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Abortion and a political label versus a

biblical viewpoint
What’s your emphasis??
Leaning on a political label rather than an outspoken biblical view can allow us to
be ‘against abortion – sort of’ and for ‘gay’ marriage.

‘As a co-host of ABC's daytime chatfest "The View," Elisabeth Hasselbeck has long been
known as the conservative firebrand of the show. . Hasselbeck ‘parts company with
conservative culture warriors on the charged issues of gay marriage and abortion
rights. On the latter front, she says she's "torn"; she offers fairly unequivocal support on
the controversial question of same-sex unions.’

As for abortion, Hasselbeck confirms she believes that life begins at conception but also
says she doesn't think the government should tell women what to do with their bodies.
"I'm torn there in terms of supporting laws" for or against abortion, she says. "I always
say I would rather a change in heart than a law."

Hasselbeck considers herself more of a "federalist" — someone who believes the federal
government should leave decisions up to the states — than a "conservative." "Always
trying to mandate, mandate, mandate this or that is not the way that I believe the country
should be run," she says.’

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100824/pl_yblog_upshot/hasselbeck-
supports-gay-marriage-calls-obama-a-cool-guy

The new battle: What it means to be American


By: Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith
August 20, 2010 04:33 AM EDT
It's a classic case of be careful what you wish for. President Barack Obama wanted to end the baby
boomer-era culture wars — and he's done it.

But along the way, Obama has sparked an even more visceral values debate about whether he's
moving the country toward socialism and over the very definition of what it means to be American.

At a moment that finds the right energized and seemingly ascendant, the battles over morality-
based cultural issues such as gay rights abortion and illegal drugs that did so much to drive the
conservative movement and dominated the political conversation for more than 30 years have
abated, giving way not just to broad economic anxiety but to a new set of emotionally charged
issues.

Much of the right — including the noisy and influential tea party movement — sees greater and
more immediate danger from this administration and Congress on issues related to the role of
government and the very meaning of America than from the old "social issues." For while Obama
has avoided single-issue fights on issues such as gays in the military and federal funding of
abortions — angering parts of his base, in the process — he has, in the minds of conservatives,
pushed a comprehensive agenda, and that is far more threatening.

"His worldview is dramatically different than any president, Republican or Democrat, we've had,"
said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a potential 2012 presidential candidate, who attributes
conservative fear not just to Obama's effort to expand the federal government but to the president's
overall governing philosophy.

"He grew up more as a globalist than an American," Huckabee said. "To deny American
exceptionalism is in essence to deny the heart and soul of this nation."

Pete Wehner, a former top official in the George W. Bush administration and a social conservative
thinker, described the resistance to Obama as "beyond politics."

"What we're having here are debates about first principles," Wehner said. "A lot of people think
he's trying to transform the country in a liberal direction in the way that Ronald Reagan did in a
conservative direction. This is not the normal push and pull of politics. It gets down to the purpose
and meaning of America."

In the view of National Review editor Rich Lowry, that sense on the right of a fundamental shift
has helped turn the role of government into a cultural issue, filling some of the emotional
space formerly occupied by the traditional hot-button issues.

Questions about the role of government "have a cultural charge because people feel the definition
of the country is changing," Lowry said.

Just as Christian conservatism in the 1970s and '80s grew as part of a backlash against what were
seen as the cultural excesses of the ‘60s, the new right of today amounts to a rebellion against the
perceived threat of this era — a slippage toward European-style social democracy.

Just sample the titles of some of the current and forthcoming books by conservatives who are
hoping to channel the movement: "To Save America," by Newt Gingrich; "No Apology: The Case
for American Greatness," by Mitt Romney; "America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and
Flag," by Sarah Palin.

The diminution of the old culture wars isn't attributable just to Obama and the state of the
economy, though.
It's also because some of most influential voices on the right are simply not that interested in taking
on issues of morality, which are not currently animating grass-roots conservatives.

One influential figure, Fox News's Glenn Beck, reacted with visible incredulity when fellow Fox
host Bill O'Reilly asked him whether he considered same-sex marriage "a threat the country."

"Will the gays come and get us?" Beck asked. "I believe what Thomas Jefferson said. If it neither
breaks my leg nor picks my pocket, what difference is it to me?"

''Honestly, I think we have bigger fish to fry," he continued. "You can argue about abortion or gay
marriage or whatever all you want. The country is burning down."

Beck's comments evoked groans from social conservatives.

"It certainly doesn't help the cause," said former Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum,
who is exploring a presidential run and added that he likes Beck.

