Related articles and links |  1 of 3

Tim Roemer, who announced his candidacy for the Democratic National Committee chair last week, criticized others in his party for not allowing pro-lifers into leadership positions. "Don't put my arms behind me. Give me a chance to talk about my values. And don't litmus-test me," Roemer, a former congressman from Indiana, told a group in St. Louis over the weekend.

Several in his party criticized Roemer's opposition to abortion. Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said she will spend her time fighting Roemer's campaign. "I will also urge DNC members to make an unequivocal statement that choice is both a fundamental value of the Democratic Party and an essential component of our winning message."

Somehow, Michelman seems to be unaware that most Americans don't find abortion to be any kind of value. And her pro-abortion message has done little to help Democrats win lately.

In fact, The New York Times is reporting that the Democrats are desperate enough to call on an evangelical for help. Jim Wallis, who recently talked with House Democrats about how to dispel their secular image, is experiencing a sudden popularity in the Democratic Party. But it's not because the party's pro-abortion, secular stance has given them a "winning message." Wallis says, "The Democratic Party has increasingly had a problem as being perceived as secular fundamentalists."

They gave more time to religion during that meeting than any other issue, Wallis told The Washington Post. "Democrats should welcome a moral values conversation," Wallis said. "As an evangelical Christian, I find 3,000 verses in the Bible about the poor."

The Times says Wallis "urged the Democrats to look for middle ground on the social issues most troubling to religious traditionalists, like obscenity and abortion. Whatever their stance on abortion rights, he argued, Democrats need to treat its occurrence as a moral problem and propose ways to reduce it."

Such an approach would be a seismic shift in a party whose supporters flaunt abortion as something good in itself. Though the story notes that Wallis's politics are not quite in step with the evangelical mainstream (Richard Land calls him "a left-wing evangelical"), Wallis could help the party to stop calling abortion "a fundamental value," a term that mocks "moral values" voters, often derided as "fundamentalists."

Roemer's candidacy and Wallis's assistance are hopeful signs that in future debates about abortion, stem cells, abstinence, or other ethical issues, politicians don't fall into stale, euphemistic pot-shots. "A woman's right to choose," as Michelman calls abortion, is not really about choice, but about the taking of innocent life. With or without Roemer as Democratic Party chair, Christians can pray that the fundamental value of life will prick the consciences of politicians on both sides of the aisle.

More Articles

Religion & politics:

• Brownback on GOP presidential radar | As Bush's second term begins, speculation surrounds Kansas senator (Knight Ridder)
• Groups gather to fight Bush's faith initiatives | Forty to 60 humanists, atheists, nontheists, secular Jews and ethical culturalists began an emergency summit yesterday at a Dupont Circle hotel to discuss strategy over how to fight President Bush's faith-based initiatives planned for his second term. (Washington Times)
• Swing state | Along the highway, looming over busloads of retirees headed south to music mecca Branson, is Kay Allen's megaplex of a church, a striking sight amid low-slung strip malls. After her small church closed last year, Allen joined more than 5,000 Pentecostal Christians at the sleek quarters of James River Assembly. (Portland Press Herald, Maine)

next page... |  1 of 3

January (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49