During the past few weeks, both before and since the 2012 presidential election, I have had a number of conversations over coffee or lunch with other women I know. We live in an extremely conservative area where Republican candidates are nearly always sent to Congress. All of these women are over 50 and have spent decades working, most are college graduates, and all of them have paid income taxes for their entire adult lives. None of them are among the 47% of non-taxpayers that Romney referred to in one of his speeches. Several have a family income that is high enough that they would be affected by an income tax increase on those earning over $250,000 a year. There was one Jewish woman in the group; the remainder were Christians of a variety of denominations. While a few of these women voted for Romney, most voted for Obama, including the women with the higher family incomes.
As is common in our age group, we discussed how much things had changed since we were young. We also talked about why the majority of us were no longer voting for Republican presidential candidates, although we had voted for Republicans at least a few times in the past.
A great deal has been said recently about how the Republican Party has not done an adequate job of reaching out to immigrants, and why they are having difficulty appealing to women. We felt that the Republicans were still lying to themselves if they think immigration reform and women's issues were the only problems they need to address. One issue that we felt the Republicans are overlooking is how much Christianity has changed since we were young women.
The mainstream Christian churches that we attended since the 1960's and 1970's have been much more progressive than many of the newer non-denominational Christian churches. We grew up listening to stories of the Good Samaritan who Jesus praised because the Samaritan gave financial assistance and medical care to a man who was a citizen of a different country, as well as a person of a different religion and nationality. We were taught that immigrants were the "neighbors" that Jesus admonished us to care for and welcome. It is hard to believe today that at one time there were Arizona churches that offered aid and protection to illegal immigrants.
Christians in the churches of the early 1970's were frequently active in the anti-war movement, as well. They often organized demonstrations against the war, and some churches even helped young men avoid the draft and flee to Canada.
Cooperation among the faithful of different religions was supported and encouraged in the past. Youth ecumenical councils were established to help American children of different faiths get to know each other better.
Christian churches were also active in ending segregation. While Sunday morning remains one of the most segregated days of the week in America, many churches did work during the 1960's and 1970's towards equal rights, equal access to the polls, and political access for people of all races. Voting rights were a big issue for Christians of all races.
Another issue that was important to Christians who were raised during this era was access to medical care. Jesus never asked anyone for proof of insurance before He healed them. Most 1970's Christians were taught in church that they were expected to heal the sick, feed the poor and take care of those in prison. We accepted that the most humanitarian way to do this was by supporting government social programs that provided food and medical care to those who were less fortunate, since there was no efficient way for the churches to do this on a person-by-person basis. We accepted on faith that supporting these programs, and paying the necessary taxes, was the right thing to do.
Because of the Christian values that we were taught, it is difficult for many of us to accept political candidates who talk about encouraging self-deportation for immigrants, eliminating social programs, and refusing to implement a national healthcare program that provides access to preventive care for people of all ages, races and religions, regardless of their financial situation. It is also painful for us to watch while the new breed of conservative Christians try to make it harder for the poor, elderly and sick to vote.
There is no question that my friends feel that Christian values have changed during the past 30 years, especially outside the mainstream churches, and that the Republican Party has embraced this change. While some of my friends have accepted these changes and continue to support the Republican Party, even if they have private concerns, others have said that the Republican Party no longer stands for their values. They listen in astonishment when Republican leaders say that the only problem the party has is an inadequate immigration policy. These women feel that the party is deluding itself if they think that immigration reform is the only issue that needs to be faced.
Most of these women would be much happier if the Republican Party worked to make our government more efficient, so it could continue to provide services to people at the lowest cost possible. Suggestions that were made included encouraging the Republicans to work on tort reform, lower medical costs, welfare to work programs, and identifying wasteful spending in all programs, including the military. The women also accepted that changes need to be made to Social Security and Medicare, not by privatizing them but by making small tweaks such as slightly increasing taxes, and postponing the age when these programs start.
We are pragmatic women. We want to get the most for the money we spend on social programs. We do not want waste, and we do not want people to be able to easily cheat the system. We want a party that works to modernize systems to make fraud and cheating much more difficult. We want a party that stops grand-standing and begins to take actions that the public will support. We want to see real results from the people we send to Congress.
If the Republican leaders want to be the party of faithful Christians, it needs to embrace the values of all Christians, not just members of the non-denominational mega-churches. It also wouldn't hurt the party to do more to reach out to people of other faiths. There are many good, hard-working, tax paying, financially responsible people in this country who are not members of extremely conservative non-denominational Christian churches. We believe in a two-party system. However, if the Republicans cannot even win the hearts of all successful, working, tax-paying white Christians, they have a long way to go if they want to survive in a multi-cultural nation.
You are reading from the blog:
http://lies-and-liars.blogspot.com
Photo of church interior courtesy of
www.morguefile.com
