I don't entirely agree Gunner - He is making the point that he believes that you should vote for someone who would act in the same way you would.
I do not approve of him saying that "Christ would not vote for Barack Obama". Drawing that sort of parrallel goes a bit further. It makes him sound like he is saying that you are a bad person (after all we are supposed to emulate Christ) if you voted for Obama.
But I would not put him in your "Foos and Idiots" file. Everyone is entitled to the occasional stupid statement without falling into that category.
I agree with Gunner. I was really impressed with Keyes's during the 2000 GOP debates but always thought he was a little too over the top to be a serious politician. But this, plus disparaging VP Cheney's daughter, and calling for tax break reparations for slavery makes me wonder if he is a plant to embarass Republicans.
And as a fellow Mormon, I wholeheaterdly agree that it is very dangerous and almost always wrong to claim some mere political policy is dictated by official religious doctrine. I can't think of an example otherwise.
Not to waffle, but I have discovered since that I spoke too soon. I had objected to Gunner automaticly putting Keyes in his "Fools and Idiots" file. It was NOT an objection to his comments regarding Keyes' statement. But that is what I get for not researching enough before I type.
In your post entitled "So damned sick of it", you rail against the terrorists (Muslim insurgents, not Chechen rebels) who killed Russian school children but you fail to condemn Barak Obama for the same crime (supporting infanticide via abortion). We don't have a death toll in Russial yet but I can assure you it won't compare to the 1 million plus abortions that occur in this country every year. You don't think Jesus has a preference on this issue? Do you think Alan Keyes is wrong about who Jesus would vote for? If so, why? Should your faith not determine your vote?
I am more upset by the subtle nature of eclisiastic blackmail from politicians. Are abortions wrong? For me yes. But I was not happy when Catholic priests started to threaten to withhold communion over issues from the political realm, abortion being the main one.
But what happens when they threaten your salvation over other issues like Social welfare programs(charity), military spending(Turn the other cheek), Supporting building a statue to a famous person(idolitry), or even issues with the border patrol(love thy neighbor).
When someone says you should vote for someone I have respect for that. When they say vote for or against someone because Jesus or G-d would want it over a specific issue then I get very damn nervous about the rocky road it could lead down.
Abortion was the issue Keyes talked about, but I am looking past the issue and seeing the nature of his comment and that is what I do not like about it. Religion has a place in politics, religious issues have a place in politics, but past that I start worrying about things.
Keyes said
"with the conclusion that Christ would not vote for Barack Obama"
So to vote for Obama would be to vote against Jesus he implies. No. My view is that it would be a vote against Keyes for this type of politics..
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