Tonight on the Forward Blitz Blog Talk Radio Show we will be engaged in a continuing discussion about political Christians and the insurgency of their extreme theology into the Republican Party. Warnings by notable Republicans in our recent history have spoken out boldly about the threat of allowing religion marry politics in the America…

Goldwater had a great deal more to say about this on the floor of the U.S. Senate in 1981:

“There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God’s name on one’s behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ and ‘D.’ Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of ‘conservatism.’ “
(1909-1998) US Senator (R-Arizona) Source: Congressional Record, September 16, 1981

And he listed the goals of the religious right:

• “I am a conservative Republican, but I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state.  The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don’t hurt anyone else in the process.”
  (in a 1994 Washington Post essay)
• “The religious factions will go on imposing their will on others,”
• “I don’t have any respect for the Religious Right.”
• “Every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Falwell’s ass.”
• “A woman has a right to an abortion.”

Thank you to Liberals Like Christ.org for these quotes that help remind us of why I insist that I am not anti-republican, nor anti-conservative – as defined in the days before the GOP allowed itself to be overwhelmingly infested with political Christians.

Join us tonight on the Forward Blitz if you can for another lively discussion about these issues and more…