Texas GOP Approves Party Platform

That is sickening but not surprising. Republicans use the tool of religion better than anyone else. I find it pathetic how many people are going to vote for Bush because of Christ, while his dictatorship is destroying this country, and going against everything that Christ was supposed to have stood for.

 

Anything about less government and fiscal responsability.

 

I see they've upgraded the forcible rape punishment they'd like. In 2000, the official party platform for the state only called for Life without Parole (something that doesn't exist in Texas, of course, but that's what they wanted).

 

I'm sure there was a lot. The platform is often an extremely long list of issues. There was lots about such things in the 2000 state Republican platform.

 

How can anyone argue against legislation ordained by God?

 

BTW, does anyone find the verbiage used to express what sodomy does to society to be purposefully illustrative?

 

What happened to separation of church and r****ded legislators?

 

Texas Republican Party approves 2004 platform
Associated Press

The Republican Party of Texas approved its 2004 state platform at its convention today. Among the provisions in the platform are:

--Support for "the traditional definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and a natural woman."

no hermaphrodites allowed, but then again, they don't really exist in God's world....

--Support for state legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple.

GOP is getting soft. MORE DEATH PENALTY!!!

--Support for protection of all "innocent human life" from fertilization until natural death; urging the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion.

Innocent human life? Don't forget about original sin!

--Opposition to government action to restrict, prohibit or remove from public display the Ten Commandments or other religious symbols.

What we really need more (a) monuments displaying the Buddha's Four Noble Truths

--Denouncement of "any unconstitutional act of judicial tyranny that would demand removal of the words 'One Nation Under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance."

The founding fathers were not Christians. If they were, there would be no separation of church and state.

--Support for adoption of "American English" as the official language of Texas and the United States.

People speak that in Texas?

--Restoration of plaques honoring the Confederate Widow's Pension Fund contribution that were removed from the Texas Supreme Court and other state buildings.

Of course! What would we do without that?

--Support for legislation to allow forcible rape to be punished by the death penalty.

Death! Death! Death! Go GOP Go!!!

--Opposition to the legalization of sodomy. The platform states that sodomy "tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases."

But I promise I will be gentle.

--Support for a state school choice policy that allows "maximum freedom of choice in public, private or parochial education for all children."

Just make sure the children pray every morning at school and everything will be swell.

 

Texas Republican Party approves 2004 platform
Associated Press

The Republican Party of Texas approved its 2004 state platform at its convention today. Among the provisions in the platform are:

--Support for "the traditional definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and a natural woman."

I'm sure God is losing sleep over this one.

--Support for state legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple.

Two of my best friends are ministers. This will crack them up.

--Support for protection of all "innocent human life" from fertilization until natural death; urging the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion.

I understand the viewpoint, but I disagree.

--Opposition to government action to restrict, prohibit or remove from public display the Ten Commandments or other religious symbols.

God must be pretty damn vain. Why else would he care if his name was plastered everywhere?

--Denouncement of "any unconstitutional act of judicial tyranny that would demand removal of the words 'One Nation Under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance."

I can't believe this is even an issue.

--Support for adoption of "American English" as the official language of Texas and the United States.

That's pretty dang funny.

--Restoration of plaques honoring the Confederate Widow's Pension Fund contribution that were removed from the Texas Supreme Court and other state buildings.

Um, what?

--Support for legislation to allow forcible rape to be punished by the death penalty.

Because Texas doesn't fry enough people already.

--Opposition to the legalization of sodomy. The platform states that sodomy "tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases."

Who knew people cared so much about other people's buttholes?

--Support for a state school choice policy that allows "maximum freedom of choice in public, private or parochial education for all children."

Another step toward completely dismantling of the public education system.

---

I understand that state "platforms" don't really mean anything, but this is a dang scary list. What's scarier, though, is the GOP's enthusiastic embrace of a very particular religious ideology.

 

And that is why I left the Southern Baptist Religion. Hell that's why I left religion period.

 

I agree. I was just noting that it wasn't the entire platform that's posted here, just a sampling.

 

--Restoration of plaques honoring the Confederate Widow's Pension Fund contribution that were removed from the Texas Supreme Court and other state buildings.

Um, what?

The Texas Supreme Court building was built with funds from the Confederate Widow's Pension Fund contributions. As part of that, two plaques were placed in the building that relate to the Confederacy. One of the plaques contained a quote from Robert E. Lee next to a rendering of the Confederate Battle Flag. The other had a seal of the Confederacy and said "Dedicated to Texans who Served the Confederacy". In the summer of 2000, the plaques were removed.

By the way, I believe it was then-Governor George W. Bush who ordered the plaques removed (at the very least, he supported their removal).

Apparently, the Texas Constitution notes that the Texas Supreme Court building was to be a memorial to Texans who served in the armed forces of the Confederate States of America (I don't know that for a fact. I've not looked it up or anything. But that's something I heard).

 

This is not much different than what the Republican Party used as it's nation wide platform for the past twenty years. Why are you surprised Jeff?

 

Thanks for the explanation, mrpaige. I didn't quite understand what it meant. I'm not really sure what to think of the issue, though. We shouldn't run from our past, but we can't condone it either.

Reminds me of South Park -- it's racist, but it's history.

 

God is everywhere at GOP convention
Faith and politics come together in San Antonio

By Ken Herman

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Saturday, June 5, 2004

SAN ANTONIO -- At the Texas Republican Convention, God and the GOP are even tighter than the mere one-letter difference might indicate.

