Dynamite campaign issue for the Democrats: Retake the moral high ground

It's about time religious voices spoke out against the Republican budget priorities on moral grounds.

The GOP has had a pretty free run with religious conservatives -- blinding them to the moral teachings of Jesus by being against abortion and gay rights and for selfishness and ruthless capitalism. But now a wedge is poised to be driven between that pairing.

And it could be the dynamite political issue for 2012. Which party's positions are the moral ones?

From Time magazine's online "Swampland:"

". . . [A]n interesting thing is happening right now around the GOP budget proposal. A broad coalition of religious voices is criticizing the morality of the choices reflected in budget cuts and tax policy. And they’ve specifically targeted Paul Ryan and his praise for [Ayn] Rand, the philosopher who once said she “promote[d] the ethic of selfishness.”

And from the American Values Network:

The American Values Network (AVN) just released a video exposing [Ayn] Rand’s teachings and the influence she has had on prominent Republican leaders and conservative pundits. Paul Ryan, author of the Republican budget, cites Rand as the reason he got in to politics and has said that hers is the “kind of thinking that is sorely needed right now.” . . . .Here is the problem. . .

[Ayn] Rand advocates a morality of selfishness and a worldview based on individualism that is fundamentally incompatible with the teachings of Jesus. Where Jesus says, “love your neighbor as you love yourself,” Rand says, “love only those who deserve it.” Where Jesus says, “Give to any that asks of you,” Rand says, “I am challenging the moral code of altruism.” Instead of Jesus’ command to “feed my sheep,” in Rand’s world “men [are] perishing by their attempt to be their brothers’ keeper.” Rand herself has stated in no uncertain terms that one cannot follow her and Christ.

In an attempt to hold together the disparate constituencies of social conservative Christians and libertarian Tea Partiers, Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders have attempted to create an unholy trinity of Ayn Rand, Jesus Christ, and the GOP. But . . . . Nothing about the philosophy of Ayn Rand and the teaching of Jesus Christ is like the other. So the GOP must decide – who doesn’t belong? They can’t have both.

http://americanvaluesnetwork.org/aynrandvsjesus/

[This video is well worth watching. Think of it as a campaign ad in Paul Ryan's district.]

Ayn Rand makes the case for the self-interest of individualism and capitalism. I do not find her philosophy compatible with my own values, but it has had a formidable influence, especially on libertarians. It's not my purpose to argue for it or against it here at this time. My point is that this criticism from within religion is a powerful way of waking up conservative religious voters to what they are supporting, to what they have been blinded to.

The liberal religious voice was a powerful force during the civil rights era, but it has been missing in action these last decades and has been completely silent during these economic hard times and the heartless Republican cuts in the social network. Try to imagine Jesus holding aid to Joplin, MO tornado victims hostage to demand their way on cutting federal spending.

Now maybe we're about to see that voice revitalized. It could only help the Democrats.

Ralph