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Former Reaganite Attacks "religious Left"


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I don't know if this is the proper way to post this, but I was deeply offended by a recent OP-ED piece that appeared in Saturday's edition of the Washington Post by Reagan's former secretary of the interior, James Watt, entitled "The Religious Left Lies":

 

http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W4RT04D1...BCF17F3C9C1DA00

 

Here is a brief excerpt of this alarming and inflammatory attack:

 

The religious left's political operatives have mounted a shrill attack on a significant portion of the Christian community. Four out of five evangelical Christians supported President Bush in 2004 -- a third of all ballots cast for him, according to the Pew Research Center. Factor in Catholics and members of other conservative religious communities and it's clear that the religious right is the largest voting bloc in today's Republican Party.

 

The religious left took note. Political opportunists in its ranks sought a wedge issue to weaken the GOP's coalition of Jews, Catholics and evangelicals and shatter its electoral majority. They passed over obvious headliners and landed on a curious but cunning choice: the environment. Those leading the charge are effective advocates: LBJ alumnus Bill Moyers of PBS fame, members of the National Council of Churches USA and liberal theologians who claim a moral superiority to other people of faith...

 

What are your thoughts on this?? Is anyone here planning to write a letter of response?

 

 

Peace,

 

 

John

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Well Watt was the all time worst (well I don't know about some of GWB's selectees) Secretary of the Interior, so it was a pretty disingenious to call the "religious left's" (is this yet a viable political force? Perhpas he is worried. Hoping he is worried. :-)) choice of environment as an issue a "curious but cunning choice". Since Watt was kind of the anti-environment interior sec., I think he just has no clue that the environment really is important. At least I hope he is just clueless and it isn't something else.

 

I love how he says "passing over other headliners" as if somehow environment is some trivial issue. Gosh it is the EARTH we are talking about!!! Gosh shoudl they have chosen the more important ? topics of Terri Shavo or gay marriage?

 

Since conservatives are always telling us we are not even Christians, I think it is curious he believes "liberal theologians who claim a moral superiority to other people of faith...".

 

But I don't get the Washington Post, selecting Watt as an op-ed writer seems to be an all time low. But I wouldn't know what to say in a letter. "Hi I don't get your paper but your op ed writer su***." :-) I don't know how edifying that would be. ;-)

 

You gotta pick your battles, peacemover.

 

--des

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My browser crashed so I can't go back and edit this. What Watt is referring to is a statement that was attributed to him by Moyers and others re: the infamous last tree standing. Apparently he never said this. However, his further statements about how he is supposed to be a steward of the earth, well if he believes that , his actions were, well, "interesting". Watt's administration was considered terrible in regard to conservation issues, and you do not have to be an extreme left wing extremist to think this.

 

And the problems continue: The League of Conservation Voters (not exactly a fringe environmental extremist group) grades congresspeople on their voting records on the environment. The lowest grades went to those who got the highest grades from two or three different conservative religious groups. So even if the statement was not a real quote the voting patterns of congresspeople is negatively skewed against the environment perhaps by their religious views or just general conservatism (though seems strange conservatives don't want to conserve anymore-- what happened?).

 

BTW, not all conservative Christians or evangelicals feel the same way. There is a very small but growing segment who embrace something they call "creation care". It remains to be seen if this group can influence legislators in positive ways.

 

--des

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Indeed, Watt was the original Mr. "Left Behind"; i.e. one who encouraged us to leave the environment behind as well as God's charge for us to be wise and faithful stewards of God's Creation. ; )

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BroR, you hit the nail on the head. He may not have actually said the comment about the last trees, but he acted like it. He was the drill anywhere, cut any tree anywhere sort of "interior" secretary. More a friend of industry, than of the environment.

 

I don't know if it was Watt's idea but another thing happened was vast weakening of the power of the EPA to regulate. I had a friend that was working at the EPA at the time. They moved all the engineers to one area and all the regulators and administrators to another, so they were unable to easily work with each other after that. It was a fine way of divide and conquer. Their work went to almost nothing. My friend ended up taking novels so she could "do something" at work.

 

His cries of liar are so disingenious as to be ridiculous. I don't think Moyers owed him an apology, just shows that Moyers is pretty admirable and has high standards for his own accuracy.

 

 

--des

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I heard an interesting thing about Watt, but I don't have any verification of it. It was that one of the first things he did as secretary of interior was to have the seal of the department changed so that the bear faced to the right instead of the left. Clinton's appointee had the old seal restored.

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