We are all one People

Here's something unusual - an article at Townhall that seems religiously inclusive. Usually articles over there have all the subtlety of "We are the Champions." Of course given that the religious right is about to torpedo any candidate insufficiently concerned with their issues (like, say, Giuliani), you can't say this article is entirely out of the blue.

It's by Suzanne Fields and it is largely directed to the religious base of the Republican Party.

Appeals to compromise or moderation drive the fanatics in any social movement to the sidelines of cultural struggle. Fires destroy everything when zealots get too fired up.

. . . But the future of the religious right is less clear. The presidential contenders asking for their votes are more mixed in their appeal than George W. Bush was seven years ago. It's harder now to excite passion with reason when the arguments aren't 100 percent ideologically pure. But Americans remain a practical people, and nobody likes a losing strategy for long, no matter how dear the single issue.

The separation of church and state remains the great triumph of our democracy, enabling lively and often contentious argument that leads to workable, if not always wholly satisfying, compromise.

I suppose there's no percentage in pretending that Liberal Christians might actually love Jesus, but this is still a step in the right direction. The campaigns of Giuliani and, to a lesser extent, Romney highlight the schism in the Republican Party between the Religious conservatives and the rest of the party. I suppose we'll find out whether or not the religious right feels like they can build bridges or decides to remain in ideologically pure isolation.

I, being a liberal, hope for the later.