To Red Letter Christians:
I agree with and like your overarching philosophy. To paraphraase, we want an Evangelical Christian movement that transcends partisan politics and focuses on the teachings of Christ. In doing so, hold both parties accountable instead of being captive to them.
It comes very close to giving a guy like me a place to go. I lean in so many different directions, depending on the issue. I lean left on gun control; moderate on war and education; and I lean right on the flat tax. As far as "womb to tomb" is concerned, RLC holds a consistent life ethic in that they want to protect the sanctity life from conception to death. I like that. However, when it comes to the death penalty, I wouldn't advocate for it, but I wouldn't oppose its eradication either (and I would contend that convicted murderers remain permanently in jail).
Unfortunately, where RLC breaks down for me is that we Christians still can't agree on how to handle the issues, so we remain divided. Many RLCs come down on the left on most things and have no real representation on the right. Until there's more balance, I'm afraid the RLC movement will not be truly non-partisan, if that's what you aim to be. For that reason, I'm hesitant to join the Red Letter Christian movement.
To my fellow Black folk:
We've got to quit throwing our overwhelming support to the Democratic party. They get well over 80% of our vote. No party should be trusted to this extent. Yes, I realize that there's lots of strong ties going back to the days of FDR and the NewDeal, LBJ and the Civil Rights Acts, and how northern Democrats strongly supported our quest for equality. While I'm at it, even Richard Nixon passed legislation that we deemed beneficial to us. Meanwhile, all along the way, many (primarily southern) Dems and Reps fought us tooth and nail -- or shall I say noose and bullet. Anyway, back to the point. Casting all of our eggs into one basket makes us appear simply monolithic, predictable, and only moved by rhetorical references to slavery and MLK as if history stopped in 1968. Along the way, we've become overly dependent on government programs. And I'm not letting Republicans off the hook. They don't need 80% of our vote either. They skirt over our issues with cliches and fail to tap into the soul of black folk.
That said, I think we still need to work within both parties. We've got to get them to pay attention and convince them that our votes must be earned, not taken for granted, not ignored. We've got the potential for tremendous power here. If we're honest with ourselves, we as a group are conservative on marriage, religion, abortion, immigration, and our bent toward entrepreneurialism -- enough to interest the right wing. Simultaneously, we interest the left wing with our traditional stance on school funding, law enforcement, and health care.
Here comes the most difficult portion of my essay.
The impetus for real change lies within our own need for a cultural shift. Our biggest problem is not racism. It's illegitimacy and fatherlessness -- stuff we control. We know all too well the vicious cycle of absentee dads causing an emotional void in kids that they attempt to fill in antisocial ways. I don't have time here to expand upon this theme, but we know the story. Single parent homes tend to be poorer, depend on public assistance, and have kids who are more likely to repeat the steps of their parents and continue the cycle of poverty and brokenness. And in the midst of it all, the powers that be promote condoms and clean needles. How dumb. Those things don't tackle the root of the problem. (By the way, wealthier non-urban communities are preached abstinence, therapy, rehab. To me the implied message is that we negroes are incapable of self-control. What's worse is that we act as if we accept that idea.).
Not ignoring our unique history in America, I think we can learn a valuable lesson from our Asian neighbors -- make education a priority. Parents, get involved with homework, PTA, parent-teacher conferences. Have high expectations for ourselves and hold ourselves to high standards, including every teacher, principal, and superintendent. Last and most important...We've got strong roots in religion. It's high time we live it vigorously.
My Desire for a Viable Third Party
I would like a third party to really step up and capture independent voters who feel stuck in the middle and have no clear home with either of the major parties. Sure, it would take years to really take root and grow, but I'm willing to participate. My idea of a viable third party (imperfect as it may be) would be strong on defending morality and progressive in handling key social issues. I want to stand up for faith and family. I want to advocate creative solutions for poverty, crime, education (my primary area of concern), taxes, and the environment. I don't want partisan self-righteousness that only sees the good in one's own group and the bad in all others.
Until then, I think the most noble thing I can do is BE these ideals. Living it out is more respectful than talking about it. Living it out is the way to learn and really flesh out my own political vision.
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