bit of lip service paid to personal responsibility, the covenant takes no official position on abortion except that it should not be illegal (this is probably the only group who could claim that is not a position).
So what kind of republican voter will Democrats lure with their new spiritual agenda? Probably those who voted that way by accident last time. But the covenant shows that the moral relativists within the party are at least banding together and that all the sands are shifting together now. In conjunction with the conference, Cindy Sheehan led a “pray in” in front of the White House on Thursday. I’m not sure to whom or what they prayed, but it could have sounded similar to the following:
“Oh benevolent universe, we are in awe of your grandeur. Please let their be enough people with no conviction in contested congressional districts to allow us to regain the majority in congress as we band together around this stuff we just wrote down.”
(Just for the record, I believe that most Republicans are whores for a vote the same as most Democrats. However, if you legislate the way I would like you to – it doesn’t happen much, but it happens more often with Republicans than with Democrats – I am willing to take what I can get.)
