Gimme That Old-Time Religion Without Political Gospel

“A nd He said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”

“And if you can win a few precincts along the way, so much the better.”

St. Mark the Apostle gets credit for the first line.

Blasphemous ol’ me made up the second one, although I’m sure many conservative Christians believe Jesus would have said just that, had He pondered 20th-Century politics during His time on Earth.

Long, long ago someone told me that a sure way to start an argument was to talk about religion or politics. So who was the genius who thought it would be a good idea to combine the two?

Sad to say, but the national religion-in-politics battle is officially joined, what with President Clinton taking on Jerry Falwell and with a leading Democratic House member warning about the rising power of Christian conservatives in the Republican Party and with Republican heavyweight Bob Dole embracing Republican candidate Oliver North after first giving him the cold shoulder. Most recently, the Republican governor of New Jersey said this week that the party must shun “extremists,” a code word these days for the religious right.

For those of us who get squeamish when politics gets fought on religious grounds, this is one fight we could do without. I, for one, find the prospect of Jerry Falwell, Ollie North and Pat Robertson being part of the political debate about as appetizing as a plate of squid.

Our own modified version of the national drama is being played out locally. The county Republican Party and most of its ruling hierarchy and elected officeholders are staunchly conservative, but more moderate voices want to be heard.

Mark Ishimatsu, who calls himself a moderate Republican, thinks the ruling elite in Orange County is more conservative than rank-and-file Republicans. He helped form a political action committee called the Orange County Republican Majority Committee to challenge party leaders.

The new group ran 22 people for spots on the county Central Committee in the June primary and came away with only three wins, but Ishimatsu remains undaunted.

Speaking generally both about the local scene and the national party, Ishimatsu credits the religious-conservative wing of the party with being well organized and active. “I have no problem with their participation in the party,” he said Tuesday. “The question becomes: Are the positions they’re pushing really reflective of what the Republican Party should be standing for, and a slightly different question, are they reflecting what people who call themselves Republicans believe in?”

Ishimatsu believes the answer to both his questions is no. Citing abortion and gay rights, Ishimatsu said opposition to those issues shouldn’t be defining positions for Republicans. Insisting on opposition to them, as the party’s most conservative members do, he said, risks alienating larger numbers of voters who see the conservative religious movement in politics as intolerant.

Matthew Cunningham, one of the founding members of the Conservative Round Table of Orange County, couldn’t disagree more.

It’s the moderate element in the party, he said, who are close-minded about their conservative religious brethren. “It’s ironic that the advocates of the big tent always want to draw the curtain when anyone of religious conviction wants to get in,” he said. Moderates expect conservatives to back moderate candidates but aren’t willing to return the favor when it comes to conservative candidates, Cunningham said.

The presence of Christian conservatives in the party doesn’t concern him, Cunningham said, because they aren’t pushing for state-imposed religion. Short of that, he said, political views formed by a person’s values or religion shouldn’t be called into question any more than others.

Even more to the point, Cunningham says, is the numbers game. Religious conservatives, he says, are “the fastest-growing, most dynamic” component of the electorate and the way to win future elections. Rather than being extremists, he says, they’re simply people with pent-up resentment over the secular emphasis in government and public schools. To hear Cunningham tell it, they’re loaded for bear.

I asked Ishimatsu if he thought moderating the Orange County Republican leadership is a hopeless task. “Not really,” he said, without laughing.

But then he did start chuckling. “They’re very entrenched and very combative. We’ll be a thorn in their sides. They don’t see us as a serious threat and understandably so, and I hope it stays that way. They can bring a lot of hassles to bear.”

Waiter, I’ll take that squid now, please.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.