October 10, 2007
From The Bilerico Project:
McCain promotes his “Christian Nation”
Since President Bush took office, religion has been the litmus test to discern a presidential candidate’s electability. And in the current pool of 2008 presidential hopefuls, this litmus test has produced a star-studded cast of Democratic prophets extolling their religiosity as well as Republican religious bigots promulgating their politics. The one-time separation between church and state has been hijacked by both political parties.
John McCain is our latest, but certainly not our last presidential hopeful to tell the country that a government’s embrace and execution of Christian principles is the quintessential marker that the right person is holding the highest office the land. As McCain said in a interview posted on Beliefnet:
I think the number one issue people should make in the selection of the president of the United States is, ‘Will this person carry on in the Judeo-Christian principled tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind?’ I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles, … personally I prefer someone who I know has a solid grounding in my faith.
. . .
It is these same Judeo-Christian principles that guided McCain to vote no on extending the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation back in January … [and to] support of the anti-gay military policy “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”…
. . .
American democracy suffers when people have to be closeted about their faith because it fosters a climate of religious intolerance. However, to suggest as McCain does that an important qualification to lead this country is to be a practicing Christian is an affront to us all. …
Discuss this story
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Permalink
|
Trackback
|
Category:
Christianity,
Election 2008,
John McCain
September 13, 2007
Towleroad on William Sleaster…
…the Concord High School student who challenged John McCain on gay rights last week. Sleaster made headlines when he followed up his questioning by telling McCain, “I came here looking to see a leader. I don’t.”
Sleaster told the Concord Monitor: “It may have been disrespectful, but he (McCain) discriminates against me and my people. If he walked in there to Tide Pride (the school’s LGBT support group) Monday morning and started dropping sexual slurs, we wouldn’t shake his hand and say, ‘Thanks for coming.’ That’s why I didn’t shake his hand and say, ‘Thanks for coming.’ I regret nothing…Going into it, I was looking to be impressed. I was looking for him to be the leader type,” Sleaster said. “But he didn’t show that at all. He seemed very weak. He didn’t have any good ideas at all.”
He even understands why he was scolded for his strong words to McCain: “I believe (what the teacher did) was proper. They wanted us to shake the candidate’s hand. They wanted to make sure I didn’t make Concord High look bad. I understand why they might have been worried.”
Contrast Sleaster’s perspective with that of Louisiana State University student wingnut Michael Denton, whose school paper yesterday published … a hate piece he wrote called “America needs to stand against homosexuality” which basically spews the talking points of the worst of the right-wing Evangelical bigots:
Writes Denton: “America needs to grow in self-confidence on this debate. The homosexual argument is illogical; sexuality is obviously meant for reproduction. Any sexual activity that is opposed to life is intrinsically disordered. Yet we continue to refuse to stand up for ourselves, allowing courts, school boards and speech codes to dictate political correctness to us. There are few greater debates in America today. The gay marriage issue threatens marriage and the family, which are the very foundations of society. Unless America decides to stand for something in this case, we’ll continue to fall.” …
More, with embedded links and video
Discuss this story
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Permalink
|
Trackback
|
Category:
Education/Schools,
Hate Speech,
John McCain,
Youth
