Was Goldwater right on his assessement of the Christian Right?

Question

He disliked them and thought that they had too much influence on the Republican Party.

Here's some comments:

"A lot of so-called conservatives today don't know what the word means," he told the Los Angeles Times in a 1994 interview. "They think I've turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That's a decision that's up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the religious right. It's not a conservative issue at all."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/may98/goldwater30.htm

He also said that every good christian should kick Jerry Falwell in the bum.

Answer 1

Yes;Their influence has been too big and bad for America.
In 1981 Goldwater gave a speech on how he was angry about the bullying of American politicians by religious organizations, and would "fight them every step of the way".

I can agree with that

Answer 2

The bible teaches, that, if you are a believer you should go out & teach others. I have never read in the bible that you should force or condemn those that are not believers. You should meet hate with love & condemnation with reason. And there lies the rub! Somehow, those that purpose to be christians(not all) feel that if you don't agree with their belief you are less than them. You are condemned, you are stamped with any nasty label that fits the occasion. Take abortion, I personally am not in favor of abortion in most circumstances. I believe that is a personal thing between a woman, her husband & God. Whatever those three decide is fine with me. Nobody has the right to foce their belief on another person. More war & deaths have been fought & executed in the name of religion that any other reason.

Answer 3

I agree with him. I do not know what he would do now, I wish he was here to tell us. I made up my own mind and left the Republican party in 1985 when it became obvious Reagan doublecrossed us all on economics and probably had cut a deal with the Ayatollah to hold the American citizens hostage till after the election in 1980. I find it interesting that some of the neocons still try to jack Jane Fonda up but remain so quiet about the things Reagan had done. Ain't plausible deniability grand. The sad part is, Goldwater is less electable now then he was then. Our political process is incapable of selecting Leaders who actually stand for something.

Answer 4

Yes!! Goldwater was the standard bearer for the real Republican Party, before they traded 'fiscal conservatism' for 'social conservatism' in order to appease the right-wing religious coalitions. If Goldwater was alive and running for president today, I'd back him 100%! If he were alive, I wonder if he would walk away in disgust at what has happened to his beloved party and run as a Libertarian or Independent.

Going back about thirty years, the religious right felt betrayed when they helped get Jimmy Carter, a Christian fundamentalist, elected. He left his religion at the door of the Oval Office and wouldn't buckle to their agendas, so they went 'party shopping'. The Republicans, seduced by the prospect of increasing their political base, took in the religious right and Ronald Reagan rode their banner to the White House. Goldwater was livid about the party being hijacked! Ironically, he was written off as stubborn (true) and obsolete (false), yet he was one of the few that saw the writing on the wall.

Answer 5

Yes he was.

Unfortunately, there is only Bill Buckley, Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul left in the original Republican Party. The rest have become a group of big government loving socialists.

Answer 6

Poor Barry, wrong place, wrong time. He and Hubert Humphry were a wonderful way to learn the launguage politic. However, since they are both spinning in their graves at the perversion of our forefathers ideals. I doubt they have much to say. There was no Christian right back then, just generally right to be Christian. Now it's only alright to be a Bushy~ the rest of us are his pawns. Too bad we let him be boss, It was better when the people were.

Answer 7

I've pointed this out before. The Religeous right has usurped control of the Republican party. A true conservative doesn't want the government in a woman's womb any more than a liberal does.

Answer 8

Yes Goldwater would not be a Republican if he were still alive. Neither would Ronald Regan. Bush and the other Neo-Cons should have their Republican label taken away. True Republican believe in small government, and economic growth. They are not concerned about prayer in school or gay marriage.

Answer 9

There are a lot more Republicans that share those beliefs then you might think. .. I call them moderates (insert your own label)

They are there in numbers, they just get overshadowed by the extreme, just like the nutty, wacko left has hijacked the democrat party

Answer 10

Whatever Goldwater was, he certainly was not a fan of the American Taliban and he would have been aghast at the way it continues to grow and infiltrate American society in its determination to stamp out reason and replace it with blind obedience.