There's no official count, but the convention references to God are running about neck and neck with the mentions of home-state hero George W. Bush.

And on the evening of the first day, the Rev. Charles Murphy of Heritage Baptist Church in Missouri City was moved to comment on it.

"I thought when I was over there today I was at church," Murphy said gleefully before offering the invocation at a Texas Christian Coalition dinner on Thursday. "I heard more about God there than I hear at some of the conventions we go to that say they are Christian."

For many delegates at the three-day convention, religion and politics commingle with comfort, purpose and zeal. Delegates on Friday approved a platform that refers to "the myth of the separation of church and state."

"Faith is important to the vast majority of Texans," said Tina Benkiser, a Houston lawyer re-elected Friday as state GOP chairwoman. "And when you have real faith, that is who you are, and obviously what you want is your principles and your ideals to be put in public policy.

"And I think Texans clearly agree because they have put us in stewardship of statewide government at every branch of government," she said.

Much of the religious-oriented language is carried over from previous GOP platforms, as is the Christian enthusiasm of many delegates. But Texas Democrats, currently shut out of all statewide offices, believe the increasing religious overtones should concern voters looking for mainstream leadership.

"It reads like the longest political suicide note in Texas history," Texas Democratic Chairman Charles Soechting said of the GOP platform. "It will scare the living daylights out of most Christians. It's an anti-Christian platform because it seeks to punish people, and it embodies the very worst of the right-wing Christian movement."

Democrats, he said, would benefit greatly if GOP candidates swore allegiance to the platform, something few do.

"It would scare away a bunch of the middle," Soechting said.

Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas government professor, agreed.

"Even though this is a conservative state with a strong religious right component, there are moderate Republicans and centrist Democrats who would be repelled by that," he said of the GOP platform.

It's a platform that offers tangible evidence of how religion -- a specific brand of religion -- guides Texas' party in power.

A plank in a section titled "Promoting Individual Freedom and Personal Safety" proclaims the United States a "Christian nation."

"The party affirms freedom of religion and rejects efforts of courts and secular activists who seek to remove and deny such a rich heritage from our public lives," says a passage added this year.

The rewritten "Celebrating Traditional Marriage" section now calls for legislation making it a felony for anyone to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple or for a "civil official" to perform a wedding ceremony for such couples.

Also new this year is a section declaring that the Ten Commandments "are the basis of our basic freedoms and the cornerstone of our Western legal tradition."

"We therefore oppose any governmental action to restrict, prohibit or remove public display of the Decalogue or other religious symbols."

The platform continues to approach gambling as a moral issue, damning it as "devastating" to families.

In an update targeted at GOP Gov. Rick Perry's call for slot machines at pari-mutuel tracks and Indian property to raise money for schools, the new platform says, "We strongly oppose gambling, in any form, as a means to fund education."

The Christian impact on the party has been obvious at the convention of a party that has gone way beyond the standard "God Bless Texas" speech closing line made popular by Democrat Bob Bullock and adopted by many politicians.

Two years ago, at a GOP convention prayer rally, state District Judge Faith Johnson called on all judges to accept Jesus Christ. On Thursday, former GOP Chairwoman Susan Weddington of San Antonio, accepting an award, talked about how Jesus Christ informed her when it was time to move on to a new endeavor. Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams indicated God will guide him toward what elected office he should next seek.

Benkiser, who beat out Waco lawyer Gina Parker for party leader, told delegates about her work at Houston's Second Baptist Church, a 32,000-member congregation that has become a social and political force in the Houston area.

Perry's reference to God drew a standing ovation during his anti-abortion-rights comments.

"This great human journey from the moment of conception until our last moments on Earth confirms the presence of a divine creator and the sacred nature of human life," Perry said, igniting thunderous applause.

At a 7 a.m. Friday prayer rally, thousands of delegates turned the convention floor into a house of prayer.

As delegates prayed and sang, oversized religious images, including Jesus on the cross, were displayed on the hall's giant video screens. Christian clergymen took turns leading the prayers, some with political overtones.

"Heavenly father, you fashioned the family to be one man and one woman committed to each other for life," Pastor Charles Burchett of Kirbyville's First Baptist Church said in a reference to same-sex marriage.

"Jehovah Jesus, we are living in a time when the foundations of the family and the foundations of the church are being attacked and destroyed," he said.

http://www.statesman.com/metrostate...ns/saturday/metro_state_041c079a4415608d00bd.


This is your Texas Republican leadership... exploiting religion for political gain, at least they think it's going to be a political plus for them. At some point, Texans will wake up, smell the coffee, and realize how completely the leadership of their party has been co-opted by highly organized far-right religious zealots, with the cynical politicians who are tagging along, mouthing the words these folks want to hear for their own uses. Frankly, it turns my stomach. Does it sicken any of our Republican friends here?

 

If they persist with the message, there will be people inclined to believe that the left isn't concerned about religion enough or possibly to the point where the left wants to destroy it. I believe religion's influence is being underestimated here.

The Dem's response shouldn't be to negatively react to the GOP's wild platform. Doing so would allow a black and white perspective from the demographic the GOP is hoping to attract. A more concise platform that deals with political hotbeds would make the voters assume less and fire up the cynical voters who have given up on the party.

 

...use lubricant.


But seriously folks....my Dad is a Bush appointee...and his wife is Jewish. They both call themselves Texas residents despite their ambassadoral assignment in the Philippines. I wonder how this super-Christian angle is going to make her feel? (I'm pretty sure my Dad digs his job enough that he will just ignore all this religious stuff and carry on with his job.)

 

Why would they support traitors anyway?