Democrats Keep the Faith

Re “My Party Is Leaving the Faithful Behind,” Opinion, April 10: I am surprised Kevin Starr would fall for the Republican ruse of presenting liberalism as out of touch with Judeo-Christian moral values.

On the contrary, liberal values, whether expressed by churchgoers or secular humanists, are still based on Judeo-Christian tradition and, in particular, the teachings of Jesus Christ. These include compassion for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the old and the homeless. “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” They would include tolerance of others. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.”

They would emphasize equality between people, including women. They would oppose the accumulation of money and property. Jesus smashed the stalls of the money-lenders and warned that a rich man would have difficulty getting into heaven.

The extremists on the right have managed to twist the label “liberal” to mean brie-eating, chardonnay-drinking snobs, in addition to being as evil the “commies” of yesterday.

Take a good look at the so-called Republican values. Do they extend beyond criminalizing abortion, shoving homosexuals back into the closet and keeping brain-dead people alive indefinitely?

Barbara Larsen

Los Angeles

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Starr is right that the Democratic Party is leaving its faithful behind, but not for the reasons he’s suggesting. What upsets the Democratic base is that the movers and shakers of the party say one or two good things, and then vote as President Bush would like them to. Many Democratic elected leaders squawked about Florida/2000 and Ohio/2004, but how did they vote on certification? They complained about Condoleezza Rice before voting to confirm her.

And every time Bush holds his hand out for more billions to fund the Iraq war (which Pope John Paul II was against), the majority of Democrats don’t let him down.

Real backbone in its leaders is what today’s Democratic Party needs. The worst thing of all would be for the party to move even further to the right.

Charles Coleman Jr.

Pacoima

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What is Starr (no relation to me, for goodness sake) saying? What are the party excesses he’s complaining about? Is it the Democratic Party’s pro-choice stance, or its “not quite” pro-gay stance? Is he saying the “faithful” are leaving the party on these issues?

If so, Mr. Starr, I say to you and to them, “Don’t let the door hit you in pocket Bible” (for goodness sake)!

Mary Starr

Del Mar

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I’m a Christian and a Democrat. That shouldn’t be a contradiction, but it is. I know many Americans are not Christians and I accept that, but most believe in a higher being. The Democratic Party needs to change.

Politicians who believe in God should proclaim that belief because it will only make them more human.

Democrats should stop associating themselves with atheist causes (support these causes as individuals but do not involve the party). Most Americans believe in the separation of church and state, but atheism is a belief system that most Americans don’t share. Do Democrats want the elderly, Midwesterners, Catholics, African Americans, Latinos, Jews? Well, we are believers. What will happen when we are forced to choose between God and the Democratic Party?

There are other things Democrats should be concerned about: the filibuster (this would give the president too much power), Iraq (spend billions for schools there while our schoolchildren share textbooks), immigration (jobs equal illegal immigrants), the environment (support it for our children, not because animals are more important than people), abortion (is it a lesser evil than the alternative?).

What do I know? I’m a contradiction: a Christian Democrat who believes in the social message but rejects the secular rhetoric. The Democratic leadership should remember that parties have disappeared from American politics before. Does anyone remember the Federalists, the Whigs ... the Democrats?

Ricardo Garcia

Pomona

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The Republicans in Washington and California are pushing the most anti-worker political agenda in decades and turning their backs on the poor and disadvantaged (a.k.a. “the least of these” in Jesus’ terms).

The Republicans are bent on imposing a right-wing, intolerant religious theocracy on our government that would stymie religious freedom for everyone not “born again.” They represent the very economic elitism and global militarism that Pope John Paul II spent his entire life preaching against.

Yet Starr says it’s the Democrats who are leaving the faithful behind? I don’t think so.

Steve Mehlman

Sacramento