Santorum said it's difficult for elite conservatives to promote issues like traditional marriage when
they've achieved the level of celebrity Beck now enjoys.

"Being in New York, it's just hard to stand up and be ostracized like you are if you take that
position," the former senator said. "Nobody likes to be called a bigot."

But it isn't just Beck. Rush Limbaugh has also signaled little interest in crusading against same-sex
marriage. This summer he went so far as to use his show to defend his decision to invite the openly
gay Elton John to perform at his wedding.

"I've said constantly [that] it's the left that looks at people and puts them in a group and then
defines them thus," Limbaugh contended. "Elton John's not a gay man to me; Elton John is the
premier performer of his generation."

And those views go beyond conservative media figures. A California court ruling restoring same-
sex marriage in the Golden State drew silence from most Republican officeholders.

Most GOP leaders have shown little appetite to revive dormant battles on social issues, in large
part because they don't pack the same punch as the fiscal matters that are energizing the base of the
party.

"They know they don't win votes on this stuff, except for their base," former NARAL President
Kate Michelman said.

The generational curve also is rapidly working against cultural conservatives on gay marriage,
leaving fewer Republicans who want to raise the issue of homosexuality.

Abortion, while still a matter of fierce debate among activists on both sides of the issue, is at a
standstill now in terms of the judicial process and few think that Roe v Wade is in danger (though
many conservatives believe that, generationally, abortion is the precise opposite of gay rights over
the long term).

Illegal immigration is perhaps the only cultural issue currently animating Americans, and that's in
part because of its economic component.

Other '60s flash points feel like relics. Consecutive presidents of both parties effectiively admitted
youthful drug use. Consider the recent GQ account of Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul taking
bong hits in his college days — nobody in either party made a peep about the revelation.

Besides prominent media and political leaders turning away from moral questions, there is also a
vacuum within the Christian conservative movement that did so much to thrust such issues to the
forefront.

Jerry Falwell is dead; Pat Robertson makes news only when he says something provocative; and
James Dobson has retired.

"The people who, for a quarter century, were what were termed as leaders of the religious right are
gone or are fading," said Wehner.

Not only are there no obvious successors to Falwell's Moral Majority or Robertson's Christian
Coalition, but the most prominent religious leaders today are individuals such as the Revs. Rick
Warren and Franklin Graham, who've made clear that they're more interested in spreading the
gospel than in speaking out on divisive social issues.

Santorum, a traditional Roman Catholic, said that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"A lot of people believe that the personification of the Christian conservative movement allowed
for demonization," he said. "The movement is better served with many voices."

Alex Castellanos, a longtime GOP strategist, is more direct, suggesting that the public moral
failings of both political and religious conservative leaders made those in the grass roots more leery
of top-down solutions.

"They think this place is so corrupt that to try to effect change from Washington is useless,"
Castellanos said.

Ralph Reed, who now leads a group called the Faith and Freedom Coalition and was a pivotal
player in the rise of the religious right as executive director of the Christian Coalition, argued that
Christian conservative activists and their leaders have grown more politically sophisticated and are
now organizing behind the scenes.

"In Falwell's day, there were millions of evangelicals sitting in pews not voting," Reed said. "That's
not happening anymore."

But without a charismatic figure carrying the banner the religious right has been eclipsed by the
fiscally focused tea party.

The growth of libertarianism prompted by what the right perceives as Obama's overreach has
delighted Republicans who want to see the party drop its emphasis on social issues.

"It's hard to be preaching the gospel of smaller government while at the same time talking about
putting the government into people's bedrooms. It's not a coherent message," said Chris Barron,
leader of a gay Republican group.

This is not to say that a Republican who supports abortion rights or gay marriage is likely to be on
the party's ticket in 2012: Cultural conservative voters remain a force in the party's early primary
states.

"How many pro-choice Republicans do you see running? Zero," said Richard Land, president of
the Southern Baptist Convention.

But it's a matter of emphasis, and it's unlikely that any GOP nominee would seek to make moral
issues central in the next presidential campaign.

"They don't have to be one, two or three in a debate order or speech, but cultural conservatives do
have to know a person is not going to abandon those issues," said Huckabee, who retains an intense
following that includes many evangelicals.

Santorum, who has already made multiple trips to first-in-the-nation Iowa said, "The
overwhelming sentiment right now is a concern about the role of government in people's lives."

He added: "When I talk about cultural issues today, I don't generally talk about abortion. The real
issue of life right now is Obamacare and the rationing of treatment to those on the margins of
society."

Looking ahead to 2012, Wehner puts it more simply: "I just don't think abortion and gay rights are
going to be huge issues."

© 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC

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