turning American politics into a battleground primarily between those who believe the Gospels mandate an expansive welfare state and those who believe they mandate government's moral regulation of human birth, death and sex. -AS
What welfare state is that?
We haven't had a serious 'welfare state' in America, almost ever.
Jerry Falwell started out on the Left. It was the Right that figured out how to misuse him (broadly visible in a number of ways, not the least of which is the hypocrisy on the Right about its own compassion).
Thinking of government action and law as a tool in part of a struggle for a better society I don't think is anything to be ashamed of. One might argue about that principle taken to excess, but I'm not sure it is anything new.
Meanwhile, I haven't read all of Obama's reportedly "Christianist" speeches, but it looked to me from what I read that that term may not apply. He appears to be motivating a sense of mission ('universal principles'), not standing out in front of the Supreme Court with jeuveniles shouting, "Righteous judges!" and passing out little plastic babies, etc. (cf. Jesus Camp). What's more, from all that I've seen, he's encouraging people to weigh alternatives, to evaluate, to consider his health-care proposal, for instance, not as 'dogma' but as policy. This is not a Christianist stance, arguably. It's also light years away from funding Christian organizations with State funds to do the work ...
