A Great Crusade?

Over the past several days, I've had various political conversation that have ranged from the absurd-- see below-- to the thoughtful.  Since the ones, both absurd and rational, that I've had with my fellow liberals have all been about the Hanukkah in September that is Sarah Palin, I won't bore you with those.  They can basically be summarized by the key words Alaskan  Independence Party, Jews for Jesus, Mooseburger, and Troopergate.

The conversations that have been the most intriguing are the ones I have had with various conservatives.  Now, I want to differentiate here between conservatives and Republicans.  One of my closest friends has, as his facebook political identity, "Republican- the real kind."  He's voting for Obama, and I think of him as a conservative, not a Republican.  Party line Republicans, as I found out on Labor Day, aren't the kind of people who I like to talk to; rather than make an intelligent point, they tell you you've been brainwashed by the terrorists.  

However, in two conversations with two friends (well, a friend and an ex-teacher who I consider a friend), we came to the conclusion that the Republican Party of today is not a conservative party, or even a political party per se.  It's not even that true conservatives don't believe in huge budget deficits or torture.  What I, and many others, have come to realize in the wake of the Palin fiasco is that the modern Republican party has ceased to be a party focused on governance and instead has morphed into a front for an evangelical, moralistic, Christianist (to borrow a word) crusade.  And that is a dangerous thing to have.

When you have the head of John McCain's campaign bragging about how this election "is not about  issues," and have a mother's choices for her family touted as credentials to deal with Iran and Russia, we have entered a political world in which all of us-- liberal, conservative, Jewish, Christian, black, white, gay, straight (and all the other categories politicians usually list)-- must realize that this election is the most important of our time.

When we have candidates for high office calling the war in Iraq "God's plan," we must realize that the McCain camp has a point-- the election isn't about the economy, or Iraq, or even healthcare.  It's about whether or not our country stays true to its founders' values, values of freedom and secularism that have allowed us to prosper for over 230 years.

peace