Say Shibboleth
Culture, FFYR, Florida 8:45 AM
by Nick Stone of Drawnlines Politics.
Last month at the Broward Republican Party meeting, we heard a lot about religion’s role in our politics. As irritating as that spectacle was, perhaps it’s appropriate.
The bible describes a time of religious persecution and exile, when believers were protected by a secret code known only to the faithful. Infiltrators were spotted and thwarted by their incorrect repetition of the Shibboleth.
We see this repetition of code in our politics today.
In Florida, candidates are tripping over themselves to convince GOP activists they are the best Republican to take down Senator Bill Nelson in 2012. Staring down the GOP’s Amen Pew of activists and saying the magic words, candidates vie for the affection of Party faithful. They hit all the Republican talking points, wagering that their Shibboleth is most believable.
A candidate may tout his bona fides on taxes or spending. Citing scripture, they may send a wink in the way of so-called social conservatives on cough-cough “traditional values.” Of course, it’s only fair to make primary candidates do the Republican song-and-dance before we decide to accept them as our own. But can we demand purity among our rank and file activists?
Most card-carrying Republicans are proud to be part of a Party that celebrates individualism over collectivism. Yet there remains in our Party a fringe element, hell-bent on litmus testing our tribe for imposters. A self-identified Republican that happens to be pro-choice or pro-gay could easily be shunned, regardless of their other viewpoints. Recent backlash over a blog article proves the point all too well.
Some backward-looking fundamentalists harken back to “the values” upon which our Party was founded. Rather than improving upon our platform with each election cycle, they insist on the status quo. Luckily these forces against change do not own the Party, else our platform would still demand high trade tariffs, an end to the plantation system, and the annexation of Hawaii. To their horror, traditionalists would find that most Republicans once stood against tax cuts as economic stimulus – and were for strong regulation of industry. Are these the traditional Republican values we demand of ourselves today? Obviously, they are not.
So as times change, so too must our platform. As a true believer in smaller government and more freedom, I thank Jessica Osman and other Republican women for championing equality under law. Thank God a few brave Republicans have the gall to question our Party’s inclination to regulate the family, so anathema to the rest of our limited government platform.
If freedom-loving Americans don’t have a home in the Republican Party, who does?
Rather than casting forward-thinking youth like Ms. Osman into the eager arms of our opposition, we might find an inspiring lesson in her article. Equality under law is the most conservative, most distinctly American principle imaginable. It’s also very Republican. Her Shibboleth sure sounds right to me.
Become a Drawnlines Politics insider today.
Last month at the Broward Republican Party meeting, we heard a lot about religion’s role in our politics. As irritating as that spectacle was, perhaps it’s appropriate.
The bible describes a time of religious persecution and exile, when believers were protected by a secret code known only to the faithful. Infiltrators were spotted and thwarted by their incorrect repetition of the Shibboleth.
Judges 12:6 - then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he could not frame to pronounce it right: then they laid hold on him, and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand.
We see this repetition of code in our politics today.
In Florida, candidates are tripping over themselves to convince GOP activists they are the best Republican to take down Senator Bill Nelson in 2012. Staring down the GOP’s Amen Pew of activists and saying the magic words, candidates vie for the affection of Party faithful. They hit all the Republican talking points, wagering that their Shibboleth is most believable.
A candidate may tout his bona fides on taxes or spending. Citing scripture, they may send a wink in the way of so-called social conservatives on cough-cough “traditional values.” Of course, it’s only fair to make primary candidates do the Republican song-and-dance before we decide to accept them as our own. But can we demand purity among our rank and file activists?
Most card-carrying Republicans are proud to be part of a Party that celebrates individualism over collectivism. Yet there remains in our Party a fringe element, hell-bent on litmus testing our tribe for imposters. A self-identified Republican that happens to be pro-choice or pro-gay could easily be shunned, regardless of their other viewpoints. Recent backlash over a blog article proves the point all too well.
Some backward-looking fundamentalists harken back to “the values” upon which our Party was founded. Rather than improving upon our platform with each election cycle, they insist on the status quo. Luckily these forces against change do not own the Party, else our platform would still demand high trade tariffs, an end to the plantation system, and the annexation of Hawaii. To their horror, traditionalists would find that most Republicans once stood against tax cuts as economic stimulus – and were for strong regulation of industry. Are these the traditional Republican values we demand of ourselves today? Obviously, they are not.
So as times change, so too must our platform. As a true believer in smaller government and more freedom, I thank Jessica Osman and other Republican women for championing equality under law. Thank God a few brave Republicans have the gall to question our Party’s inclination to regulate the family, so anathema to the rest of our limited government platform.
If freedom-loving Americans don’t have a home in the Republican Party, who does?
Rather than casting forward-thinking youth like Ms. Osman into the eager arms of our opposition, we might find an inspiring lesson in her article. Equality under law is the most conservative, most distinctly American principle imaginable. It’s also very Republican. Her Shibboleth sure sounds right to me.
Become a Drawnlines Politics insider today.
Posted by Nick Stone
on 8:45 AM.
Filed under
Posts
