Re: Shapes of a Wedge

Wally posted: "As a tax paying member of liberated Kennedyland, I invite
you to peruse the type of things that go on here.... ."

Interesting. In response, I invite you to look at the Texas Republican
Party platform. Excerpts are below:

RELIGIOUS RIGHT’S GRIP ON TEXAS GOP TIGHTENS

Comments on the party platform at the GOP state convention in San Antonio
this month. (Page numbers from the platform are in brackets.)

On Religious Freedom

· “The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States of
America is a Christian nation.” [8]

· “Our Party pledges to exert its influence to restore the original
intent of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and
dispel the myth of the separation of Church and State.” [8]

· The 2004 party platform opposes efforts to restrict display of the
Ten Commandments and other religious symbols in government buildings and
other places maintained by tax dollars. [7]

· The platform supports using tax dollars to fund faith-based social
programs and calls for allowing religious organizations “to address vital
issues of the day” without losing tax-exempt status (thus opening the
door to explicit, partisan political activity by religious
organizations). [4]

On Civil/Equal Rights

· “The Party supports amendment of the Americans with Disabilities
Act to exclude from its definition those persons with infectious
diseases, substance addiction, learning disabilities, behavior disorders,
homosexual practices and mental stress, thereby reducing abuse of the
Act.” [14]

· Republicans went on record endorsing the repeal of laws that have
expanded opportunities for voter registration. The party also wants to
require re-registration of all voters every four years laws. [6]

· Echoing calls by U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of Sugar Land that threaten
an independent judiciary, the platform supports the impeachment and
removal “of federal judges who abuse their constitutional authority or
are no longer acting on good behavior.” [5]

· Republicans state that it should be 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.” [10]

· Defining marriage as a “God-ordained, legal and moral commitment
only between a natural man and a natural woman,” the platform supports a
federal constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage and opposes
“granting of benefits to people who represent themselves as domestic
partners without being legally married.” [10]

· The platform opposes hate-crime laws (which increase penalties for
crimes that target people based on hatred for their religion, race,
sexual orientation and other characteristics). [8]

· The platform supports “covenant marriage” (which endangers
battered spouses because it would allow couples to divorce only after a
waiting period and counseling, even in cases of domestic abuse) and
advocates rescinding no-fault divorce laws. [10]

· The platform condemns homosexuality, supports criminalizing sexual
relations between consenting adults of the same sex and calls on Congress
to “withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving
sodomy” (an implicit criticism of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling
that
overturned sodomy laws). [10]

· The platform opposes the adoption of children or foster parenting
by gay men and lesbians. [10]

· “We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who
oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional
values.” [10]

· The platform calls for constitutional protection of a fetus and,
until then, strict limits and regulation of abortion and abortion
providers. [11]

· The party supports corporal punishment and “parental authority to
discipline,” mentioning it at least four different times. Republicans
also advocate eliminating prohibitions on corporal punishment in order to
attract more foster parents. [12, 13, 16]

· The party supports laws that bar Child Protective Services from
removing an abused child from his or her home, even in cases of
“immediate danger to the child’s physical health or safety.” [13]

· The platform calls for requiring people who report child abuse to
identify themselves and their contact information. [13]

· The state party platform calls for a ban on stem-cell research
(which experts believe holds the promise of cures for a variety of
diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s). [12]

On Public Education

      The platform supports “child-centered school funding options” that
use tax dollars to pay for tuition in private and religious schools
(vouchers). [15]

· The party calls for schools to emphasize “Judeo-Christian
principles” and for including Bible-based “theories” like “intelligent
design” about the origin of humans in science textbooks (which would, in
effect, water down discussions of evolution). [16, 17]

· Republicans support health education that promotes abstinence from
sex “until heterosexual marriage with an uninfected person” and oppose
any other instruction on methods of preventing pregnancy and sexually
transmitted diseases. [15]

· The party calls for the Legislature to restore to the State Board
of Education full authority to censor public school textbooks that
“undermine belief in America and our Constitutional Republic, promulgate
anti-American propaganda, and contain unchallenged biased viewpoints.”
[14]

· The platform supports “local control” measures for public schools
(which would mean the elimination of basic quality education standards
like teacher certification and small class sizes). [14]

· Republicans called for the repeal of “government-sponsored
programs that deal with early childhood development” (Head Start) and
phasing the programs out “as soon as possible.”[16]

On Good Government

· The party “understands government ownership of land to be the
cornerstone of socialism.” [4]

· Republicans officially call for privatizing Social Security and
“gradually phasing out the Social Security tax.” [13]

· The platform calls for U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations.
[24]

A few years ago, in Texas, the YEC fundamentalists took over the Southern
Baptist seminaries and the control of the Southern baptist Convention.
It appears that they are well on their way to becoming one with the
Republican party, at least in the south.

"Hang in there, Massachusetts! <G>

Burgy
                    www.burgy.50megs.com

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Received on Mon Jun 21 12:00:42 2004