Ron Paul reaching to the Right?
Submitted by jwharton on Sat, 06/09/2007 - 20:31I was in a fog for some years sensing the Republican Party had left me, a Christian, without a party. I wasn't sure what to do or where to go. I heard about Ron Paul in Aaron Russo's excellent film "America: From Freedom to Fascism" .
This film caused me to re-evaluate my outlook on life. My uneasy hunger found what it was looking for. I share my insights in the article "Ron Paul vs. Modern-day Judas" in hopes to reach to the Right for Ron Paul support.
Try as I may, the Right may not be reached all that effectively. We may end up seeing what Christ meant in the parable of the two sons that goes like this:
The Father had a job that needed to be done and the first was willing and said they would do the Father's bidding and the second resisted and declined. However, at the end of the day, the first had failed but the later who had refused before ended up going ahead and stepping up to the plate and getting the job done.
For example, we have Bill Maher and others who have an obvious disdain for Christianity stepping up and doing the Father's bidding by giving Ron Paul a respectable showing while many Christians are continuing to support the Neo-Con agenda by castigating Ron Paul as insane.
I encourage non-Christians to read my article as it may give good ammo to expose the Christian hypocrisy to understand what it was intended to be rather than what Christianity has become for many.
I'm curious to discuss what other ways Ron Paul can reach to the Right to draw support. What are your ideas?
These truly are fascisimating times!
Appeal to the Right? Defend Christianity!
I think 1 way Ron Paul can appeal to the Right is to show his Freedom message to Christians. The freedom message is one that unites us, and brings us together, regardless of faiths or anything else. It doesn't divide. Ron Paul is a Christian, but he doesn't speak about his religion in the public forum much at all. Why? Because he believes in the Constitution too, and that includes separation of church and state. I think he has a lot of appeal to Christians given his pro-life stance in wanting to repeal Roe vs. Wade in order to let the states decide for themselves. His is a Constitutional based view of Roe vs. Wade though, not a religious based view, and he articulates that point very well. Christians like the Constitution because the Constitution protects their right to practice their religion, and I hope all Christians wake up to the realization that our Constitution is on the verge of extinction, and choose Ron Paul to restore it. CFR cronies might say they will, but they won't.
So, in answer to your question, I'd say he should reach out to the conservative Christian right but without pandering to them as well. There are many reason for them to embrace his Constitution, freedom, liberty message. He can say "Our Constitution is under attack, and the new Constitution of the North American Union that they want to shove down our throats does not allow for inaliable rights from our creator as the Constitution does, but instead would say that all rights come from government.
Yours is a good question
I asked the same question of Thomas Woods (author of 'The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy'). He took the time to reply to me with these thoughts:
"Perhaps something like this: patriotism never demanded that a man deny reality. And the U.S. is now, after two Bush terms, more isolated in the world than ever and more hated than ever -- and it isn't because we're rich and free, as Paul noted. How has the Iraq war made us freer or safer? It removed a secular dictator and replaced him with a semi-Islamic state, empowered the Shiites (and thereby given a foothold to Iran), etc. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands are dead. How can anything in the Catholic faith justify this? It can't, which is why John Paul II and Benedict both opposed the war.
If we don't support Paul, what are we saying? That we'd rather vote for a "realistic" shyster than a long-shot man of principle? I'd print out Paul's bio from the campaign site: never voted to raise taxes, etc. etc. etc."
While name-dropping Popes wont carry much sway with non-Catholics, Rep. Paul's own mention of Just War Theory brings up a fairly universal concept among Christians. This, in turn, may also lead them to a deeper understanding of their religion...a true win-win!
If a Christian you speak with has not been initiated with what makes a war just (other than "cause Dubya said so"), here is a good starting point:
http://www.catholic.com/library/just_war_doctrine_1.asp
Peace be with you.