The Sad Truth About GOP And Religious Freedom

William Murray speaking at the site of the drafting of the Virginia Act Establishing Religious Freedom in 1777.

This commentary first appeared at WND.

Exclusive: William J. Murray sees ‘disconnect between the donor class and the voter class’

William J. Murray is the chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Religious Freedom Coalition and the author of seven books including “My Life Without God,” which chronicles his early life in the home of destructive atheist and Marxist leader Madalyn Murray O’Hair. Having lived the Marxist and the Ayn Rand lifestyle, he has a unique perspective on religion and politics.

No one is more Republican Party establishment than Karl Rove. In a June column in the Wall Street Journal headlined, “Are Social Issues Hurting Republicans?” he cites polls which found that more Americans today say they are social liberals than social conservatives. He then goes on to say that while most Americans are pro-life, on other social issues the majority are not conservative, and therefore the Republican Party must have a dual message.

He writes: “Yet, the GOP must find language that holds social conservatives while attracting socially moderate independents and even Democrats who think their party’s left wing is too wacky.” His basic argument is that the GOP must keep social conservatives in the party using the pro-life issue, while at the same time trying to attract those who are social liberals on other issues such as same-sex marriage. I guess you could say he recommends the GOP should “speak with a forked tongue” to attract into one party people who fundamentally disagree with each other for spiritual reasons.

There is a battle for our religious liberty here in the United States and in Western Europe as well. Western governments are moving forward to criminalize religious beliefs the elitist establishment disagrees with, and right now the point of the spear in attacking religious freedom is same-sex marriage. The Obama administration may be ready to have the IRS pass rules that would take away the tax-exempt status of social conservative organizations if they say certain types of sexual acts are morally wrong. Before long there may well be denial of public school teacher certification for graduates of Christian colleges because they would not be “supportive” of gay students.

Next we Christians may well be targeted for being critical of Islam, as the current liberal administration views all religions merely as equal “traditions.”

Back to Karl Rove. He promotes the concept that the GOP can only win with a platform of lower taxes, holding down the wage scale and balancing the budget by reducing future Social Security payments, while mouthing support for the pro-life movement. Rove and the rest of the GOP elites stick to the core idea that social issues lose elections and must be avoided. That worked well for Gov. Mitt Romney, didn’t it?

As his rationale, Rove goes back to a survey in his Wall Street Journal column that states 39 percent of Americans say they are conservative and only 19 percent say they are liberal. But is someone “conservative” just because they say they are? If so, considering the polls, why is Barack Obama president?

Let’s look at some numbers Karl Rove doesn’t want to talk about:

• 52 percent of Americans want wealth redistribution and higher taxes on the rich.

• 71 percent want to increase the minimum wage, including 54 percent of Republicans.

• Socialist Bernie Sanders raised more money to run for president the first 24 hours of his campaign than any GOP candidate.

Does that sound like the majority of Americans are economically conservative, Mr. Rove? The GOP controls the Congress because most Republican congressmen are social conservatives. They win in areas that are socially conservative but somewhat economically liberal. In many areas the churchgoing, blue-collar union vote helps to elect GOP congressmen. Elitists just don’t get the fact that many of those who vote for the GOP are not doing so because of economics. Lots of Walmart employees making $10 an hour vote GOP. People on food stamps vote for GOP congressmen based on their positions on social issues.

There is a total disconnect between the donor class and the voter class in the GOP on numerous other issues as well, including defense and foreign policy. The donor class is all hawk, willing to back any president of any party if he wants to go to war, for just about any reason. And it is the donor class that hands over the money that wins elections. When Bill Clinton was president his core support to bomb Christian Serbia back to the Stone Age and help form a Muslim state in Europe came from Republicans. Muslim terrorists from Kosovo have already attacked one of our Air Force bases in Germany as a result. Thank you, Bill Clinton and the GOP!

The Brookings Institute found in a poll that a whopping 72 percent of Americans were against the United States fighting the Syrian government headed by Bashir Assad, but the “inside the beltway” GOP establishment supports President Obama’s plan to overthrow that government. Congressional Republicans also overwhelmingly backed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in attacking Libya, and most even wanted ground troops involved. Libya is now a failed state exporting weapons and Islamic terror around the world.

Bottom line: Social conservatives view as important their right to express their religious views publicly. Conservative Christians want their free speech rights; they want to be able to call sin what it is without reprisal. Social conservatives want to help protect Christianity in the Middle East and other areas of the world where it is under attack. Karl Rove and the GOP establishment could care less about those issues, at a time when the left of the Democratic Party wants to criminalize Christians who do not bend to their warped ideas of morality.

Rove and the economic elitists are destroying the Republican Party while thinking they are saving it from social conservatives. These elites include politicians such as Sen. Lindsey Graham who said that if Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner) says he/she/it is a Republican, then he/she/it is welcome in his Republican Party. But welcoming he/she/it means that all believing Christians in the Republican Party will be prohibited from being critical of he/she/it.

To counter the elites who believe the GOP should be only about guns and money, the social conservatives must keep in the race as long as possible those candidates who express social conservative views. That means supporting them financially and voting for them in the primaries, regardless of who it looks like is a “front runner.” Gov. Mike Huckabee, as he did in 2008, is standing for social conservative values and for the natural family. So are Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum. Sen. Rand Paul simply tells the truth about the Middle East and is equally critical of Republicans and Democrats who have toppled secular governments and handed stable nations over to total chaos. There are reasons to support these candidates and others like them, to keep the views of social conservatives in discussion in the 2016 presidential race.

It is far better for social conservatives to keep alive the public expression of their beliefs than to side with a John McCain clone who will not represent them in the general election nor in the White House, in the unlikely event of a GOP win in November, 2016.