Democracy is great (when people choose correctly)

In an interview, Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, promised that Democrats would do a better job talking about values to religious voters. "We have done it in a secular way, and we don't have to," he said, adding, "I think teaching the Bible as literature is a good thing."

If the Bible is "literature," it's sub-par literature, full of nonsense, contradictions and just plain bad writing. If someone published it today, it would also shoot straight onto one of those "banned books" lists the Christians are so enamored of for all its objectionable content. If it could even get published.

Betty Peters, a Republican on the Alabama school board who opposed the initiative in that state, also dismissed the initiative as "pandering." Democrats, she argued, had adopted a new strategy: "Let's just wrap ourselves in Jesus."

... "And they stole that strategy from us!" Indeed, it's OK when one party assumes divine endorsement, but when two of them do it, apparently Jesus is simply not cool with that, yo. And here I was thinking he loved everyone.

Religious voters are welcome to try and vote in a theocracy if they like–hell, look around, democratic voters are welcome to vote in armed terrorist cadres–but that doesn't mean both major parties have to oblige them.

For shame, Dr. Dean, for shame.

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As a semi-relevant aside, here's an article from this week's New York Times Magazine–"The Call" by Daniel Bergner–about Christian missionaries in Africa that raises all sorts of delightfully thorny questions: How "Christian" is it to not just be willing to help people without also trying to convert them? Can (and should) one family really destroy a culture to implant its beliefs? If you think God has called you to uproot your life, has he by default called your children to uproot theirs as well?

However the answers plot out, I think it's safe to say some people have shockingly low thresholds for what constitutes signage from above. (In fact, I think God is telling me to go eat some Cheez-Its right now...)