Many Irish people will be aware of Thomas Cahill. He wrote How the Irish Saved Civilization, which was a huge seller in the US.
Mr. Cahill apparently finds it hard to understand how someone can be both a Christian and a Republican. He claims that the Republican party is "racist" and an enemy of the poor. Both claims are laughable. Neither of the two parties is either racist or an enemy of the poor. Both offer different ideas as to how to address the problems of American society.
There are many Christians who always vote Republican. Often they are not wealthy people. Yet, they give generously to their church (sometimes as much as 10% of all their household income). In return, their church provides education for their children, assistance for members of their community, some health care and support for the elderly. That is a Christian life. That these people feel free to reject the statist view of how such problems should be addressed by voting for a smaller government as promoted (although currently not being implemented) by the Republican Party is completely consistent.
The Democratic Party believes that government involvement solves problems. I don't. The Democratic Party believes that the central government should be involved in a whole range of everyday life issues. I don't. Am I less Christian for holding such views? I don't think so.
I read How the Irish Saved Civilization and thought it was well written and it sounded plausible to me. However, someone I know who's much more familiar with the events of that period told me the book was full of holes and wasn't worth much. Having read these few sentences on Mr. Cahill's web page, I well believe it.
{Link found through Andrew Sullivan.}
