Moderate Republican Writes Manifesto

Dennis at the Moderate Republican blog has written a two part manifesto (part 1 and part 2) about his political convictions.

It is good to find a Republican that still believes in separating church and state. Dennis writes:

Centrist Republicans respect and honor religion. They also honor the long standing tradition of separation of church and state.Republicans and conservatives in general, respect religion. The church is seen as one of those important institutions that help make a society stable. Republicans also believe that people should not have to leave their faith, whatever that may be, at the door when they enter the public square. We understand that faith is an important aspect, no, it shapes a person's life. It can't simply be hidden under a bushel, but freely expressed, as the Constitution guarantees.

But our Constitution also guaratees, that there is not be a merging of church and state. It's one thing when a religion advocates on a particular issue, it's another when it starts to run the show. The current GOP leadership seems a little too cozy with one particular variant of Christianity. In a country that is religiously diverse as we are, we can't afford to only pick one religion. We must be a place where one can worship freely and where one religion can't use government to enforce it's agenda.

Separation of Church and State ought to be a bi-partisan issue. All Americans should be standing side-by-side in the choir and sing together on this. That used to be the case.

My father-in-law was a lifelong Republican and, being a Baptist minister, he was also a strong and vocal advocate for separation of church and state. My father is a lifelong Democrat, and being a public school teacher, he knew that it would be a violation of public trust for him to try to pray with or proselytize the impressionable young children from religiously diverse backgrounds who came to his classroom. My father and my father-in-law didn't agree much on politics, but at least they could agree on the value of the First Amendment.

Today there are not enough people familiar with the First Amendment to realize that we are being lied to, manipulated and misled on this issue by people who have been entrusted with positions of great power and grave responsibility.