Just heating up….again…

Jeremy Lott and Patrick Hynes:

Remember, Roe v Wade did not create the modern religious right. Former president Jimmy Carter did when he refused to rein in an Internal Revenue Service that had decided to go after the tax exemptions of private Christian schools that were not in compliance with civil rights quotas. Evangelicals could live with legalised abortion and bedlam in the public schools by removing their children from the system. It must have grated that they were paying to subsidise education they did not agree with and then paying again for private education for their children to opt-out, but Caesar was dutifully rendered unto, until he threatened to hike the cost of tuition.

The same dynamic persists today. The Democratic party elites cheer when regulators force Catholic charities to fund things the church considers immoral. They vote to curtail the freedom of conscience of pro-life pharmacists. They filibuster judicial appointees who do not hold to the interpretation of Ted Kennedy, senator, of the constitution-as-rubber-stamp for liberal causes. Worse, they compare religious rightists to Muslim terrorists ("Christianists") and warn that we have entered a new Dark Age. Garry Wills, the popular historian, called the 2004 election the end of the Enlightenment on American soil, and meant it.

The good folks who make up the religious right may not love the Republican party, but they know a threat when they see one. The modern Democratic party is hostile to their very existence. An embarrassment for the Deanified Democrats in the November mid-term elections would be a victory not for theocracy, but for enlightened self-interest.

A new book from David Carlin, published by Sophia, Can a Catholic Be a Democrat?

Carlin’s bio from the Democrats for Life website, in case you’ve never heard of him, which would be unlikely if you’ve read this blog for very long:

David Carlin served in the Rhode Island State Senate for 12 years and was the Senate Majority Leader. He is the Chair of the Democratic Party of Newport, writes articles for various Catholic publications, and is currently a professor of sociology and philosophy at the Community College of Rhode Island.

You can read an excerpt from the book here (pdf)